Predicting resilience among health social workers during COVID-19

Abstract

Health social workers practicing in hospital settings were confronted with numerous personal and professional challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Resiliency among frontline health social workers was important for effective practice, retention, and workforce sustainability during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Transactional Model of Stress and Coping was used to better inform how frontline health social workers responded during the pandemic and to identify risk and protective factors for professional social work resiliency. This study examined 163 health social workers employed across several hospitals in a large metropolitan city in the United States. Health social workers in this research identified with diverse backgrounds including age, race, and length of time in the profession. A multiple linear regression predicted 39.7% of the variance in resilience, with personal distress, coping, grit, and perspective-taking being significant predictors. Clinical, policy, and research implications are presented for promoting resiliency among health social workers in hospital settings.