COVID-19 response and social work education in Nigeria: matters arising

ABSTRACT

The novel COVID-19 pandemic has taken the world by surprise and given the scale at which it is impacting individuals, families, communities, and countries globally, the recognition of social workers as frontline actors in response to this pandemic cannot be over-emphasized. However, social workers in Nigeria, appear not to be aware of the roles they can play. The question then arises as to the adequacy of their training curriculum that probably made them not be aware of their roles. Eight social workers who work in health and welfare agencies were purposively selected and interviewed by telephone. Findings show that they were not aware of the role expected of them during the pandemic. Some noted that their training was somewhat deficient hence the need to introduce some courses and also enhance field practicum in future training of social workers. The study recommends the need for social work educators to be more proactive in their interpretation of courses, the need to revise the current curriculum for training social workers in Nigeria to make it more action-oriented as well as incorporate more courses in public health and disaster management.

KEYWORDS:

• Curriculum
• COVID-19
• training
• intervention
• role

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Notes on contributors

Chinyere Edith Onalu

Chinyere E Onalu works as a teacher and researcher in the Department of Social Work, University of Nigeria Nsukka. Her research interest includes Public Health and other-related social issues.

Ngozi Eucharia Chukwu

Ngozi Eucharia Chukwu holds a PhD in Medical/Family Social work from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and lectures in the Department of Social Work at the same university. Her research interests are principally in public health, disabilities, social exclusion, maternal and child health, and migration and is widely published in these areas.

Uzoma Odera Okoye

Uzoma Odera Okoye is a Professor in the Department of Social Work at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka Enugu State, Nigeria.  Her research interest include social gerontology, public health and gender issues. She has conducted field researches in different areas of social work and has supervised many doctoral students. She is also the author of many journal articles.