Working with Youth During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Adaptations and Insights from Youth Workers.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic thrust the world's population into a crisis. Social workers and other professionals working with youth have been front-line witnesses to the accentuated negative impact of this public health emergency on youth and their families as well as to the creative adaptive strategies of youth and their families. Purpose: Because youth workers are often the first to identify and respond to the needs and desires of children and youth, it is critical to better understand the ways in which youth workers adapted, coped, and intervened within the context of this global health, social, and economic crisis. Youth workers play a central role in the lives of children and youth. Their perspective is key to recognizing both practice innovation and organizational impediments. Method: 31 youth workers in mental health, housing, primary care, and child protection participated in focus groups discussing the impact of the pandemic during waves 1 and 2 on the youth and families they work with and, consequently, on their own practice. Results: include two central domains that organize findings around adapting professional practice to crisis situations: (1) the first-person experience of working with youth during the pandemic; (2) the changing needs and risks faced by youth and their families. Discussion: These domains include discussions around participant emotions and feelings of isolation, helplessness, and fear as well as adaptability. The article concludes with recommendations to support youth workers and adapt organizational structures to help protect youth from increased risk and vulnerability during a pandemic or other crises.

Working with Youth During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Adaptations and Insights from Youth Workers

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic thrust the world's population into a crisis. Social workers and other professionals working with youth have been front-line witnesses to the accentuated negative impact of this public health emergency on youth and their families as well as to the creative adaptive strategies of youth and their families. Purpose: Because youth workers are often the first to identify and respond to the needs and desires of children and youth, it is critical to better understand the ways in which youth workers adapted, coped, and intervened within the context of this global health, social, and economic crisis. Youth workers play a central role in the lives of children and youth. Their perspective is key to recognizing both practice innovation and organizational impediments. Method: 31 youth workers in mental health, housing, primary care, and child protection participated in focus groups discussing the impact of the pandemic during waves 1 and 2 on the youth and families they work with and, consequently, on their own practice. Results: include two central domains that organize findings around adapting professional practice to crisis situations: (1) the first-person experience of working with youth during the pandemic;(2) the changing needs and risks faced by youth and their families. Discussion: These domains include discussions around participant emotions and feelings of isolation, helplessness, and fear as well as adaptability. The article concludes with recommendations to support youth workers and adapt organizational structures to help protect youth from increased risk and vulnerability during a pandemic or other crises.

Telehealth for Social Interventions With Adolescents and Young Adults: Diverse Perspectives

This article describes the telehealth experiences of adolescents, young adults, and youth workers during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in the province of Québec, Canada, where remote appointments was the recommended alternative to in-person meetings due to various public health restrictions. Four main themes emerged from individual interviews with nine adolescents and young adults (aged 15–25 years) and focus groups with 35 service providers: the trust relationship, loss of nonverbal communication, confidentiality concerns, and youth disengagement. Participants agreed that face-to-face psychosocial intervention is the preferred option for quality care and service. However, with appropriate support and infrastructure, telehealth could be a reliable alternate modality for reaching adolescents and young adults in remote and rural areas as well as for follow-up care for adolescents and young adults who have an established and trusted relationship with their service provider. For interventions to remain youth-friendly and person-centred, adolescents and young adults must always be offered a choice of modality. IMPLICATIONS Perspectives of adolescents, young adults, and youth workers intersect to provide a unique understanding of telehealth in a specific context. There is scant literature on the use of telehealth as a social work practice modality, specifically with adolescents, young adults and their families. This article attempts to fill this gap by providing an early look at the experiences of telehealth during the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Québec, Canada. Perspectives of adolescents, young adults, and youth workers intersect to provide a unique understanding of telehealth in a specific context.There is scant literature on the use of telehealth as a social work practice modality, specifically with adolescents, young adults and their families. This article attempts to fill this gap by providing an early look at the experiences of telehealth during the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Québec, Canada. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Australian Social Work is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Voices of Teens and Young Adults on the Subject of Teleconsultation in the COVID-19 Context.

This article describes the perceptions of adolescents and young adults aged 14 to 25 years who live in Québec (Canada) and obtained health services via teleconsultation for the first time, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eleven young people who had received physical health services (medicine, physiotherapy, speech therapy, or nutritionist) participated in virtual semi-structured interviews. These interviews shed light on how these adolescents and young adults experienced the adaptation of the intervention and how effective they perceived the intervention to be. The article concludes with some thoughts for practitioners.

Step In, Step Out from the First Lockdown: An Exploration of COVID-19 Perceptions in France and Quebec.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research was to describe and analyze the role of psychological and behavioral factors on perceptions of COVID-19 in France and Quebec at three different times during the pandemic. DESIGN: We conducted three qualitative and quantitative studies (Study 1 N = 255, Study 2 N = 230, Study 3 N = 143). Participants were asked to evaluate psychological and behavioral measures: at the beginning of lockdown (Study 1), during lockdown (Study 2), and during lockdown exit (Study 3). RESULTS: Results of Study 1 show that perceptions of COVID-19 are organized around fear and a sense of threat. During the lockdown, participants mentioned for the first time the health practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (Study 2). Psychological and social impacts constitute a central theme in participants' discourse (Study 2 and 3). CONCLUSIONS: The results show that perceptions of risk during a pandemic are socially constructed. Perceptions seem to be influenced by the political and health management of a territory and by the evolution of behavioral and psychological responses.