Social Workers and Physical Health: Imperative Medical Issues and COVID-19.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented disruptions to the workforce, most notably necessitating a more distanced work environment, which may have negative repercussions for physical health. In our prepandemic study of licensed social workers (Straussner et al., 2015), we found that many professionals were already experiencing significant physical health problems that impacted their work; these have likely been exacerbated as a result of COVID-19. This column presents the literature on physical health among social workers, findings from our study of social workers, and COVID-related implications for the social work workforce. In a review of emerging literature related to the pandemic, Kniffin et al. (2021) found that workplace trends that were already underway, such as working from home and virtual teamwork, have accelerated as a result of the virus. It has been demonstrated that social interaction is important for physical health; virtual and socially distanced workplaces limit social interaction, which may heighten workplace problems (Mogilner et al., 2018). Recent scholarship indicates that COVID-19 is also contributing to other negative workplace shifts, such as burnout, absenteeism, bullying, job insecurity, and turnover (Bapuji et al., 2020).