Social service providers under COVID-19 duress: adaptation, burnout, and resilience

Summary : This article examines the response of social services organizations and their workers to the COVID-19 pandemic in a northeastern U.S. state. Using an exploratory, cross-sectional survey design with a convenience sample (N = 1472), we ask: (1) how did agencies and social service workers manage service disruptions associated with COVID-19;(2) how did social service workers perceive shifts in clients' needs;(3) how did social service workers experience the transition to remote interactions with clients;and (4) how did social service workers cope with COVID-related transitions and demands. Findings : Our findings tell a story of unprecedented crises alongside powerful attempts at adaptation, innovation, and resilience. Faced with extraordinary need among their clients, fears for their own health, and a breakdown of organizational and community functioning and guidance, social workers were able to learn and implement new technologies, adapt to increasing demands, manage new work-life boundaries, and find ways to address gaps in service while experiencing symptoms of burnout. Application : The impact of supervisory and administrative fragmentation and communication breakdowns in the face of crisis put social workers in an untenable position despite surprising abilities to adapt, innovate, and manage their professional lives while under duress. Assuring better supervisory/administrative infrastructure to support workers as they deliver services during crises will help in future crises.

Social service providers under COVID-19 duress: adaptation, burnout, and resilience

This article examines the response of social services organizations and their workers to the COVID-19 pandemic in a northeastern U.S. state. Using an exploratory, cross-sectional survey design with a convenience sample (N = 1472), we ask: (1) how did agencies and social service workers manage service disruptions associated with COVID-19;(2) how did social service workers perceive shifts in clients’ needs;(3) how did social service workers experience the transition to remote interactions with clients;and (4) how did social service workers cope with COVID-related transitions and demands.Our findings tell a story of unprecedented crises alongside powerful attempts at adaptation, innovation, and resilience. Faced with extraordinary need among their clients, fears for their own health, and a breakdown of organizational and community functioning and guidance, social workers were able to learn and implement new technologies, adapt to increasing demands, manage new work-life boundaries, and find ways to address gaps in service while experiencing symptoms of burnout.The impact of supervisory and administrative fragmentation and communication breakdowns in the face of crisis put social workers in an untenable position despite surprising abilities to adapt, innovate, and manage their professional lives while under duress. Assuring better supervisory/administrative infrastructure to support workers as they deliver services during crises will help in future crises. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Social Work is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. 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.)

"There is Just a Different Energy": Changes in the Therapeutic Relationship with the Telehealth Transition.

The therapeutic relationship (TR), including its therapeutic frame, is the foundation of the therapeutic endeavor. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid transition to videoconferencing for therapeutic encounters, we employed a cross-sectional exploratory survey with 1490 respondents to understand how practitioners adapted to the changes. In this secondary analysis focused on the TR, we analyze the clinicians' (N = 448) spontaneous narratives about facets of the TR. Temporally, we focused on how these adaptations occurred during the initial part of the pandemic before vaccination was available and while the TR was still adapting to teletherapy videoconferencing under the duress of pandemic crises. We find three broad themes: (1) It is a "much more remote relationship"; (2) The "connection…remains surprisingly strong"; and (3) It is "energetically taxing." Each reflects clinicians' views of the TR as altered, but surprisingly resilient. Although grateful for the safety of virtual therapeutic encounters, clinicians mourned the loss of an embodied encounter, experienced depletion of energy beyond Zoom fatigue, and nonetheless recognized their clients' and their own abilities to adapt.