Nothing Beats Experience: Impact of Efficacy to Withstand a Disaster on Social Worker Preparedness

Overview: Extant research suggests that efficacy from withstanding the effects of a disaster facilitates positive outcomes. With COVID-19 decimating the world, and impacting the field of social work like no other disaster, this presentation focuses on how the efficacy of withstanding a disaster positively impacts provider preparedness and response.Proposal text: This paper explores the phenomenon of social workers who have the efficacy of withstanding the current pandemic disaster. Extant research suggests that efficacy from withstanding the effects of a disaster facilitates positive outcomes (Ricci et al., 2015). COVID-19 has decimated the world, and impacted the field of social work like no other disaster (Farkas & Romaniuk, 2020). For numerous social workers, this is the first disaster in which they have provided care. Many social workers are experiencing burnout and leaving the field (Holmes et al., 2021), which has critical implications for clients and provider caseloads. To reflect on lessons learned that may help others to remain in the profession, the research question asked, “How has withstanding the effects of the pandemic thus far impacted the work you are doing?”

Methods: The qualitative study was approved by the XXX VA Institutional Review Board (IRB), and collected data from (Nf12) inpatient social workers, 10 identified as female and 2 as male, located in the Southwest and Midwest regions of the US. The qualitative interview contained questions about emotions, best practices, and barriers of VA inpatient social workers who provided care to ill clients during the pandemic. All participants were identified as having efficacy to withstand the disaster as they all sustained employment at the same site and provided care throughout the course of the pandemic. Open coding was conducted on three particular scenarios: 1) illustrating particular actions and awareness acquired from others and events in the past; 2) how prior experiences informed work in the present and applying those lessons to navigate difficult experiences during the context of the pandemic; and 3) how to incorporate the additional lessons from the past and present to make positive change among those impacted by the pandemic in future work. Themes were sorted by similar content, and qualitative findings were triangulated among three doctoral level researchers.

Findings: Thematic analysis revealed 4 findings. 1) Flexible outlook on daily basis of job helped to manage and keep pace with the unpredictable nature of social work during the pandemic.
2) Recognizing the lack of experience among peers in disaster situations helped to identify colleagues who were under prepared, ultimately allowing to recognize where to fill in gaps in service.
3) Identifying boundaries of job liability-helped to recognize limitations in work, and not doing so may at least increase worries about liability concerns.
4) Providing career advice to new social workers about how the profession has changed from the pandemic to reduce the likelihood of turnover.

Discussion: Social workers are already at an economic disadvantage because an advanced degree does not equate into a significant pay increase as it does for most others in the helping professions. Future research should investigate the subjective experiences—trajectory of lessons learned throughout the temporal components of the pandemic —among social workers who sustained employment and maintained wellbeing. Data collection from outpatient, inpatient, and social workers in cross-training are vital for promoting public health, as the ecological systems for the respective positions are unique.