School of Social Work, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.
School of Social Work, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey, USA.
Health Soc Care Community. 2022 Nov;30(6):e5765-e5774. doi: 10.1111/hsc.14008. Epub 2022 Sep 6.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had deleterious effects on individuals experiencing homelessness; yet, less is known about how this global health crisis is impacting service providers that support the homeless population. This qualitative study examined the perceived impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives and work experiences of service providers in the homeless service, supportive housing, and harm reduction sectors in Canada. Further analyses were conducted to identify the occupational values that were represented in the work-related changes experienced by providers. A stratified purposive sample of 40 participants (30 direct service providers and 10 providers in leadership roles) were drawn from a pan-Canadian study of the mental health of service providers working with individuals experiencing homelessness. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify five themes of the work-related changes experienced by service providers during the pandemic: [1] "Everything was changing every day": Work role and responsibility instability; [2] "How on Earth do we do our job?": Challenges to working relationships with service users; [3] "It used to be a social environment": Transitions to impersonal and isolating workspaces; [4] "It all comes down the chute": Lack of organisational support and hierarchical conflict; and [5] "We've been supported as well as we could have": Positive organisational support and communication. The findings underscored how many of the occupational changes during the pandemic did not align with service providers' occupational values for collaboration, control, effective and safe service provision, and the importance of human relationships, among other values. As pre-existing sectoral problems were exacerbated by the pandemic, recovery efforts need to address these long-standing issues in ways that are aligned with service providers' values. Future research is warranted on how organisational approaches can promote supportive workplaces for service providers and improve outcomes for individuals experiencing homelessness.
新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情对无家可归者产生了有害影响；然而，人们对这场全球卫生危机如何影响支持无家可归者的服务提供者知之甚少。这项定性研究考察了新冠疫情对加拿大无家可归者服务、支持性住房和减少伤害领域服务提供者的生活和工作经验的感知影响。进一步的分析旨在确定代表提供者在工作中经历的变化的职业价值观。从一项针对为无家可归者提供服务的服务提供者心理健康的全加研究中，抽取了 40 名参与者（30 名直接服务提供者和 10 名领导角色的提供者）的分层目的抽样。采用反思性主题分析方法，确定了在大流行期间服务提供者经历的与工作相关的变化的五个主题：[1]“一切都在每天变化”：工作角色和责任不稳定；[2]“我们究竟如何开展工作？”：与服务使用者建立工作关系的挑战；[3]“过去是一个社交环境”：向非个人和孤立的工作空间过渡；[4]“一切都下来了”：缺乏组织支持和等级冲突；以及[5]“我们得到了尽可能多的支持”：积极的组织支持和沟通。研究结果强调了在大流行期间，许多职业变化与服务提供者的职业价值观不符，例如合作、控制、有效和安全的服务提供以及人际关系的重要性等价值观。由于大流行加剧了先前存在的部门问题，因此恢复工作需要以符合服务提供者价值观的方式解决这些长期存在的问题。有必要进行未来的研究，以了解组织方法如何为服务提供者创造支持性的工作场所，并改善无家可归者的结果。
