Social work and telehealth: How Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) social workers in the Veterans Health Administration responded to COVID-19. (7th February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cornell, Portia Y.; Celardo, Caitlin; Chmelka, GinaR.; Giles, Angela J.; Halladay, Christopher W.; Halaszynski, Jaime; Montano, Anna-Rae; Rudolph, James L.; Silva, Jennifer W.
• Is Part Of: Social work in health care. Volume 60:Number 2(2021)
• Page Start: 131
• Page End: 145
• Publication Date: 2021-02-07
• Subjects: COVID-19 -- telehealth -- primary care -- social work -- veterans -- social determinants of health; Medical social work -- Periodicals; 362.10425
• DOI: 10.1080/00981389.2021.1904320
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0098-1389

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In March 2020, the Veterans Health Administration (VA) responded to pandemic shutdowns with a rapid pivot toward providing services via telehealth. Using data on Veterans who received interventions from social workers between 2019 and 2020 at sites that participated in a national program to increase social work staffing in primary care, we examined changes in frequency and modality of social work encounters that occurred with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that primary care social workers maintained a consistent level of engagement, with increases in telephone and video telehealth encounters as in-person visits decreased. Through front-line perspectives, we discuss the practical innovations and policies that enabled those changes in care from VA primary care social workers.