Captures the unique moment in time created by the Covid-19 pandemic and uses this as a lens to explore contemporary issues for social work education and practice. The 2020 coronavirus pandemic provided an unprecedented moment of global crisis, which placed health and social care at the forefront of the national agenda. The lockdown, social distancing measures and rapid move to online working created multiple challenges and safeguarding concerns for social work education and practice, whilst the unparalleled death rate exacerbated pre-existing problems with communicating openly about death and bereavement. Many of these issues were already at the surface of social work practice and education and this book examines how the health crisis has exposed these, whilst acting as a potential catalyst for change. This book acts as a testament to the historical moment whilst providing a forum for drawing together discussion from contemporary educators, practitioners and users of social work services.

The novel coronavirus and the resultant COVID-19 pandemic have disproportionately affected older adults in terms of the number of lives lost, concerns about safety of institutional and home and community-based care, the impact of isolation and seclusion, and the ability to participate and engage in meaningful and contributory activities. The pandemic has uncovered layers of ageism that are embedded in societies globally and challenges us all to address the pervasive individual, institutional, and structural biases that permit age-based discrimination. Within the interdisciplinary field of gerontology, social workers lead organizations, provide direct services and supports, facilitate community engagement and participation, and deliver therapeutic interventions among other roles and activities that facilitate positive outcomes for older adults and their families. In Gerontological Social Work and COVID-19: Calls for Change in Education, Practice, and Policy from International Voices, scholars, practice professionals, and other stakeholders reflect on the initial months of the pandemic. They articulate immediate needs the pandemic has created and uncovered, and further identify directions the field must go in to meet the moment and prepare for the future ahead. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Gerontological Social Work.

This book examines how the shift to remote teaching in March 2020 due to the global pandemic created new opportunities for innovation and creativity and shaped how social work classes were taught, with many temporary changes now part of permanent, standard practice. Drawing on narratives from 20 social work leaders across 17 different countries, the chapters explore particular themes and viewpoints on lessons learned during the pandemic, including case studies to examine copying mechanisms, insights into the transition to remote teaching, and the creative lessons that were learned. By taking an international perspective, it represents a key contribution to the scholarship of social work leaders from around the world concerning how institutions transitioned to remote learning and teaching and how these lived experiences and new discoveries are contributing to and influencing current practice. As such, it will appeal to social work educators, researchers, and field educators around the world with interests in experimental curriculum and field practice.

This book focusses on the move to digitally mediated forms of teaching, learning and practice during Covid-19 and offers a series of case studies which showcase positive practices during this time. Education, Health and Social Work services have all been at the forefront of national debate since the first UK lockdown in March 2020. Schools, Colleges and Higher Education institutions moved rapidly to online delivery, with educators, parents, practice learning partners and students alike compelled to adapt to online connection, disrupting previous norms and forcing a rapid acquisition of new skills. In health and social care practice, there has been a similar move to online delivery, whilst maintaining consistency of service and support. The pandemic also coincided with the recommendations of the national Digital Capabilities for Social Work project, commissioned by Health Education England, which produced a prescient framework for professional practice. This book showcases innovative ways in which practice and education have responded to the challenges of Covid 19. With ongoing debate about planning for the next pandemic, as well as adapting to the post Covid landscape, the book is a valuable resource for all those involved in health and social work education and practice.

This book explores a key phenomenon that has been accelerated by the COVID-19 crisis, namely, the crossroads at which social welfare professionals find themselves. This is a crossroads where, on the one hand, there is an accelerated digitalization process and a reorganization of social programs, while on the other hand, we are confronted by the basic challenge of designing social policies and their methods of evaluation, that is, the generation of robust data that will allow better evaluation of social projects and programs. Rigorously analyzing the crossroads at which social welfare programs find themselves and the new demands for the education of professionals involved in social welfare programs, several key issues can be discerned; • the theoretical debate surrounding the changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and the process of redefining globalization in which we are immersed. • the challenges to be met by welfare programs, and the good practices that are being implemented. • the key issue of how to generate more robust data in the field of social services and social protection. • how to increase the competencies of professionals through education in schools of social work. Providing 15 newly written chapters drawn from both the global north and the global south, it offers a set of recommendations to address the challenges of inequality and social inclusion in the coming years. It will be of interest to all academics, students and practitioners working in the fields of social work, social welfare and social development.

The novel coronavirus and the resultant COVID-19 pandemic have disproportionately affected older adults in terms of the number of lives lost, concerns about safety of institutional and home and community-based care, the impact of isolation and seclusion, and the ability to participate and engage in meaningful and contributory activities. The pandemic has uncovered layers of ageism that are embedded in societies globally and challenges us all to address the pervasive individual, institutional, and structural biases that permit age-based discrimination. Within the interdisciplinary field of gerontology, social workers lead organizations, provide direct services and supports, facilitate community engagement and participation, and deliver therapeutic interventions among other roles and activities that facilitate positive outcomes for older adults and their families. In Gerontological Social Work and COVID-19: Calls for Change in Education, Practice, and Policy from International Voices, scholars, practice professionals, and other stakeholders reflect on the initial months of the pandemic. They articulate immediate needs the pandemic has created and uncovered, and further identify directions the field must go in to meet the moment and prepare for the future ahead. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Gerontological Social Work.