ABSTRACT

In March 2020, the Veterans Health Administration (VA) responded to pandemic shutdowns with a rapid pivot toward providing services via telehealth. Using data on Veterans who received interventions from social workers between 2019 and 2020 at sites that participated in a national program to increase social work staffing in primary care, we examined changes in frequency and modality of social work encounters that occurred with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that primary care social workers maintained a consistent level of engagement, with increases in telephone and video telehealth encounters as in-person visits decreased. Through front-line perspectives, we discuss the practical innovations and policies that enabled those changes in care from VA primary care social workers.

摘要

2020年3月，退伍军人卫生管理局（VA）对大流行停工做出了响应，迅速转向通过远程医疗提供服务。使用关于在2019年至2020年期间参加国家计划以增加基层医疗机构的社会工作人员的站点上接受社会工作者干预的退伍军人的数据，我们研究了COVID发作后发生的社会工作遭遇的频率和方式的变化-19年大流行。我们发现，初级保健社会工作者的参与水平一直保持不变，随着亲自就诊的次数减少，电话和视频远程医疗的遭遇也有所增加。通过前线观点，我们讨论了使VA初级保健社会工作者的医疗服务发生变化的实际创新和政策。