Safeguarding health equality for the disadvantaged during the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons learned for the social work profession

Abstract

An evaluation of the role played by the social work profession during the outbreak of COVID-19 is necessary. Although social workers have made efforts to address people’s needs during the pandemic, it is worth examining the role they have played in safeguarding health equality. Focusing on the case of Hong Kong, we found that the profession was generally ill-prepared for the outbreak, and in particular, for confronting the attendant social inequalities. We identified three possible reasons for these findings: 1) non-governmental organizations were caught off-guard by the outbreak, 2) there was no clearly articulated intervention agenda to inform practitioners of the roles they should play in such a large-scale crisis, and 3) having become more formalized and standardized, social work services may have become less flexible in responding to emerging community needs. We conclude this article by suggesting three directions that could allow the profession to better pursue its mission during large-scale crises.

Conversations in Times of Isolation: Exploring Rural-Dwelling Older Adults’ Experiences of Isolation and Loneliness during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Manitoba, Canada

“…Several other factors influenced older adults’ in-person visits including their age, whether they owned their own home or lived in a congregate environment, whether they had access to outdoor space, whether they had neighbours close by, access to transportation and mobility limitations, their health status, the health status of others within their social networks, the number COVID-19 cases in their region, and the perspectives of their social relations. The most consistently lonely participants (those who reported being lonely most of the time) lacked access to many of these resources (e.g., they could not drive, did not own their own home, and had pre-existing health conditions), highlighting the role of social and economic inequalities in contributing to isolation and loneliness before and during COVID-19 [ 17 , 35 ]. In addition, they were more confined to their homes (e.g., experienced mobility limitations or had care responsibilities) and lacked meaningful connection within their homes.…”

Social workers’ adaptation in times of pandemic crisis: A Hong Kong case

“…Hence, the social work profession should be prepared and equipped with knowledge, skills, and practice interventions to better respond to community needs. Expanding the scope of the practice may be required, and the social work profession should constantly reflect on and review its role in the current pandemic ( Kwan et al, 2020 ). Rather than responding to a crisis in a piecemeal manner, there is a need to craft a social work agenda on responding to global crises and other disasters.…”

Responses to COVID-19 in Major Social Work Journals: A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies, Comments, and Editorials

“…Much is still to be learned and discussed in direct practice and research (Golightley & Holloway, 2020a, 2020b). The pandemic appeared at a time when our world was experiencing severe challenges of health disparities (Burton, Bennett & Burton, 2020; Kwan, Ling, Cheung & Chui, 2021), social inequalities (Siu, 2020), the fraying of the social safety net (Banks et al, 2020b), rural exclusion (Amadasun, 2020b), digital divide (Gibson, Bardach, & Pope, 2020), digital exclusion of older adults in particular (Seifert, 2020), ethnics and racial inequities (Bright, 2020b; Wilson, Solomon, & McLane-Davison, 2020), and more importantly the erosion of social solidarity by increasing emphasis on personal autonomy and unrestrained individualism (Pentini & Lorenz, 2020). These perennial social problems were further aggravated by the current pandemic (Amadasun, 2020a).…”