SOCIAL WORK AND THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Background: This paper reviews evidence and commentary both on the role of social work during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-2022, and also on the impact of the pandemic on social work as a practice and profession. The pandemic was framed primarily as a health and humanitarian disaster, and social work was initially seen as marginalised within public and social responses to it. However, its adaptive practice within the pandemic developed its role and opportunities for making a strong practice contribution. Methods: Relevant literature is selected from a hand and Internet search of major social work journals concerned with international issues in social work and relevant books. Results: Three direct implications of the pandemic for social work seem particularly significant. First, practice experiences during the pandemic were primarily flexible adaptations of existing roles in interpersonal helping, facilitation of care service provision and development of social responses to adversity. Second, the pandemic stimulated increased use of digital online communication both in practice and education for social work, which furthers and may speed up an existing trend. Third, the pandemic role of social work suggests that future economic, political and social disasters may enable the profession and its contribution to society more generally to become more highly valued.