Reducing social worker burnout during COVID-19

Peinado, Micaela; Anderson, Kelly N

doi:10.1177/0020872820962196

Cited by 59 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The findings from this research add qualitative evidence to published survey findings from Banks (2020) . Working from home challenged social workers in this study to maintain online visibility to others; participants described feeling under greater levels of scrutiny, which risks burnout in the long-term ( Peinado and Anderson, 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Exploring the Impact of the First Wave of COVID-19 on Social Work Practice: A Qualitative Study in England, UK

Kingstone

Campbell

Andras

et al. 2021

The British Journal of Social Work

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Summary The COVID-19 pandemic signalled a radical shift in health and social care services globally. In UK, many of the people with existing social care needs were identified as ‘clinically vulnerable’ to COVID-19. Those at greatest risk were encouraged to adhere to additional public health measures that inadvertently exacerbated social disadvantages. Social workers were challenged to ‘dig deep’ to continue to provide services as usual. However, problems implementing new ways of working were reported but not examined in-depth through research. Our study explored experiences and perceptions of social workers responding to the first wave (April–July 2020) of COVID-19, in England, UK. Interviews with thirteen social workers, all working in the West Midlands region, were conducted via telephone or online video. Transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. We use ‘managing uncertainty’ as a central concept underpinning the four themes identified after analysis: (1) providing social care at a physical distance, (2) negotiating home/work boundaries, (3) managing emerging risks and (4) long-term implications for social work. We discuss our findings in the context of resilience and organisational adaptation. Social workers in our study demonstrated resilience in action and rapid adaptation to new practices, but equally expressed concern about short-term efficiencies being prioritised over individual service user needs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Exploring the Impact of the First Wave of COVID-19 on Social Work Practice: A Qualitative Study in England, UK

Kingstone

Campbell

Andras

et al. 2021

The British Journal of Social Work

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…. (Peinado and Anderson, 2020). The harsh situation they experienced meant that, in many cases, they struggled with their own contradictory emotions, torn between the need to help and the fear of becoming infected by the coronavirus:…”

Section: The Empathetic and Supportive Emotional Responsementioning

confidence: 99%

Ethical decision-making of social workers in Spain during COVID-19: Cases and responses

Úriz

Garro

Ballestero

2021

Qualitative Social Work

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In this article we address the ethical decision-making processes of social work professionals in Spain during the first wave of COVID-19. We present some of the findings from a broader international research project led by professor Sarah Banks and carried out in collaboration with the International Federation of Social Workers. The first wave of COVID-19 had a major impact in Spain, hitting harder the most vulnerable groups. In this unprecedented and unexpected context, social workers had to make difficult ethical decisions on fundamental issues such as respecting service-user’s autonomy, prioritizing wellbeing, maintaining confidentiality or deciding the fair distribution of the scarce resources. There were moments of uncertainty and difficult institutional responses. The broader international project was carried out using an online questionnaire addressed to social work professionals in several countries. In this article, through several specific cases, we examine the ethical decision-making processes of social work professionals in Spain, as well as the way to resolve that situations. We have used a qualitative content analysis with a deductive approach to analyze the responses and cases. Findings show many difficult situations concerning the prioritization of the wellbeing of users without limiting their autonomy, the invention of new organizational protocols to provide support and resources for vulnerable people… Social workers had to manage the bureaucracy and had to solve some emergency situations getting personally involved or developing other cooperation mechanisms. The pandemic forced them to look for new forms of social intervention.

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“…Essentially, they reported feeling burnt out with work in particular and society in general. Peinado and Anderson ( 2020 ) aptly observe how burnout is “part of everyday vocabulary” for social workers (p. 757), who are more times than not overworked with high caseloads, low wages, and little time for processing. Despite working from home, students reported exhaustion and feeling physically, emotionally, and mentally spent.…”

Section: Burnoutmentioning

confidence: 99%