ABSTRACT
Purpose
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, social workers have participated in fighting the virus in interprofessional teams. This exploratory study examined social workers’ experiences in interprofessional practice during the early stage of combating COVID-19.
Method
We used a purposive sampling strategy to recruit social workers. Ten semi-structured, in-depth interviews and thematic analyses were conducted.
Results
Results indicate that social workers experienced ambiguous professional identities and role confusion in interprofessional teams; found communication to be key to interprofessional practice; and identified facilitators and barriers at the organizational level.
Conclusion
The interprofessional practice in fighting COVID-19 has less mature or formal forms in China. Recommendations for promoting social workers’ roles in interprofessional practice in China are discussed.
Acknowledgments
We thank graduate students Jiahao Huang, Qianru Xu, and Xiaodan Chen at the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies for their assistance in data collection. We also thank social workers who participated in this study.
Data Sharing Statement
Data is available on request due to privacy/ethical restrictions.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).