Reflecting on Resilience, Recovery, and Needs-Based Service Delivery

In essence, resilience is about harnessing a system’s internal and external resources to cope and persist in the face of trauma or extreme disruption. In the context of social work, resilience can be about bolstering unique strengths and protective factors, and reducing vulnerabilities, fears, and uncertainties that threaten to overwhelm individuals, families, and communities. Social work services can help bolster resilience after an individual’s or community’s exposure to difficult, hazardous, or extreme events, support and implement creative solutions, and help families to survive and bounce back so they feel hopeful again that circumstances can change or be changed (Alston & Chow, 2021; van Breda, 2018). While social workers might feel fearful or uncertain in shared times of crises or disasters, we need to remain fearless in our advocacy for needs-based services (Ali et al., 2023).

Recovery is a related term in the literature, often pertaining to natural disasters impacting communities, but the term also is applied much more broadly. Examples include recovery-orientated mental health services (Hine et al., 2024), Indigenous-led, trauma-informed healing for individuals, communities, and the environment (Quinn et al., 2022), and a national plan for women and children’s recovery from the trauma of domestic and family violence (Commonwealth of Australia, 2022).

A report by the CSIRO (2020, p. 3) identified that in times of crises the inclination can be “to batten down the hatches” and “postpone … actioning new ideas while riding out the storm”. However, several articles in this Issue demonstrate that during the COVID-19 pandemic and other disasters, instead of postponing new ideas, innovation flourished and flexibility proved to be vital. The Australian Government National Disaster Mental Health and Wellbeing Framework identified that more communities may be impacted by future disasters and crises, and increased attention will need to be directed to individuals’, communities’, and frontline workers’ mental health, resilience, and recovery (https://nema.gov.au/about-us/budget-2023-24/Mental-Health-Wellbeing-Framework).

While recognising the importance of both personalised and community interventions for resilience and recovery, some authors critique inappropriate emphasis on individuals’ shortcomings instead of structural factors including geographical isolation, gender inequities, marginalisation, racism, violence, stigma, and poverty. As we know, crises and trauma can compound lived disadvantage, while a lack of equity in the distribution of postdisaster resources can lead to unequal recovery, especially for marginalised groups and women and children in rural and remote locations (Foster & Foster-Palmer, 2023; Harms et al., 2021; Park et al., 2018). Articles in this Issue point to individual and community vulnerabilities, strengths, persistence, and resilience. The importance of keeping socially connected is highlighted and informed, relationship-based pathways to recovery are recommended.

Beginning this collection, Newcomb and Venning (2024) detail how social work and human service practitioners needed to react with increased levels of flexibility, adaptability, and resilience during the COVID-19 crisis, and how good organisational support and resourcing was conducive to employee wellbeing and maintained performance. Continuing a theme of service delivery during COVID-19, Humphreys et al. (2024) emphasise experiences of stress and trauma for young people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during the global pandemic and lessons learned to maintain essential services in future crises. Next, Hine et al. (2024) present service users’ descriptions of recovery-orientated rural mental health service delivery during the pandemic. They conclude social workers are well placed to drive recovery-oriented practices that move beyond the individual to holistic, family-focused services. Long et al. (2024) focus on professional identity resilience and organisational protective factors needed for workers to withstand increased workplace pressures and role demands. Equally, pointing to the importance of sharing personal experiences in resilience and recovery, King et al. (2024) report the intentional sharing of mental health lived experiences in the workplace, to support staff and service users.

Turning to natural disasters, Kellett, Gibbs, and Harms (2024) discuss service delivery shortcomings after devastating bushfires. They report individual and community trauma and gendered experiences of anger, but equally the role of anger in recovery. Similarly, Rusconi and Boetto (2024) report on a small study exploring postdisaster service provision from the perspectives of community service workers following the Australian Black Summer bushfire season and what communities needed for effective recovery. Reflecting on a different type of crisis, Jones and Wendt (2024) highlight homelessness for women and children escaping family violence and describe research that led to prioritising housing services for these families.

Turning to deeply personal experiences of trauma, Azri and colleagues (2024) present findings on adverse prenatal diagnoses, identifying the crucial role of social workers in listening intently to these lived experiences in order to provide services to meet clients’ unique psychosocial needs. Next, Gribble et al. (2024) stress the importance of preserving critical relationships during times of looming emotional disconnection by drawing comparisons across simple adoption, guardianship, and long-term foster care.

Overall, many articles in this Issue highlight listening, building, and maintaining relationships and working collaboratively to provide targeted services to individuals, families, and communities experiencing trauma and adversity. This includes the final article in the collection by Gair and colleagues (2024), who collaborated with marginalised young people at risk of offending to help shape services provided to them.

Books Reviews in this Issue highlight the impact of coercive control on women's and children's lives, and an arts approach to healing loss and grief.