Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all social spaces, conditioning our daily routines, including those at work. All professions have been affected by stressful situations and anxiety in the proximity’s face of death generated by the pandemic. In this context, some professionals have emerged as essential, as social workers, acting in extreme situations in the face of increased demands and social uncertainty arising from the health crisis. The present study aimed to determine the levels of anxiety about death among social workers in Spain. For this purpose, an ad hoc questionnaire was designed, taking the Collett and Lester Fear of Death Scale as a reference (n = 304). The exploitation of the data was carried out from a quantitative perspective. First, a descriptive analysis was performed. Then, binary logistic regressions were carried out on the general scale. The dependent variable in all of them was the risk of suffering death anxiety to the set of its subscales. The main research results show high values of this anxiety in social workers concerning the general value of the scale—and the subscales—and the point of view of state and process. The highest values were Fear of Death of Others (81.6%) and Fear of the Process of Dying of Others (78.3%). Regarding the binary logistic regressions applied, predictor variables were identified in all of them, but the following stand out: Lack of personal protection equipment and Need psychological or psychiatric support. In addition, being a woman increases the risk of suffering Fear of the Dying Process of others.
Highlights
The pandemic that has hit the entire planet since the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus became known in December 2019 has shown that many professions today are considered essential, and more so than ever
With the COVID-19 pandemic, human, material, social, etc., losses have been increased for many months in a row, and social workers have had to deal with the personal pain that losing users can cause them while feeling their grief and that of their families
This study has revealed that social workers, in this context of the COVID-19 pandemic, have experienced a high level of fear of the dying process, both their own and others
Summary
Published: 26 April 2021The pandemic that has hit the entire planet since the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus became known in December 2019 has shown that many professions today are considered essential, and more so than ever. March 2020, it has been assumed that professions, such as healthcare, security forces, and corps, transporters, gas station workers, airports, or media, have had an essential role in the supply and provision of physical means for subsistence during the months of confinement and beyond and in the care and protection professions This situation, in which the spread of the virus occurred worldwide, revealed the many personal and social needs and shortcomings that, existing, had not been as visible as in the post-confinement period. With the COVID-19 pandemic, human, material, social, etc., losses have been increased for many months in a row, and social workers have had to deal with the personal pain that losing users can cause them while feeling their grief and that of their families These experiences can trigger emotional stress and anxiety in the face of the social worker’s death [21]
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