5 minute read
Ana Coronado
Mentor: Larry Hill Department of Social Work
Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 emerged from Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, and spread to more than 170 countries in 6 months since it was first detected7. As of May 4, 2021, there are more than 153.6 million confirmed cases and over 3.2 million deaths related to this coronavirus8. Millions of patients recovered as health professionals continue to work on the frontlines. Although the media focuses on stories told by doctors and registered nurses, medical teams are supported by skilled professionals, including medical social workers, certified nursing assistants, and medical technicians. This secondary support system is essential to health and human services. Our proposal aims to support the health and human service industry by recruiting, educating, training, and supporting a workforce with certifications in occupations that support this disaster response. Social Work is the profession that will support communities as we respond to emerging COVID-19 needs that are common during and after disasters, such as accessing health care9, accurate public health information10, and addressing increases in alcohol and substance use11. The Disaster Apprenticeship Program (DAP) aims to meet critical shortages of credentialed health care and human service workers who will support clients and agencies as they cope with COVID19 related issues. DAP has two concrete goals: 1) Prepare youth to enter the post-COVID-19 workforce with marketable skills and certifications to serve in medical and/or human service settings and 2) Expand the Registered Apprenticeship Programs in Qualified Opportunity Zones to bridge the labor market gap between rural and metropolitan areas. PVAMU RISE funding supported a pilot study to determine the local need and community readiness to successfully execute the proposal. Materials and Methods: According to Harris County Texas Nonprofits, there are 30,521 non-profits in the Harris County area; with a combined revenue of over $44.2 billion. PVAMU Department of Social Work has partnerships with over 150 nonprofit agencies, schools, hospitals, and community health clinics. These partnerships emerge from the Social Work Office of Field Education which is charged with connecting senior-level social work students with internships. Our pilot study utilizes a convenience sampling strategy within its 150 field placement sites. Over 95% are based within the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Five percent are in rural areas and 1% in Dallas/Fort Worth. Sample Size: Based on the population of 30,521 agencies; a confidence level of 95%, a standard confidence interval of 3%, an optimal sample size needed is 1030 agencies. Based on the sub-population of our 150 field placement sites, a confidence level of 95%, a standard confidence interval of 3%, a sample of 132 is needed to conduct polling and comparative analyses. Instrument: The COVID-19 Agency Needs Assessment Survey was developed by the research team. The following subjects were covered in the survey: agency profile, current workforce needs, current educational/certification needs, funding, and university-community engagement linkages. The following study procedures were approved by the PVAMU IRB (#2021043). 1) A list of agencies and emails were created by the research team. 2) The research team sent an email invitation to complete the COVID-19 Agency Needs Assessment. 3) Participants click on the survey link. The IRB Information Sheet is launched. If they click "yes," then they are launched into the survey. If they click no, they are sent to a thank you page. 4) Participants open the survey link and complete the survey. 5) After 1-3 days, the research team began follow-up calls to increase the response rate. Each agency received one follow-up call. 6) Respondents completed the online survey and received a thank you message. Results and Discussion: Our preliminary results from agenies (n=14) revealed that a majority served more than 1000 people in 2020. Standard services were provided, yet we also found a lack of immigration services, domestic violence counseling, and telehealth. The results also suggest that over 60% “somewhat agree,” “agree,” or “strongly agree” that PVAMU can help support their agency missions during the COVID-19 response with the following services: partnership building, internships, community service, collaborations, staff training, co-written grants, new ideas, and external program evaluations. Over 80% agencies indicated that the following skills would be necessary for social workers to better support their mission website development, budgeting/finance, fundraising, marketing, report writing/note-taking, and telecommunications. Results also showed a strong interest in dual degrees in BSW+CNA (70%) or MSW+CNA (60%).
7 https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html 8 9 Note: this is more double the amount of cases and deaths since the RISE proposal was submitted in September) Watson, J. T., Gayer, M., & Connolly, M. A. (2007). Epidemics after natural disasters. Emerging infectious diseases, 13(1), 1. doi: 10.3201/eid1301.060779 Page 144 10 11 of 3Lowrey, W., Evans, W., Gower, K.K. et al. Effective media communication of disasters: Pressing problems and recommendations. BMC Public Health 7, 97 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-7-97 Cepeda, A., Valdez, A., Kaplan, C., & Hill, L. E. (2010). Patterns of substance use among hurricane Katrina evacuees in Houston, Texas. Disasters, 34(2), 426-446. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7717.2009.01136.x
Summary: This pilot study and preliminary analysis examines the emerging workforce needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collection and analysis will continue until July 2021. This data will help develop future proposals with the Department of Labor to meet the needs of our community partners amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This research will also help the PVAMU Department of Social Work remain relevant to the needs of its community partners as it produces productive people during the pandemic. Continued support from PVAMU RISE will help this data collection effort and subsequent multivariate analysis.
References:
1. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html 2. Note: this is more than double the amount of cases and deaths since the RISE proposal was submitted in September) 3. Watson, J. T., Gayer, M., & Connolly, M. A. (2007). Epidemics after natural disasters. Emerging infectious diseases, 13(1), 1. doi: 10.3201/eid1301.060779 4. Lowrey, W., Evans, W., Gower, K.K. et al. Effective media communication of disasters: Pressing problems and recommendations. BMC Public Health 7, 97 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-7-97 5. Cepeda, A., Valdez, A., Kaplan, C., & Hill, L. E. (2010). Patterns of substance use among hurricane Katrina evacuees in Houston, Texas. Disasters, 34(2), 426-446. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7717.2009.01136.x
