Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work of social workers
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Authors
Schell-Kiehl, Ines
Laurens, Melissa
Ketelaar, Nicole
Meyer, Nikolaus
Franz, Sebastian
Author (Corporation)
Publication date
15.08.2022
Typ of student thesis
Course of study
Collections
Type
01A - Journal article
Editors
Editor (Corporation)
Supervisor
Parent work
Journal of Comparative Social Work
Special issue
DOI of the original publication
Link
Series
Series number
Volume
17
Issue / Number
1
Pages / Duration
123-152
Patent number
Publisher / Publishing institution
University of Stavanger
Place of publication / Event location
Stavanger
Edition
Version
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Practice partner / Client
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on everyone’s life. Like many other professionals, social workers have been forced to adapt to these new working conditions and new challenges in order to support clients during the pandemic, as new needs have arisen. Together with professional associations from three nations (Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands), we used a coordinated approach to explore the consequences of the pandemic for social work professionals. This study was conducted during the most severe contact and hygiene restrictions of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the winter of 2020/2021. The data addresses the changes perceived by social work professionals in relation to their contact and communication with clients, the use of digital technology in the context of work, the professional response in terms of innovation, the working conditions and the psychosocial risks they face. Methods: Cross-sectional data was collected from 7,241 social workers in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands through online surveys. Results: The results show an increase in the workload of professional social workers and compounding problems of clients, together with a negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communication and contact with clients. All of this takes place within the framework of changing working conditions and contexts. Our data shows that the use of digital technologies does not cause bigger problems for most of the participating social workers. It should in fact be noted that professionals have many positive associations with the use of digital technology in general. Conclusions: There are both remarkable and alarming results concerning the mental health of social workers and their working conditions, as well as the position of the social work profession in general.
Keywords
social work profession, international comparison, COVID-19 pandemic, use of technology, contact professional and client, working conditions for professionals
Subject (DDC)
300 - Sozialwissenschaften
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ISBN
ISSN
0809-9936
Language
English
Created during FHNW affiliation
Yes
Strategic action fields FHNW
Publication status
Published
Review
Peer review of the complete publication
Open access category
Gold
License
Citation
SCHELL-KIEHL, Ines, Melissa LAURENS, Nicole KETELAAR, Peter SOMMERFELD, Nadja HESS, Sarah BÜHLER, Nikolaus MEYER und Sebastian FRANZ, 2022. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work of social workers. Journal of Comparative Social Work. 15 August 2022. Bd. 17, Nr. 1, S. 123–152. DOI 10.31265/jcsw.v17i1.390. Verfügbar unter: https://doi.org/10.26041/fhnw-4594