Rapid Creation of a Multiagency Alternate Care Site for COVID-19- Positive Individuals Experiencing Homelessness.

Cook County Health partnered with the Chicago Departments of Public Health and Family & Support Services and several dozen community-based organizations to rapidly establish a temporary medical respite shelter during the spring 2020 COVID-19 peak for individuals experiencing homelessness in Chicago and Cook County, Illinois. This program provided low-barrier isolation housing to medically complex adults until their safe return to congregate settings. We describe strategies used by the health care agency, which is not a Health Resource and Services Administration Health Care for the Homeless grantee, to provide medical services and care coordination.

Employing telehealth strategies for opioid addiction during COVID-19: implications for social work health care.

As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues, more than 40 states have reported increases in opioid-related mortality. The issue of service access and delivery poses a major concern for those struggling with mental illness and substance use disorders in the United States. To ensure the continuity of health care during the pandemic and the co-occurring opioid crisis, the United States continues to adapt its healthcare delivery strategies, which include the introduction of telehealth. Telehealth is a relatively new concept and requires rapid systems changes as well as adjustments from both service providers and recipients. The proper adaptation to the new service delivery method could result in process optimization and improved outcomes for those struggling with opioid dependency. This study aims to bring attention to the opioid crisis that may be overlooked in light of the global pandemic and encourage social workers and other mental health professionals to utilize modern technological advancements to improve service delivery to their clients. This paper offers a literature review with four themes: (1) a retrospect on pain and opioids, (2) current telehealth models and practical strategies, (3) social work roles and functions in telehealth care, and (4) next steps and implications of telehealth for social work as a much-needed health-care delivery tool at the clinical and community social work practice level.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: the race to trace: contact tracing scale-up in San Francisco-early lessons learned.

In order to effectively control spread of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), it is essential that jurisdictions have the capacity to rapidly trace close contacts of each and every case. Best practice guidance on how to implement such programs is urgently needed. We describe the early experience in the City and County of San Francisco (CCSF), where the City's Department of Health expanded contact tracing capability in anticipation of changes in San Francisco's 'shelter in place' order between April and June 2020. Important prerequisites to successful scale-up included a rapid expansion of the COVID-19 response workforce, expansion of testing capability, and other containment resources. San Francisco's scale-up offers a model for how other jurisdictions can rapidly mobilize a workforce. We underscore the importance of an efficient digital case management system, effective training, and expansion of supportive service programs for those in quarantine or isolation, and metrics to ensure continuous performance improvement.

Is It "Aging" or Immunosenescence? The COVID-19 Biopsychosocial Risk Factors Aggravating Immunosenescence as Another Risk Factor of the Morbus. A Developmental-clinical Social Work Perspective.

COVID-19 has proliferated ageism. The impetus of this article is to show that immunosenescence is a risk factor to COVID-19 and not aging per se. Based on the idea that some older people are also healthier than younger ones, the emphasis of this article is on immunosenescence and not aging as a risk factor of COVID-19 complications. The paper utilizes a biopsychosocial approach to expound on the link between immunosenescence and COVID-19 risk factors. The article explores biological factors such as malnutrition, comorbidities, substance abuse, and sex. It also expands on psychosocial factors such as mental health disorders, homelessness, unemployment, lack of physical exercises, stigma, and discrimination. The article calls for gerontological social work to assume a developmental-clinical social work perspective to prevent the early onset and progression of immunosenescence. It calls for gerontological social work to prevent factors that promote unhealthy aging. The article promotes a preventative stance to practice and not just curative approaches. Treatment involves primary prevention which emphasizes on avoiding the onset of unhealthy aging. It is this approach that gerontological social work should aim also to address in building resilience in the face of pandemics.

Impact of COVID-19 on the outreach strategy of cancer social service agencies in Singapore: A pre-post analysis with Facebook data.

The Singapore government implemented multiple restrictive measures as the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) spread through the community, thereby affecting the support service of cancer-related social service agencies (cancer-SSAs). We are interested to understand how Singapore's cancer-SSAs utilized the social media platform Facebook to overcome the restrictions which were introduced due to COVID-19. Facebook posts from two prominent cancer-SSAs 365 Cancer Prevention Society (365CPS) and Singapore Cancer Society (SCS) between comparable periods in 2019 and 2020 were extracted. These posts were categorized using a classification scheme which was specifically developed by two coders with adequate intercoder reliability. Statistical analyses were performed to determine if there was a significant difference in the frequency of posts between 2019 and 2020, and across three specific periods in 2020. Results indicate that 365CPS appears to have adapted to the pandemic by increasing their posting frequency on Facebook in 2020, but the same was not evident for SCS. However, both SSAs tweaked their social media outreach strategy in line with social distancing measures, publishing posts detailing activities that beneficiaries can participate from home such as healthy recipes and virtual events. SSAs can scale up their efforts to achieve a higher level of health promotion and support for their beneficiaries. Further qualitative studies are required to ascertain the impact of COVID-19 from the perspective of beneficiaries and validate the classification scheme which was developed in this study. The classification scheme could be used in ascertaining the quality of social media communication between public/private support groups and patients.

COVID-19: Opportunities for interdisciplinary research to improve care for older people in Sweden.

The emergence of COVID-19 has changed the world as we know it, arguably none more so than for older people. In Sweden, the majority of COVID-19-related fatalities have been among people aged ⩾70 years, many of whom were receiving health and social care services. The pandemic has illuminated aspects within the care continuum requiring evaluative research, such as decision-making processes, the structure and organisation of care, and interventions within the complex public-health system. This short communication highlights several key areas for future interdisciplinary and multi-sectorial collaboration to improve health and social care services in Sweden. It also underlines that a valid, reliable and experiential evidence base is the sine qua non for evaluative research and effective public-health systems.

Social work and telehealth: How Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) social workers in the Veterans Health Administration responded to COVID-19.

In March 2020, the Veterans Health Administration (VA) responded to pandemic shutdowns with a rapid pivot toward providing services via telehealth. Using data on Veterans who received interventions from social workers between 2019 and 2020 at sites that participated in a national program to increase social work staffing in primary care, we examined changes in frequency and modality of social work encounters that occurred with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that primary care social workers maintained a consistent level of engagement, with increases in telephone and video telehealth encounters as in-person visits decreased. Through front-line perspectives, we discuss the practical innovations and policies that enabled those changes in care from VA primary care social workers.

Addressing the social needs of individuals with food allergy and celiac disease during COVID-19: A new practice model for sustained social care.

COVID-19 has led to high rates of food insecurity. Food insecure patients with food allergy and celiac disease are especially vulnerable during the pandemic when foods become limited. This paper describes a practice innovation implemented by a community-based organization, Food Equality Initiative (FEI), whose mission is improving health and ending hunger among individuals with food allergy and celiac disease. FEI responded to the pandemic by converting their in-person pantries to a contactless delivery of safe foods. The practice innovation is discussed in relation to three system-level elements necessary to sustain the integration of social care into the delivery of healthcare.

Covid-19: A critical time for cross-sector social work care management.

Covid-19 has profoundly impacted social work and has exposed the existing inequities in the health care system in the United States. Social workers play a critical role in the pandemic response for historically marginalized communities and for those who find themselves needing support for the first time. Innovative approaches to care management, including the Center for Health and Social Care Integration (CHaSCI) Bridge Model of transitional care provides a foundation from which social workers can rise to meet these new challenges.

cAIR: Implementation of peer response support for frontline health care workers facing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: While global pandemics such as the COVID-19 public health crisis are known to increase the likelihood of frontline health care workers experiencing the negative effects of stress and trauma, many health care workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic lack adequate support. This paper presents the findings of a social work led peer support model, COVID-19 Am I Resilient (cAIR), developed and deployed during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: This quality improvement initiative was developed and piloted within the Clinical Education and Practice department at a large urban health care system. The pilot included provision of peer support through synchronous video presentations, one-on-one peer support, and resourcing and referral. Pilot outcomes of feasibility and staff engagement were evaluated using participant responses to an online survey as well as attendance records at project activities.Implications: Developed to help frontline health care workers thrive in the midst, and wake, of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pilot study of the cAIR peer support model has implications for further development and implementation of peer support for typically underrepresented health care disciplines working during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as future public health emergencies.

Virtual family town hall: An innovative multi-family telehealth intervention during COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges to the U.S. mental healthcare system. Immediate action has been required to transform existing social work practice models to ensure uninterrupted delivery of essential mental health services. This paper describes how clinicians in a residential program, who offered an in-person multi-family education workshop, rapidly pivoted in the context of the pandemic to develop and implement an alternative and unique multi-family intervention model - a virtual family town hall. This innovative telehealth practice model serves as an exemplar of best practices amidst the COVID-19 pandemic as it prioritized health and safety, increased accessibility, and allowed clinicians to effectively respond to family members' heightened informational needs.

Supporting families struggling with food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic: An innovative cross-sector collaboration.

Food insecurity is an ongoing and persistent problem for many individuals and families in the United States and in New York City. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the scope of the problem and data show that food insecurity rates have increased almost three times over pre-COVID rates. In addition, with unemployment increasing daily and the closure of safety net programs and services, there became a need for creatively attending to the basic needs of individuals and families. SCO Family of Services (SCO), a large human service provider in New York City and Long Island, launched an innovative project with DoorDash during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and successfully got food into the homes of more than 1,900 families. This article discusses the practice innovation, project impact, lessons learned, and social work implications.

"You never stop being a social worker:" Experiences of pediatric hospital social workers during the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has wrought widespread devastation upon children and families across the United States, widening existing health disparities and inequities that disproportionately affect communities of color. In health care settings specifically, social work is the key workforce tasked with responding to patient and family psychosocial needs, both of which have increased substantially since the emergence of COVID-19. There is a need to understand ways in which hospital social workers' roles, responsibilities, and integration within interprofessional teams have evolved in response to these challenges. In this qualitative study, focus groups were conducted with 55 social workers employed across multiple settings in a large, urban, pediatric hospital in Spring 2020. Thematic analyses revealed salient superordinate themes related to the pandemic's impact on social work practice and social workers themselves, institutional facilitators and impediments to effective social work and interprofessional practice, and social work perspectives on future pandemic recovery efforts. Within each theme, a number of interrelated subthemes emerged elucidating nuances of telehealth adoption in the context of remote work, the salience of social determinants of health, and the critical role of social work in social justice oriented pandemic preparedness and response efforts. Implications for interprofessional practice and the profession at large are discussed.

In the Global Epicenter: Social Work Leadership in a New York City Hospital.

The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City was in the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic and had to transform from a tertiary to crisis care hospital and increase its bed capacity by 50 percent to care for COVID-19 patients. The size, scope, complexity and uncertainty of this crisis was unparalleled. This article describes the comprehensive response of the Department of Social Work Services, one of the largest hospital social work departments in the country. The response was informed by four Departmental principles, as well as crisis intervention strategies. This article describes organizational structures, practice models, policies, and protocols developed to respond quickly and effectively, given infection prevention mandates, to patient, population and workforce needs. Finally, it includes how social workers addressed COVID-19 related physical and psychosocial needs and applied and modified interprofessional communication and collaboration. Lessons learned and clinical and administrative changes that will assist in navigating "new normal" operations are discussed.

Social work leadership in a medical school: A coordinated, compassionate COVID-19 response.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the systemic inequities in our health care system and society has called for actions to meet the clinical, psychosocial and educational needs in health care settings and communities. In this paper we describe how an organized Department of Health Social Work in a medical school played a unique role in responding to the challenges of a pandemic with community, clinical, and educational initiatives that were integral to our community's health.

Supporting survivors of campus dating and sexual violence during COVID-19: A social work perspective.

The issue of dating and sexual violence (DSV) on college campuses has received increased attention nationwide as a criminal justice and public health issue. College and university employed social workers play a critical role in preventing and responding to campus DSV through direct clinical services to students as well as prevention through educational programming and training. COVID-19 has negative implications for DSV student victims, as well as service delivery and accessibility. This paper examines the innovative methods used by university employed social work clinicians and educators to meet evolving mental health care needs and continue violence prevention services during COVID-19.