Shifting Practices: INNOVATIVE SOCIAL WORK DURING COVID-19

FEATURE STORY

BY EMILY RENDELL-WATSON

WHEN THE PANDEMIC BEGAN, social workers across Canada had to quickly find new and creative ways to continue their practices. Many adapted to working from home, navigating how to connect with clients virtually. The following stories profile four Alberta social workers and how they’ve each been resilient in tackling new challenges, all while supporting clients and their colleagues.

(Please note: this story was written in July 2020 and may not reflect the current state of the pandemic, or work situations for each of the four social workers profiled.)

Lindsay Ames

As a medical social worker in the University of Alberta Hospital’s intensive care unit, Lindsay Ames, BSW, RSW, has been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. She provides family support, which involves facilitating communication, crisis intervention, grief and end of life care, as well as practical assistance and supportive counsel to help people navigate the health care system.

Ames knew that families would be impacted by provincial visitor guidelines, and even more so if their loved one tested positive for COVID-19.

“Families are experiencing a high level of stress because they are reacting and responding to the larger picture of a pandemic and are also navigating a critical care admission that could be directly related to the pandemic,” Ames said. “I had to keep my wits about me and figure out the new needs emerging … to empathize as well as strategize around what families would need.”

When families couldn’t come inside the unit to visit, Ames would go and meet them outside of the hospital. Some dropped off iPads filled with music or sacred texts “that would feel comforting and medicinal in their own way,” she explained. “You become the eyes and the hands for them.”

As the months unfolded, Ames drew strength from working alongside health care colleagues and collaborating to solve problems in real time through the stress of the pandemic.

“Our greatest strength is our ability to gather together to connect, communicate and cooperate. Alone we are vulnerable, together we can be strong.”

Debbie Kozdrowski

When Westlock’s Aspen Primary Care Network had to close its doors to the public, the first thing Debbie Kozdrowski, RSW, did was go through the Standards of Practice for social work.

Kozdrowski, a Behavioural Health Practitioner, knew she would have to rely on her training and expertise to get through the pandemic as the only social worker in her workplace.

“It was the Standards of Practice that I used to start providing some guidance and directional insight: to determine what was the best way for me to provide services to my clients, what were the challenges — there are a lot of barriers in rural areas,” said Kozdrowski.

Westlock is about 85 kilometres north of Edmonton. Kozdrowski worried about her clients being able to access the internet, or if they had devices through which they could connect to her.

She handles the early intervention component of helping people learn how to better manage symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, and more.

“The other issue with virtual was privacy at home. I had some clients saying, ‘Even if I had it, I wouldn’t do it. It’s too weird. It’s too awkward’,” she said. Kozdrowski decided to connect with clients by phone.

She said she usually relies heavily on psychoeducational material to support her work and trying to explain the methodology over the phone was challenging. “It forced me to slow down and think this through to ask myself, how do I be precise and clear enough to really take this image and paint it in my client’s mind? So that’s actually been good for me because it’s really forced me to take that step back and think things through to vocalize them,” she explained, adding that in many ways, the pandemic has made her step outside of her comfort zone, which has ultimately made her a better social worker.

Charlotte Ikuta

Charlotte Ikuta, BSW, RSW, is a homecare case manager in Edmonton with Alberta Health Services. Her role includes working with clients to organize in-home support for homecare services and also figuring out what other kinds of health professionals may benefit them.

The risk of COVID-19 has meant she’s had to think outside the box to find a balance of ensuring clients have access to the care and services they need, but to minimize any potential exposure. For a short time at the beginning of the pandemic, there was a transition to offering only essential services for some clients, which Ikuta said was a challenge.

“We’re trying to reduce the amount of staff that are going into that home, and how many times a day they’re going in, to reduce everyone’s chances of contracting COVID-19,” Ikuta explained. “I think it brought out the resiliency of our clients, and families really stepped up in amazing ways.”

Many of the resources and services she normally accesses for clients, like food support, clothing or furniture, were closed or working at reduced hours. “I’ve had to get more creative and really do my research …to fill those gaps.” Luckily, new programs have been created to help out, like charities that have started delivering groceries to seniors for free.

With the increased mental health stressof COVID-19, Ikuta has also noticedthat many of her clients have increasedtheir use of addictive substances,which has prompted her to respondwith a harm reduction approach.

“So (I’ve been) having ongoingconversations with those clients,making sure that they have accessto support, and working with themcreatively to make sure that they try tominimize their use as much as possible while also makingsure that they have a safe amount,” Ikuta said.

Joan Chambers

Before the pandemic began, Joan Chambers, BSW, RSW,was working with a group of clients using dialectical behavior therapy (DBT),focusing on regulating skills and identifying the best supports for stressful moments.But that work was forced to a halt when she had to shift to working from home.

“We were really struggling with not being able to complete that course. And we really felt it was important that we were able to do that,” said Chambers, who is a Family Mentor with Hull Services in Calgary. She works with families who have an adult with a suspected or diagnosed mental illness. Most of the work is with the adult who is struggling, but she also works on developing family dynamics.

Chambers and her colleague decided to turn to Zoom to complete the course, an unfamiliar platform that came with its own set of challenges, including reading body language when you can only see a client’s face.

“Sometimes you get those mixed messages when you see the whole body. They may seem just fine but you can tell by their body stance that maybe they’re not so fine,” she explained. “You have to be more mindful of watching little subtle cues within their facial expressions.”

She initially thought they’d lose clients by taking DBT online, but the opposite has happened — clients were more engaged than ever. “They’re sharing faster than I’ve seen in the past. Working with clients has actually enhanced our ability to reach them at a different level now,” Chambers said.

Her clients have had to apply the skills they’ve worked on throughout the pandemic, with many of them at home full-time with families. “They’re learning how to communicate differently and more effectively because they have to communicate together,” she said. “I think everyone’s learning to adjust to this new norm.”

Despite the success in taking her practice online, Chambers said she is still looking forward to returning to visiting her clients’ homes and interacting face-to-face once it’s safe to do.

Each of these four social workers have experienced change and tackled new challenges because of COVID-19 -- from taking client meetings online to seeking out innovative programs to fill the gaps. If you want to share how your social work practice has changed during the pandemic, please email ACSW at MemberActivitiesLead@acsw.ab.ca.

EMILY RENDELL-WATSON is an Edmonton-based multimedia journalist. When she’s not chasing a story, you can find her coaching speed skating or adventuring in the backcountry with her rescue dog, Abby..