Integrated Health Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Social Justice View from the Perspectives of Social Workers

COVID-19 has laid bare the enormous health disparities that still exist in the United States due to racial injustice. Due to these disparities, nondominant racial and ethnic groups have experienced disproportionate rates of infection and death from COVID-19. Social justice is a cardinal value of the social work profession. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, social workers need to play a role in addressing the health disparities that exist in the United States. This qualitative study examined the perspectives of forty social workers who worked as individuals in integrated healthcare settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants indicated that structural racism was a primary factor that contributed to health disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic.