Many biological agents are epidemic or pandemic in nature (Ebola 2013, Spanish influenza 1918, Russian influenza 1989, SARS-CoV-2 2019). Recognising the onset of the spread of epidemics and pandemics remains a major challenge even in the 21st century despite the technologies and scientific knowledge at our disposal, as is the successful management of such situations. The reason concerns the existence of biological diversity and the laws that govern it, which are very difficult to predict and which are virtually uncontrollable. It is gradually becoming apparent that the current spread of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 (9 million deaths since the beginning of the pandemic according to WHO) is characterised by very different characteristics (e.g. the exposure, transmission and spread of the viral infectious agent) in different populations and risk groups.Social services workers in the Czech Republic have been on the frontline for the duration of the pandemic and have been required to work in a high-risk infectious environment. This has led to the need for changes in their established working practices and approaches. Considerable creativity had to be employed particularly in the first year of the pandemic due to the scarcity of information on the new viral agent, the availability of which increased only slowly as the scientific community studied and analysed the various factors involved. Globally, the scientific community released its experimental data as soon as it became available; however, unfortunately, due to the nature of biomedical research, the release of the outputs failed to match the time requirements for their necessity in practice.Based on qualitative and quantitative research, the following text provides an analysis of the specific measures and the related difficulties, and the struggle to find solutions, that providers of selected types of social services faced during the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.The survey results revealed that the issues in question had a common thread across the various types of social services, as well as a number of common features and challenges. The analysis of the results showed a noticeable shift between the initial period, which was characterised by the rapid onset of the spread of the pandemic, and the situation after 18 months of life under pandemic conditions, which was characterised by the lower incidence of problems and difficulties. One of the major outcomes of the study concerns the identification of the need for social service providers to be provided with a unified, clear and centrally managed process that is able to provide individualised methodological support. The results are based on a study conducted as part of "The Changes in Selected Social Services for People with Disabilities during the State of Emergency Instigated by a Viral Disease" project.
- MeSH
- COVID-19 * prevence a kontrola MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- přístup k informacím MeSH
- průzkumy a dotazníky MeSH
- sociální práce organizace a řízení MeSH
- sociální pracovníci * statistika a číselné údaje MeSH
- statistika jako téma MeSH
- zjišťování skupinových postojů MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
5 Articles Ivana Havránková6 works as a leader of social services in the Czech Abilympic Association, and is an external worker at the Institute of Social Work of Philosophical Faculty, University of Hradec Králové. Adéla Mojžíšová7 is an associate professor at the University of South Bohemia. Her main professional and research interests are theories and methods of social work, supervision in social work, social rehabilitation, and social work with the family. Radka Prázdná 8 is a special education teacher by profession, she works as a university lecturer at the University of South Bohemia. In her lectures and publications, she focuses on social inclusion of individuals with special needs. Zuzana Truhlářová9 works as an assistant professor at the University of Hradec Králové. She deals with issues of formal and informal care for people with disabilities. Abstract OBJECTIVES: The objective of the paper is to present the results of a pilot research project dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on selected types of social services for people with disabilities (changes in provided services, sources of information, routine in the facilities and modifications of internal procedures, impact on clients, staff and finance). THEORETICAL BASE: The theoretical background is constituted by government resolutions, measures, and recommendations issued by ministries, internal regulations in the social service facilities, and the results of foreign studies analysing the impact of COVID-19 on social services for people with disabilities. METHOD: The chosen method was qualitative and the data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The target group comprised the management of social services for people with disabilities. OUTCOMES: The article presents the results of the qualitative content analysis of interviews, which are structured according to the areas defined in the section “objectives” and they include a discussion aiming at the identification of potential risks, areas of further research, and limits thereof. SOCIAL WORK IMPLICATIONS: The text provides social workers with insight into how the selected social services for people with disabilities coped with the pandemic, into their greatest challenges, and effects of the pandemic on services, clients and staff.
