Date of Award

5-2021

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Master of Social Work

Department

School of Social Work

First Reader/Committee Chair

Simon, James

Abstract

Limited research captures the perceptions and adjustments of social workers living and providing treatment in the same communities during a disaster. Few studies have captured the stressors and responsibilities put on social workers during an ongoing disaster. This paper reports the findings of the double-exposure captured using a qualitative approach in collecting interviews from nine mental health professionals who continued working during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. A constructivist paradigm was used to capture each participant’s reality. Participants described the sudden change to remote work as difficult when having to find the balance between work and life demands, providing quality care to clients, and creating a proper workspace at home. Benefits to their new work environments were described by having more time to spend with family, using telemedicine to continue providing care to clients, and a sense of safety. The following research study contributes to the social work practice by providing awareness to the lack of disaster preparedness and lack of governmental support in assuring social workers have the appropriate resources.

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