Social Work through Pandemic: Conclusions, Lessons Learned, and Future Orientations

Abstract

The final chapter of the book Social Work During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Glocal Perspectives and Implications for the Future of Social Work brings together the empirical chapters of the book and aims to create an updated overall picture of what we know about social work during the pandemic through both theoretical frameworks and recent research. The final chapter starts from the social-ecological conditions under which social workers, social work communities, and organisations have had to work during the COVID-19 pandemic. These conditions include various factors that may increase or decrease the epidemiological exposure and social vulnerability of individuals, communities, and societies in the context of the pandemic and its countermeasures. After this, the chapters of the book will be compiled, and the results of the empirical analyses will be summarised. This view will be complemented by utilising the latest social work research, reflecting on this in relation to general social theory frameworks, resilience studies, and disaster social work. The end of the chapter aims to summarise what we have learned from the pandemic, to make visible the limitations of the book, and to create an overview of future challenges.