Social Work and COVID-19

Dear Colleagues,

At the end of 2019, the world became aware of the threat of a new strain of a contagious coronavirus disease that was first identified in Wuhan, China. Within months, the WHO announced a global pandemic, and country after country initiated public health responses that would have far-reaching social, health, and economic consequences. By October 2021, there have been over 230 million confirmed cases, and over 4.5 million deaths. Many countries have been through a number of phases of the pandemic, with variants posing new levels of risk for different groups of people. The elderly have been particularly vulnerable, as have those in overcrowded or high-density living conditions where spread is increased, along with those who have underlying health conditions or disabilities. COVID-19, as the virus came to be called, has caused health systems to collapse, industry to grind to a halt, education at all levels to be disrupted, international travel to be abandoned, and a scientific race to develop vaccines, test them, and have them approved for human use to begin.

This Special Issues addresses the role of the profession of social work and its place as an essential front-line discipline largely hidden from view behind other health professionals. Social work is a profession dedicated to social justice and human rights and to the promotion of principles such as autonomy, integrity, privacy, respect for diversity, duty of care, and activism in the face of oppression. Social workers across different countries have been actively engaged with crisis interventions, and the provision of ongoing social support as individuals and families have been thrown into rolling periods of lockdown and social isolation, with an increasing need for mental health services and economic assistance. At the community level, social workers have been advocating for reasonable policies around compassionate requests for travel, quarantine, and border negotiations; management of end-of-life rituals as COVID-19 death rates engulf vulnerable communities; and provision of public health initiatives to assist communities to understand vaccination messaging and health advice.

For this Special Issue, we are seeking both empirical papers and reflective accounts of social work activities and interventions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Papers could include research or reflections on how social work has responded to complex health issues; social work as a frontline, essential service; social work as a political activity and advocacy role; social work with children, families, and older people; social work with COVID-19 deaths, loss, and bereavement; social work and community engagement; ethical considerations around vaccination divides and rationalization of resources; and social work responses to increased mental health crises/domestic and family violence/homelessness/unemployment/social isolation and exclusion. Papers would also be welcome on social work service shifts to online delivery as a response to COVID-19 lockdowns and the implications for effectiveness and outcomes.

Prof. Dr. Donna McAuliffe
Prof. Dr. Jennifer Boddy
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Social Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• social work
• COVID-19
• pandemic
• human rights
• social justice
• health care systems
• social isolation
• public health
• community engagement
• social work ethics
• activism
• online service delivery