Abstract
Community work is an appropriate social work intervention for addressing social ills in Zimbabwe. Despite the relevance of community work for addressing complex social issues, social workers encounter substantial institutional and structural obstacles in its implementation. This note explored the barriers that social workers face in implementing community work. The study utilised a reflective practice approach, drawing from the author’s experience in community work practice in Zimbabwe. The author found that social workers face barriers in implementing community work such as resource constraints, high caseloads and policy and institutional focus. Addressing these barriers is essential for strengthening community work practice.
Introduction
Community work is a primary method of intervention in social work and it aims to bring about social change. It is a long-term process in which communities collaborate with social work practitioners to identify their needs, design interventions and implement programmes that improve their quality of life. Community work is particularly suited to addressing widespread challenges in Africa such as poverty, unemployment and inequality, and is especially relevant in Zimbabwe. Through this method, social workers act as frontline practitioners in addressing community-level problems (Chukwu et al., 2017; Ghongade, 2026; Khaparde, 2023; Nemutandani, 2017).
Community work is the most marginalised method of intervention in social work practice in Zimbabwe and worldwide. One reason social workers neglect community work is that they spend most of their time in the office handling casework and paperwork. Another reason is that community work requires travelling to communities, and in Zimbabwe, there is a critical shortage of resources for this (Nemutandani, 2017; O’Brien et al., 2024).
There is a dearth of literature on barriers to implementing community work in Zimbabwe. This note will contribute to the body of literature on barriers to implementing community work in Zimbabwe. This note will serve as a valuable resource for practitioners and researchers in implementing community work. Thus, this study seeks to explore the barriers social workers face in implementing community work.
Methods
A reflective practice approach was used in this study. The results were drawn from the author’s community work experience in Zimbabwe, including field observation in community work practice. Literature was incorporated to analyse barriers of implementing community work in Zimbabwe. Direct data collection from participants was not done in this study. No specific individuals or communities are named in this study to protect confidentiality.
Barriers to implementing community work in Zimbabwe
Despite the importance of community work in alleviating Zimbabwe’s social challenges, its implementation faces numerous challenges. This section outlines the key barriers identified in this brief note that hinder social work practitioners’ capability to implement community work method.
Resource constraints
The author observed that Zimbabwean development and welfare agencies face shortages of material and human resources, which hinder the implementation of community work. Implementing community work requires funds for fuel, transport to communities and remuneration for social workers. These resources are scarce in most agencies. The author also noted that agencies rely heavily on donor funds to finance community work projects but funding is dwindling. This was worsened by the termination of most US donor funding in January 2025. Consistent with findings by Khaparde (2023), social workers face constraints of resources such as funding, skilled personnel and infrastructure that hinder the implementation of community work initiatives. Ghongade (2026) corroborated that social workers face a barrier of limited funding that affects the implementation of community work projects.
High caseloads
The author experienced that in Zimbabwe social workers have high caseloads. The primary reason for that is because the number allocated by the Department of Social Development for social workers per district is three or four social workers. This burdens social workers with high caseloads and they end up concentrating on casework, neglecting community work. The author also noted that social workers deal with a lot of paperwork so they spend most of their time in their office doing paperwork instead of going out to the community to do community work. The high caseload noted here is consistent with findings by Nemutandani (2017), who concluded that social workers are overloaded with cases. They write and fill out numerous reports and forms, and consequently spend most of their time on casework rather than community work. Ghongade (2026) concurs that social workers have a high workload that affects the implementation of community work initiatives.
Policy and institutional focus
The author experienced that Zimbabwean social workers are oriented towards statutory casework interventions such as juvenile justice and child protection. The primary government body overseeing social work, which is the Department of Social Development, prioritises case management over community work. The author also noted that community work is not treated as the main focus of social work practice in Zimbabwe. This aligns with Nemutandani (2017), who found that administrative duties reduce the time available for social workers to focus on community work initiatives.
Study limitation
This brief note is limited by its reliance on reflective practice from one practitioner’s community work experience in Zimbabwe. Even though it provides deep insight into community work practice realities, the findings cannot be generalised to other contexts. Future studies using primary data collection methods with multiple participants would strengthen the evidence base.
Implications for social work practice and policy
For social work practice, social work practitioners should negotiate protected time for community work within the existing caseloads. For policy, donors and institutions should revise resource allocations to explicitly recognise community work as a core function. Modifying both social work practice conditions and policy priorities is essential if community work is to play an effective role in addressing social challenges.
Conclusion
These results indicate that the ability of social workers to implement community work interventions is constrained by limited resources, an institutional focus that prioritises statutory social work over community work and high caseloads. Addressing these obstacles requires aligning resource allocation and institutional priorities with community work demands to enhance social work’s effectiveness in addressing poverty, inequality and unemployment.
Footnotes
Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Data availability statement
This is a reflective practice note that is based on the author’s community work practice experience without any direct data collection.
Statement on AI
The author acknowledges the use of Meta AI for reframing the title and for language editing.