Isolation in the midst of a pandemic: social work students rapidly respond to community and field work needs

ABSTRACT

In the midst of a pandemic, many social work students are currently displaced from their field education, while the needs of their communities are exacerbated. Due to stay-at-home orders, the risk of experiencing social isolation and loneliness, already a major social problem prior to the crisis, has increased, especially for older adults. Seeking to step up in the context of a public emergency, graduate social work students in the United States created a project called GiftsofGab.org, which is a volunteer call-based companion coordination project that connects social work students with those in need of social interaction. We provide a case study of this project and argue that this kind of student-initiated action learning project can provide a workable alternative field placement model in times of crisis and is consistent with the community practice mission of social work.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID 19
• social isolation
• loneliness
• field education
• action-learning
• social work education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zachary A. Morris

Zachary Morris, PhD, MSW, MPhil, is an assistant professor at the Stony Brook University School of Social Welfare.

Emily Dragone

Emily Dragone is an MSW candidate at the Stony Brook University School of Social Welfare and a founding member of GiftsofGab.org.

Carolyn Peabody

Carolyn G. Peabody, Ph.D., LCSW, ACSW is a Clinical Full Professor and the Director of the Community, Policy & Political Social Action Specialization at the Stony Brook University School of Social Welfare.

Katherine Carr

Katherine Carr is an MSW candidate at the Stony Brook University School of Social Welfare and the founder of GiftsofGab.org.