Role of Professional Social Workers in the Healthcare Sector during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Tamil Nadu

Abstract

This study highlights the experiences of frontline social workers in the health sector during the COVID-19 pandemic in Tamil Nadu. It adopts an empirical phenomenological approach to understand the role of social workers during the public health crisis and how they tackled the challenges. Snowball sampling was used to collect primary data from 20 individuals working in leading healthcare institutions. The study exposes the
barriers to service delivery and the need for a multidisciplinary skill set to handle the challenges of the pandemic. The author suggests ways for advancing social work competencies in healthcare settings and elucidates how contemporary social work can ameliorate the effects of the pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19, social order, social workers, healthcare sector, pandemic practice

DOI: 10.32444/IJSW.2024.85.1.123-136