Before the COVID-19 pandemic, questions about the increased use of telemedicine had become common in conversations among medical providers. With the onset of the pandemic, these questions became more pronounced, and quick implementation became the key. New and historic barriers to telemedicine began to emerge at a dramatically increased rate during its rapid mobilization. However, considering how quickly telemedicine has been implemented, the impact on frontline workers, such as social workers, has not been specifically explored. We wondered how the change from face-to-face care to using digital platforms for care delivery has affected social work. Could social work ensure the fluid rollout of digital treatment platforms for care management? Could social work balance the increased number of digital treatment platforms with self-care for social workers during the COVID-19 crisis? What were some history social- work-preparedness plans used for other pandemics, and would those plans work for the COVID-19 pandemic? What were some of the self-care techniques employed by social workers? What were the emerging best practices of social workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system in the U.S. South? We needed to explore these questions to formulate knowledge that could be beneficial for VA health care. This literature review assesses the current responses from the field of social work during the COVID-19 pandemic, leveraging telemedicine, social work self-care, and the fluidity of VA services.
Keywords: Social work; Veterans Affairs; epidemic; pandemic; self-care; telemedicine.