2026-09-21T16:30:20Zhttps://repository.unam.edu.na/server/oai/request

oai:repository.unam.edu.na:11070/38492024-06-01T22:01:26Zcom_11070_3515com_11070_3318com_11070_3307col_11070_192

Shatiwa, Scholastika Nelago 2024-05-29T10:36:10Z 2024-05-29T10:36:10Z 2024 http://hdl.handle.net/11070/3849 A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts in social work The purpose of this study was to explore the operational challenges that hospital based social workers faced throughout the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research also focused on the effects of the COVID-19 on hospital based social workers, and the coping strategies hospital based social workers employed to reduce the severity of the challenges brought about by the same pandemic. The research utilized an exploratory qualitative design. In-depth interviews were performed with ten (10) individuals who were intentionally selected, and their comments were recorded, transcribed, examined, and reviewed. Participants were hospital-based social workers recruited via non-random, deliberate sampling procedures. Through thematic analysis using open coding, themes and subthemes were developed, and these were examined in detail with supporting literature. The findings of the study were safety concerns and risks, professional dilemmas, decreased capacity to engage in self-care and increased adoption of unhealthy habits, loss of interaction between social workers, and emotional discomfort. The impacts of the pandemic extended as far as having hospital-based social workers (SW) participate in distant operations with diminished engagement; happiness was affected; there was the loss of jobs, early retirement for some, and stress, among other things. To try to reduce the detrimental consequences of the pandemic, several coping strategies were put in place, such as the WFH policy, decontamination of offices, national lockdowns, natural cures, and the provision of tele-behavioral therapy to clients. Building on existing pandemic preparation frameworks, these findings might enable future studies to create both individual and systemic solutions. It will also assist Ministry of Health and Social Services to request training institutions of higher learning to actively enroll men in the social work course. Furthermore it will help in fast-track access to technology for the Omusati Region staff, which consists of hospitals, health centers, and clinics, and to provide devices (e.g. smart phones, laptops) to the focal emergency staff. Clients can become more comfortable with technology-enabled care, such as using existing training curricula, by receiving training on how to use Zoom, Teams, and other platforms of communications en University of Namibia Operational challenges Social workers COVID-19 pandemic Coping v strategies Namibia An exploration of the challenges faced by hospital based social workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Omusati region, Namibia Thesisopen.access