ABSTRACT

In 2020 Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was identified in Australia. During the pandemic, as essential workers, hospital-based social workers have been on the frontline. This cross-sectional study examines the resilience of social workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, how the pandemic impacted on social work and lessons learnt. Hospital social workers working in three states, namely Victoria, Queensland, and New South Wales were invited to participate in an online web-based survey, providing non-identifiable demographic details and information a) relating to their proximity to COVID-19, b) their degree of resilience (CD-RISC-2), c) professional quality of life, d) perceived social support, e) physical health, f) professional and personal growth during the pandemic, and g) impacts of COVID-19 on their practice. Basic descriptive statistics were computed for variables of interest. Within group, comparisons were made using paired t-tests or one-way ANOVAs for continuous variables as appropriate to investigate possible interstate differences. Regression analyses were conducted to determine which factors contribute to resilience. Social workers, during the pandemic, whether working under the constraints of lockdown or not, demonstrated high levels of resilience. These levels were similar across the three states, unaffected by the degree of infection in the community, indicating that as a group, social workers have high innate levels of resilience. This study provides an in-depth understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on hospital social workers, the long-term impact of the pandemic on social work practice, and potentially useful lessons learnt for the future.

摘要

2020 年，澳大利亚发现了冠状病毒病 (COVID-19)。疫情期间，医院社工作为必不可少的工作人员，一直坚守在第一线。这项横断面研究考察了社会工作者在 COVID-19 大流行期间的复原力、大流行如何影响社会工作和吸取的教训。在三个州（即维多利亚州、昆士兰州和新南威尔士州）工作的医院社会工作者被邀请参加一项基于网络的在线调查，提供不可识别的人口统计详细信息和信息 a) 与他们与 COVID-19 的接近程度有关的信息，b)他们的复原力程度 (CD-RISC-2)，c) 专业生活质量，d) 感知到的社会支持，e) 身体健康，f) 大流行期间的专业和个人成长，以及 g) COVID-19 对他们的影响实践。计算感兴趣变量的基本描述性统计。在组内，使用配对 t 检验或单向方差分析对连续变量进行比较，以研究可能的州际差异。进行回归分析以确定哪些因素有助于恢复。在大流行期间，社会工作者无论是否在封锁的限制下工作，都表现出高度的复原力。这三个州的这些水平相似，不受社区感染程度的影响，这表明作为一个群体，社会工作者具有很高的先天应变能力。本研究深入了解 COVID-19 对医院社会工作者的影响、大流行对社会工作实践的长期影响、