The COVID-19 outbreak has been a dual challenge for the community sector in which many social workers work.
Every day, social workers are on the frontline of the pandemic response, connecting clients with a wide range of health and social support services to address the devastating impacts of the pandemic.
In order to qualify to work as a social worker, first, all must social workers complete a minimum 4-year university degree and are regulated by professional law to ensure service safety and quality.
Social workers assist consumers, patients, caregivers, and significant others with the practical, personal, and emotional impact of illness, disability, hospitalization.
Social workers across all practice sectors are witnessing the devastating individual, interpersonal and societal impacts of COVID-19 (Banks et al., 2020). People across the globe have experienced job loss, financial impacts, and exacerbated mental health concerns (Abrams and Szefler, 2020).
Social workers and other front-line workers have been called to action to address the range of psycho-social crises emerging from the pandemic (Amadasun, 2020).
More than ever, there is an urgent need to ensure that social workers are well supported to respond to clients’ overwhelming psycho-social needs emerging during this pandemic (Bern-Klug and Beaulieu, 2020; Walter-McCabe, 2020a,b).
Main goals of social workers during Covid19:
- Promoting physical distancing and social solidarity.
- Ensuring that the most vulnerable people are taken into account while planning and responding
- Helping address anxiety and other concerns that are arising as a result of this public health crisis
- Promoting disease prevention efforts, including disseminating accurate information from trusted sources
- Supporting the community to promote mental health and in assisting people to maintain social connections
Social workers must be compassionate while remaining impartial, self-aware, engaged, and driven by a genuine desire to assist clients.
What skills are required to be a social worker?
- Communication Skills– this entails communicating with clients and other professionals both in writing and verbal communication
- Problem Solving Skills– individual empowerment is one of the goals of social workers. Professionals must assist someone in overcoming obstacles and encourage their patients to develop strong problem solving skills.
- Organizational Skills– providing clinical case management and psychosocial support requires a great deal of organization and the ability to prioritize according to the urgency of a client’s needs.
- Boundary Setting– setting suitable boundaries will keep you focused as you develop goals and coordinate treatment, preventing burnout.
- Critical Thinking– it is what allows you to make those decisions with intelligence, creativity, and kindness.
- Understanding of Human Relationships– finally, social workers must understand that this field is about human relationships. Couples, families, friends and communities are all part of the support system an individual turns to in time of crises.
If a social worker does not embrace relationship-based-practice, resources will be missed and problems often become impossible to resolve. Understanding this is key to becoming a competent social work professional.
Social workers are the heart & soul of their communities.
Diverse groupings of people make up communities. A social worker’s job is to bring members of different groups together. To work toward a shared objective so that the community may function properly.
The value of social justice is challenged by the grave impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the powerless groups in society. In addition, human dignity suffers as a result of economic and resource deprivation, job losses, and a lack of access to healthcare and psychosocial support services.
The social work profession is said to be fully active and engaged in service during public emergencies.
Social workers play fundamental roles in disaster response, recovery, and disaster preparedness planning for future occurrences (Cooper & Briggs, 2014).
Social workers not only help service users, but they also help each other. And they know the group as a space through which opportunities to give and receive help multiply.
In Italy, the initiative ‘Social Workers Helping Each Other’ was launched. It helps practitioners stay resilient and mutually supportive during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Becoming a social worker might seem easy but like other degrees, you have to earn a degree for becoming a social worker. It brings you closer to humanity. After your degree, you may also want to become an LCSW.
There are several benefits of earning a degree in social work. You do not have to worry about your future, the income is secure, and you have career enhancement opportunities as well. You can envision yourself as a successful social worker with a secure future.
