Social work and telehealth: How Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) social workers in the Veterans Health Administration responded to COVID-19

ABSTRACT

In March 2020, the Veterans Health Administration (VA) responded to pandemic shutdowns with a rapid pivot toward providing services via telehealth. Using data on Veterans who received interventions from social workers between 2019 and 2020 at sites that participated in a national program to increase social work staffing in primary care, we examined changes in frequency and modality of social work encounters that occurred with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that primary care social workers maintained a consistent level of engagement, with increases in telephone and video telehealth encounters as in-person visits decreased. Through front-line perspectives, we discuss the practical innovations and policies that enabled those changes in care from VA primary care social workers.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• telehealth
• primary care
• social work
• veterans
• social determinants of health

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Taylor Rickard for research assistance in the preparation of this manuscript. This work was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Office of Research and Development, Health Services Research & Development (HSR&D); Center of Innovation for Long-Term Services and Supports (CIN 13–419; C19–20–213); HSR&D Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (PEC 18–012); the VA National Social Work Program Office; the VA Office of Rural Health; the VA Office of Connected Care; and the National Institute on Aging (3P01AG027296–11S2).

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States government.