The experiences of the Good Companions Response Team during the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan, China: a multi-professional team led by social workers

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a worldwide crisis. During the pandemic, social workers have proactively participated in providing support. The Good Companions Response Team is a volunteer team started by social workers in Wuhan, China and serving people living in China and Chinese communities around the world. This paper introduces the experiences of the team in the makeshift hospitals in Wuhan and the ‘4 + 1 Online-Offline Remote Support Model’ developed by the team. Our goal is to inspire social workers and other professionals in the Asian Pacific regions to work collaboratively during a similar public health emergency in the future.

KEYWORDS:

• Social worker
• multi-professional team
• makeshift hospital
• COVID-19
• Wuhan

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zhihong Yu

Zhihong Yu, PhD, is an assistant professor at Wuhan University. Her teaching and research cover family social work and youth social work. Amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, she established a volunteer team called ‘Good Companions Response Team’ to serve not only people living in Wuhan but also Chinese communities in other countries. The team provided services for patients in the makeshift hospitals in Wuhan from January to April 2020.

Weijia Tan

Weijia Tan, RSW, is a PhD candidate at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto. She has been educated and working in clinical settings both in China and Canada. Her research focuses on long-term care, funeral social work, and immigration and settlement, utilising the Strategies and Skills Learning and Development system for developing related theories and practice models. She has joined the ‘Good Companions Response Team’ as a social worker volunteer since February 2020.

Liya Niu

Liya Niu, RSW, works in the mental health field as a case manager and therapist. Her work mainly focuses on clients who are experiencing depression, anxiety, compulsive thoughts or behaviours, relationship issues, and identity crisis or cultural adjustment discomfort. She also works with youths who are experiencing intercultural conflicts, intergenerational conflicts in immigrant families, and interpersonal relationships struggle.