Responding to COVID-19 in social work field education in Australia, New Zealand and the United States

Fronek, Patricia; Briggs, Lynne; Rondon-Jackson, Renie; Hay, Kathryn; Maidment, Jane; Medina-Martinez, Kai

doi:10.1177/00208728211048934

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 56 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A cross-sectional web-based survey that included closed- and open-ended questions was used to understand the impact of COVID-19 on field education from the perspectives of BSW and MSW students across Canada. The survey design was informed by the researchers’ experiences and the relevant literature, which included prior surveys conducted on social work field education during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic (Drolet et al, 2013) and the current impacts of COVID-19 on Canadian postsecondary students (Frontiers 2020; Statistics Canada, 2020). While researchers’ social locations can contribute to bias, these can be mitigated through an awareness of biases and exposure to a range of perspectives and ideas (Michalski, 2020).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the rapid onset of the pandemic and the resulting disruptions in post-secondary education, many social work programs in Canada and internationally necessarily adopted technology to continue learning opportunities, including virtual field placements (CASWE-ACFTS, 2020a; Crisp et al, 2021;CSWE, 2020;Fronek et al, 2021). This sudden shift to fully virtual field education introduced new challenges and complexities for student learning (Crisp et al, 2021;Fronek et al, 2021). Canadian social work schools also faced critical issues implementing online teaching in the face of limited resources and notably short timelines to implement this shift (CASWE-ACFTS, 2020a).…”

Section: Use Of Technology In Field Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Impact of COVID-19 on social work field education: Perspectives of Canadian social work students

Drolet

Kaushik

et al. 2023

Journal of Social Work

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Social work field education has experienced major disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while also embracing new opportunities to grow. The Transforming the Field Education Landscape research partnership developed a cross-sectional web-based survey with closed- and open-ended questions to understand student perceptions of COVID-19’s impacts on social work field education. The survey opened during the first wave of the pandemic from July 8 to 29, 2020 and was completed by 367 Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) and Master of Social Work (MSW) students across Canada. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Respondents experienced reduced practicum hours and placements terminating early or moving online. Students were concerned about gaining adequate experience for future job prospects. They were generally positive about academic institutional responses to COVID-19 but described financial challenges with tuition costs and a lack of paid practica. Respondents were mostly satisfied with practicum supervision. They experienced negative impacts of COVID-19 on mental health with isolation and remote learning and described a lack of institutional mental health support. Students were concerned with missing direct practice skills, while some students reported more flexible hours, access to online events beyond their region, and increased research experience. They expressed a need for practicum flexibility and accommodation. Recommendations include an increase in flexibility and accommodations for practicum students, exchanges of promising and wise field education practices, and accessible postsecondary mental health supports. Professional development opportunities should support graduates who missed learning opportunities in their practicum.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Use Of Technology In Field Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of COVID-19 on social work field education: Perspectives of Canadian social work students

Drolet

Kaushik

et al. 2023

Journal of Social Work

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Additionally, supervisors developed a strategy of virtual supervision for their fieldwork students. Some of the scholars (Fronek et al, 2021;Kourgiantakis & Lee, 2020;Zvomuya, 2021) identified changes introduced in social work teaching and practice, such as counseling, following up, community linkage, etc. through online platforms during the pandemic.…”

Section: Of 11mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To meet the demand of the newly emerged environment, people started adopting novel strategies for survival replacing traditional ones. Different studies (notably, Csoba & Diebel, 2020; Fronek et al, 2021) revealed that the COVID‐19 pandemic not only limited social work services but also opened up new opportunities, like innovating online tools, making it easier to reach out to the individuals and specific groups of people. Additionally, supervisors developed a strategy of virtual supervision for their fieldwork students.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What happened to field practicum in social work education during COVID‐19? Evidence from Bangladesh

Das

Paul

Bhattacharjee

2023

Asian Soc Wrk & Pol Rev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Field practicum is an integral part of social work education, and students of bachelor's and master's levels need to gain the requisite experience of field practicum to achieve the degrees. Like many practice‐based disciplines, social work has been facing enormous challenges in arranging field practicum during COVID‐19. This qualitative study aims to understand the experiences of social work faculties, students, and agency representatives for field practicum in the time of the COVID crisis in Bangladesh. Four public universities having social work schools were selected purposively and a total of 18 in‐depth interviews and four Key Informant Interviews were conducted with different stakeholders related to field practicum. The study finds that though theoretical classes were conducted using online platforms, students faced many hurdles in completing their field practicum. Several innovative strategies, such as community‐based field practice, delaying completion of field practicum, reducing daily working hours, etc. were followed to adapt to the new normal situation. This pandemic seemed to be a lesson for everyone to think of an alternative arrangement for field practicum, such as developing a flexible curriculum, virtual fieldwork, community‐based field practice, field meetings, concurrent fieldwork, etc.

show abstract

“…Students training to become nurses and social workers also experienced increased levels of stress, anxiety, and depression associated with the COVID-19 pandemic (Evans et al, 2021; Joseph et al, 2022; Savitsky et al, 2020). Nursing and social work students observed and experienced the strain on the workforce during clinical practicums, as well as the impact to the population through various social media platforms (Fronek et al, 2023; Jokar et al, 2023). Students also experienced barriers to access to social support due to social distancing, and struggled with decreased resilience as a result of mental, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion (Rosa et al, 2020).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The COVID-19 Lived Experience Through the Eyes of Nursing and Social Work Students

Lindsay,

Cropley,

Benton

et al. 2024

Creative Nursing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of nursing and social work students who were taking courses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Focus group discussions gave students a chance to express the pandemic's effects on their education and life. Methods: A hermeneutic phenomenological approach using Van Manen's Four Lifeworld Existentials guided this study. Using an open-ended format, interviews were conducted in 6 small groups ranging from 2 to 9 individuals, in person or via Zoom. The study was conducted from May to August 2022 in a university setting with 23 participants. Results: Ten existential themes emerged: Being Behind, Groundhog Day, Trying to Keep Up, Loss of Community, Fear of COVID, Being Alone, What is Self-Care?, Is This Career Right for Me?, What is Healthy?, and Access to Counseling. Conclusions: Participants indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted educational delivery, limiting learning opportunities and increasing feelings of isolation, stress, and anxiety. Implications for Education and the Future Workforce: Projected health-care workforce shortages may be exacerbated by students departing from the health-care professions as a result of increased burnout. Resilience training while in school is necessary to help promote coping, self-care strategies, and retention in the health-care professions.

show abstract

Responding to COVID-19 in social work field education in Australia, New Zealand and the United States

Cited by 10 publications

References 56 publications

Impact of COVID-19 on social work field education: Perspectives of Canadian social work students

Impact of COVID-19 on social work field education: Perspectives of Canadian social work students

What happened to field practicum in social work education during COVID‐19? Evidence from Bangladesh

The COVID-19 Lived Experience Through the Eyes of Nursing and Social Work Students

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About