ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has wrought widespread devastation upon children and families across the United States, widening existing health disparities and inequities that disproportionately affect communities of color. In health care settings specifically, social work is the key workforce tasked with responding to patient and family psychosocial needs, both of which have increased substantially since the emergence of COVID-19. There is a need to understand ways in which hospital social workers’ roles, responsibilities, and integration within interprofessional teams have evolved in response to these challenges. In this qualitative study, focus groups were conducted with 55 social workers employed across multiple settings in a large, urban, pediatric hospital in Spring 2020. Thematic analyses revealed salient superordinate themes related to the pandemic’s impact on social work practice and social workers themselves, institutional facilitators and impediments to effective social work and interprofessional practice, and social work perspectives on future pandemic recovery efforts. Within each theme, a number of interrelated subthemes emerged elucidating nuances of telehealth adoption in the context of remote work, the salience of social determinants of health, and the critical role of social work in social justice oriented pandemic preparedness and response efforts. Implications for interprofessional practice and the profession at large are discussed.

摘要

COVID-19大流行对全美国的儿童和家庭造成了广泛的破坏，扩大了现有的健康差异和不平等现象，不平等现象严重影响了有色人种。特别是在卫生保健机构中，社会工作是负责满足患者和家庭心理需求的主要劳动力，自COVID-19出现以来，这两项工作均已大大增加。有必要了解医院社会工作者在跨专业团队中的角色，职责和融合的发展方式，以应对这些挑战。在这项定性研究中，于2020年春季，对55名社会工作者进行了焦点小组讨论，这些工作者在多种环境下受雇于一家大型城市儿科医院。专题分析揭示了与该流行病对社会工作实践和社会工作者本身，机构促进者和有效社会工作和跨行业实践的障碍以及社会工作对未来大流行恢复工作的观点有关的大流行相关的突出的上级主题。在每个主题内，出现了许多相互关联的子主题，这些主题阐明了在远程工作背景下采用远程医疗的细微差别，对健康的社会决定因素的重视以及社会工作在面向大流行的大流行防范和应对工作中的关键作用。讨论了跨专业实践和整个职业的含义。和社会工作对未来大流行恢复工作的看法。在每个主题内，出现了许多相互关联的子主题，这些主题阐明了在远程工作背景下采用远程医疗的细微差别，对健康的社会决定因素的重视以及社会工作在面向大流行的大流行防范和应对工作中的关键作用。讨论了跨专业实践和整个职业的含义。和社会工作对未来大流行恢复工作的看法。在每个主题内，出现了许多相互关联的子主题，这些主题阐明了在远程工作背景下采用远程医疗的细微差别，对健康的社会决定因素的重视以及社会工作在面向大流行的大流行防范和应对工作中的关键作用。讨论了跨专业实践和整个职业的含义。