"We All had to Respond to the Pandemic and our Patient Needs": Social Workers' Perspectives of Integrated Healthcare Agencies' Response to COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT

[...]data comparison between pre-pandemic mental health studies and an analysis for the beginning of the pandemic showed a dramatic increase in prevalence of mental health problems that included depression and anxiety (Wu et al., 2020). According to Kamnitzer and colleagues (2020), social workers proactively supported patients when the pandemic hit. [...]the current study will add to the emerging literature by asking how did integrated healthcare agencies respond to behavioral health care needs during the pandemic from the point of view of social workers in these settings. [...]VAGLAHS used the combined efforts of interdisciplinary leaderships and a widespread laboratory surveillance program in their skilled nursing facility, inpatient psychiatry unit, inpatient admissions, temporary shelter units, residential rehabilitation treatment center, and dialysis patients (Jatt et al., 2020).