This year has brought many challenges for people all over the globe. The pandemic of 2020 has affected peoples’ health and made it tough for all businesses to survive. People from all professions have faced difficulties this year. The same applies to social workers. It is a challenging job that requires dedication, effort and courage to speak the truth. The situation of the pandemic has increased responsibilities for the social workers and challenged them to serve people more effectively.
Regardless of the current pandemic, social workers are employed to make society better. They have to deal with cases of abuse, violence, isolation and many others. As a social worker, you must acquire proper training and skills to successfully overcome all hurdles. You will face situations in your career where you will be counseling an individual to deal with an internal struggle. Learn about building healthy relationships with clients to gain their trust and resolve their issues.
Social work ranks among the top meaningful jobs as it can positively impact peoples’ lives. It strengthens communities to keep moving in the right direction by dealing with social and political issues. Social work initiatives combine with social work principles to address the problems appropriately.
This guide will present 2020 challenges for social workers and what they face generally.
No Meetings
In the current pandemic, there is no chance to meet your clients. People are afraid to face each other in lockdown, so nobody wants to get infected by the virus. Although, in this digital era contacting someone is not an issue. But physical presence is essential to provide your clients with moral and emotional support. It makes a positive impact on their mind and helps them to tackle the situation smartly.
Voice messages or video calls can not produce good results when you are counseling your client. It is still a big challenge for all social workers around the world to fulfill their responsibilities. The overall situation is getting slightly better now, and social workers can resume their visits sooner but with proper precautions.
Assuring Healthy Life
According to the statistical study, 1 out of 10 children suffers from mental health issues. This current pandemic has also given massive stress to people. Social workers can help families by conducting prevention programs, but it is still a tough ask in these circumstances. High qualification is mandatory to organize such programs, so you may consider the option of masters in social work online to overcome this challenge. It can be the best decision in the current scenario to ensure a healthy lifestyle for people.
Illness chances increase when people have limited access to health care. It can be even worse if they are living in poverty or dangerous environments. Social workers can minimize the healthcare gap to provide families with results-driven solutions by forming evidence-based strategies. It will help to make the right decisions according to the given situation.
Reducing Violence in the Society
Family violence is one of the biggest concerns for social workers. Research has shown that a large number of individuals are suffered from violence daily. You have to create effective interventions to overcome this challenge as a social worker. Firstly, you have to identify the victims. The early you will find, the better it will be for them to get their confidence back. Violence does not harm the well-being of victims but also cost billion on criminal justice. You have to analyze each case properly to find a suitable solution in this pandemic.
Dealing with Homelessness
As you have seen, a large number of people on the streets have no place to live. It is a very alarming situation for all social workers as such people can easily get infected by the virus in a given scenario. Homelessness is the biggest threat to the health of any individual. It affects health in different ways, and the effects can be long-lasting. It is one of the most significant ethical challenges for social workers during this pandemic. The development of innovative strategies and policies can help to provide housing schemes at reasonable prices. It will help to reduce the homelessness rate.
Creating Awareness for Social Responsibility
The current pandemic has already shown how quickly healthcare practices change globally. Social workers are liable to make society aware of social responsibilities to help each other in such situations. You have to create transformative social measures to engage communities and contribute positively to the betterment of society.
Conclusion
The life of social workers is full of challenges. This year has made it even hard for social workers to carry out their duties properly. With a continuously changing situation globally, you have to be flexible to cope with difficulties while working as a social worker.
You have to harness technology to do well in all aspects of life in this digital era. By making the best use of technological advancements, you can execute tasks efficiently. From case planning to build treatment plans, you can do various tasks conveniently. In this way, social workers can meet all needs of people in the communities.
Hopefully, this article will give you a complete understanding of the challenges that social workers have faced in 2020. It will also help you to accomplish them.
