The impact of COVID-19 on the professional and personal lives of pediatric oncology social workers

Abstract

Purpose

Describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work structure, daily care provided, personal lives, and practice models for pediatric oncology social workers (POSW).

Research Approach

Cross-sectional online survey on APOSW professional listserv from 10/5/2020 to 11/20/2020.

Sample

101 surveys were completed by POSW from 31 states and the District of Columbia.

Methods

Data were summarized descriptively and with semantic content analyses.

Findings

Surveys were completed by social workers from diverse work settings. Seventy-five percent of social workers were deemed “essential,” and 45% reported working primarily from home. Most (56%) adopted a form of telehealth for patient care, although 71% did not receive telehealth training and 87% perceived lesser quality of care with telehealth. Nearly 80% of respondents reported not being able to provide optimum psychosocial care. Notable stressors on social work practice included worry about exposure to COVID-19, limited resources, lack of contact with and increased emotional needs of patients and families, managing patient and family concerns about COVID-19, and isolation from colleagues. Inequity and social justice issues were identified. Despite challenges, over 60% of POSW endorsed positive changes to their work life resulting from the pandemic.

Conclusions/Interpretation

As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, POSW have adapted to a changing work environment, different modes of service provision, and stark health inequities to meet the needs of patients and families in a crisis.

Implications for Psychosocial Providers

COVID-19 vastly impacted the personal and professional lives of POSW, warranting attentiveness to lessons learned and future directions.

Keywords:

• childhood cancer
• COVID-19
• inequities
• pandemic
• psychosocial
• social work practice
• telehealth

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the pediatric oncology social workers for participation in this study and APOSW for allowing this research to be posted on their listserv.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported in part by the Intramural Program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute (Dr. Wiener, Ms. Fry).

Notes on contributors

Lori Wiener

Lori Wiener, PhD, DCSW participated in design of the data collection instrument, led data curation and participated in the data analysis, wrote the first draft of the manuscript and revised the manuscript.

Abigail Fry

Abigail Fry, BA, participated in design of the data collection instrument, built the SurveyMonkey survey, participated in data curation and data analysis, participated in writing the manuscript and provided revisions to the manuscript.

Wendy Pelletier

Wendy Pelletier, MSW, RSW contributed to conceptualizing the study, participated in writing the manuscript and provided revisions to the manuscript.

Nancy Cincotta

Nancy Cincotta, MSW, LCSW, MPhil contributed to conceptualizing the study, participated in writing the manuscript and provided revisions to the manuscript.

Barbara Jones

Barbara Jones, PhD, MSW, contributed to conceptualizing the study, participated in writing the manuscript and provided revisions to the manuscript.