International Social Work Conference
Ncube, Alice, Joubert, Mariëtte, Heunis, Christo and Szarzynski, Joerg ed. International Social Work Conference 2021/09/01-03 N/a. N/a: Association of South African Social Work Education Institutions IASSW, 2022.
Document type:
Conference Proceeding
Collection:
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Sub-type Conference proceedings Author Ncube, Alice
Joubert, Mariëtte
Heunis, Christo
Szarzynski, JoergTitle of Event International Social Work Conference Date of Event 2021/09/01-03 Place of Event N/a Organizer The International Association Of Schools Of Social Work Publication Date 2022 Place of Publication N/a Publisher Association of South African Social Work Education Institutions IASSW Pages N/a Language eng Abstract COVID-19 is challenging for social workers rendering services to vulnerable groups with limited resources. This study sought to establish whether social workers in Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality were able to render adequate resilience-focused interventions to vulnerable groups to optimise their mental health and psychosocial wellbeing during the pandemic. A total of 100 social workers across different sectors participated in an anonymous online survey. One would expect that social workers’ mental health and psychosocial support services to vulnerable groups would increase during a state of disaster marked by increased unemployment, poverty, domestic violence, and mental health stressors. However, data clearly show that they had not rendered services to the disabled (n=67); elderly (n=70); homeless (n=72); sex workers (n=90); PLHIV (n=69); LGBT (n=79); and children (n=36) during 27 March to 30 September, 2020. A possible explanation for this is that social workers are not adequately trained to render services during disasters. Indeed, most participants indicated a need for training in applied disaster management practises (n=80), capacity building workshops (n=46) and refresher courses on loss and trauma (n=45). Most participants (n=63) believed that specific social work regulations and policies to guide social workers in rendering adequate resilience-focused interventions during disasters were needed. Copyright Holder Association of South African Social Work Education Institutions Copyright Year 2021 Copyright type All rights reserved -
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