Caribbean Journal of Social Work Vol.15

The Caribbean Journal of Social Work (CJSW), is an annual publication and the official journal of the Association of Caribbean Social Work Educators (ACSWE), founded in 2001. We are committed to publishing quality scholarly and creative work that reflects on, analyses, theorizes and illuminates the lived experiences of Caribbean people within and outside of the region. The CJSW is dedicated to advancing social work as an academic discipline and a field of professional practice. We have an interest in work that stimulates critical, multi-level, multi-systemic thinking about human and social development in our societies. The CJSW is open to consider work in a variety of forms which has been produced using rigorous quantitative, qualitative, participatory, or reflexive approaches. We welcome submissions from social work academic, educators, scholars, and practitioners, as well as from members of other fields and disciplines. We are also committed to supporting the efforts of early career scholars and graduate students. The journal is especially interested in work that privileges the voices and identities of Caribbean people and lends support to the creation of more just societies.

Overview of the Publication and Peer Review Process: The CJSW uses a three-step review process. The Editors/Special Section Editor's first step is to initially evaluate abstract submissions. Editors review abstracts to ensure that it meets the Journal's policy guidelines, as well as satisfies the standards for an academic publication. As a second step, if the article submission meets the criteria, the author(s) are then invited to submit a full article/manuscript submission, which is thereafter sent for peer review. The third step includes Reviewer recommendations for the acceptance level of the manuscript submitted to the Editors/Special Section Editor. Authors(s) are then notified of the status of the paper submission. This three-step process spans a five to six-month process, following which the copy-editing process takes another two months. The time period from abstract to full publication is estimated to take between eight to 10 months, barring unforeseen circumstances.

Editorial Values: We are committed to maintaining a respectful tone in our communications with authors. The following values drive the work of the Journal:

• Cultural responsiveness
• Appreciation for multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity
• Value of the integration of technology and the arts
• Inclusivity across the Caribbean Diaspora
• Privileging of indigenous ways of knowing
• Non-discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, disability, sexual orientation

Journal Contact Information: The Editors, The Caribbean Journal of Social Work, c/o The Social Work Training and Research Centre, The UWI Open Campus, Mona, Kingston 7

SUBSCRIPTIONS

For costs and ordering instructions, please email cjsw.acswe@gmail.com.

PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE

No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed for sale. The copyright of individual articles remains with the author(s). Fair use principles apply to copying for educational or research purposes. In this case, fair use means that no more than 10% of any article or the Journal itself may be copied.

The copyright holders have authorized the CJSW to give permission for redistribution or reproduction of the Journal or any individual item under such terms as they shall specify.

ISSN: 0799 1215

© 2023 Association of Caribbean Social Work Educators. All rights reserved.

There is an enduring amount of individual and collective grief bound up with the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we engage with the post-pandemic world, many of us have a felt sense that although we survived the unimaginable, we continue to live in dystopian times. A prevailing theme of social science research for the past three years has been unravelling the implications of survival. We have been rumbling with meaning-making across personal, social, political, economic, and cultural domains. This has translated into a flood of scholarship that probes the multiple ways in which the pandemic has unsettled all manner of “normal” for people across the world. With that said, the lived experience of people in the Caribbean, its diaspora, and other global south contexts, is a normal that falls outside of the global north perspective. We have an extensive history of subjugation and marginalisation across temporal, social, and geographic locations. How have we understood the adversity of the past 3 years? How has our individual and collective grief shaped our experience of surviving the pandemic? Traditionally, our grief has been complex, ambiguous, and oftentimes disenfranchised.

Dr John Maxwell was the pioneering Co-editor of the Caribbean Journal of Social Work. Dr Maxwell was also the former Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Head of the Social Work Department at The UWI, Mona Campus and a stalwart in the development of Caribbean social work education.

On February 11th, 2023, Dr. Wendy McLean Cooke departed this earthly realm. What a joy and blessing to have had her light walk amongst us! We remember her laughter, wit, dedication to her calling as an educator, and tireless commitment to building community within and outside the walls of The UWI. Above all, we remember how her feet kissed the Earth as a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, poet, and lover of life. We hold the memory of her smile and we give thanks for her life.

Artists in academia create differently.
We are sensitive souls seeing the world in prose and hues
Our epistemology is embodied.
Our ways of sensing the world, knotted in muscle and emotion.
We fumble through transcripts with our eyes closed.
With data soaked pores, we sift and stumble through
Both lived and unlived, Spoken and unspoken,
Channelling the imagined and the unimaginable.

This conceptual paper focuses on the various ways that pandemics and natural disasters adversely affect countries in the Caribbean, and the important role of social worker preparedness, from education to delivery of services to policy and practice, in promoting effective response and recovery strategies.

A comparative analysis of outcomes from natural disasters, and the prevalence of COVID-19 effects in Caribbean countries relative to the rest of the world is provided within the context of the degree of openness, social worker preparedness, and availability of healthcare resources in the region. It highlights the necessity to prepare social workers for dealing with disasters, with specific attention given to curricula in schools of social work, field placement modifications, and certification and accreditation issues. The importance of a plan of action is recommended, and opportunities for further research in social work education, practice, and policy are suggested, with emphasis on COVID-19 lessons learned.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced governments throughout the world to implement public health measures, such as border closures, to reduce the importation of the virus. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of ageing nationals from Trinidad and Tobago who were stranded abroad due to the COVID-19 border closures. This population has not been studied to date, and this study presents an original argument that COVID-19 has caused increased vulnerabilities in a population which experienced different risks before the pandemic. Findings show five main themes: the impact of COVID-19 on living conditions, psychological harm, social isolation, coping skills, and reliance on social support networks. The findings show the importance of strengthening social support mechanisms and practice models to support ageing people stranded abroad. The findings also underscore the need for policymakers to consider the harmful impact of public health measures on ageing populations before designing responses.

In 2020, COVID-19 hit the earth like a comet. The ground that it seared was already pockmarked by systematic violations of human rights of older people (Doron et al., 2004; Mantovani et al., 2018) particularly those with mental disorders, due to advanced age, frailty, cognitive impairment, multiple mental and physical comorbidities, and social isolation, the so-called multiple jeopardies for disadvantage (Peisah et al., 2011). Ageist and mentalist (i.e., discrimination based on mental illness) assumptions have long-fed unequal treatment, segregation, and discrimination of this group (Quinn et al., 2019).

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is taking a serious toll on people with dementia.
Given the rapidly evolving COVID-19 context, policymakers and practitioners require timely, evidence-informed research to address the changing needs and challenges of people with dementia and their family care partners.

Objective: Using Twitter data, the objective of this study was to examine the COVID-19 impact on people with dementia from the perspective of their family members and friends.
Methods: Using the Twint application in Python, we collected 6243 relevant tweets over a 15-month time frame. The tweets were divided among 11 coders and analyzed using a 6-step thematic analysis process.

Results: Based on our analysis, 3 main themes were identified: (1) frustration and structural inequities (e.g., denied dignity and inadequate supports), (2) despair due to loss (e.g., isolation, decline, and death), and (3) resiliency, survival, and hope for the future.

Conclusions: As the COVID-19 pandemic persists and new variants emerge, people with dementia and their family care partners are facing complex challenges that require timely interventions. More specifically, tackling COVID-19 challenges requires revisiting pandemic policies and protocols to ensure equitable access to health and support services, recognizing the essential role of family care partners, and providing financial assistance and resources to help support people with dementia in the pandemic. Revaluating COVID-19 policies is critical to mitigating the pandemic’s impact on people with dementia and their family care partners.

COVID-19 has significantly impacted teaching and learning in social work field education globally. Government-mandated protocols and lockdowns encouraging individuals to work from home have challenged traditional field placement opportunities. With field supervisors working remotely the traditional face-to-face supervision of students within social service organizations ended abruptly. This resulted in a shift to virtual learning modalities. Virtual learning tools including e-learning and social media platforms were not typical of tertiary social work field education programmes prior to the advent of the pandemic. The social work field education programme at The University of The West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados addressed this immediate challenge to the delivery of the field education programme by utilizing experiential and self-directed learning. This article discusses combining the theoretical foundations of experiential learning and self-directed learning in an innovative online programme designed to allow students to undertake their social work field education during the pandemic, affording new opportunities for learning that have transformed field education in the digital era. Given that a social worker’s skill set includes reflection, critical thinking skills, and engaging in lifelong learning, incorporating research and technology is a vital pedagogic, which will enable them to develop professional competency.

The Covid-19 pandemic caused significant disruption globally, and the need for measures to limit the spread of the virus required that both state and non-state entities innovate and explore new ways of operating. More specifically, the pandemic created a unique challenge for agencies delivering social work services which prioritized human relationships and human interactions. Jamaica’s Child Protection and Family Services Agency, like many other entities, employed specific strategies to pivot in the delivery of services to clients. This field note will discuss the strategies used by the agency.

Introduction: Worldwide, children with disabilities are a vulnerable population and at high risk for COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. There is little information on the impact that COVID-19 had on children with disabilities and their families, particularly in low-income settings. This assessment describes the extent to which the pandemic impacted seven indicators of well-being in three low-income communities in Lusaka, Zambia.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with a random selection of families participating in an existing program (n=39), community health workers (n=6), healthcare workers (n=7) and government officials (n=2). Descriptive data was summarized and qualitative responses reviewed for themes.

Results: Most families reported a major loss of income resulting in food insecurity (79%), housing instability (67%), stress (36%), and increased risk of child separation and neglect (18%). Most families did not report receiving governmental financial assistance and reported loss of access to health services for their child such as physiotherapy (33%). Stakeholders interviewed reported that COVID-19 information was widely available although few specific interventions for children. Families were seen to have greater food insecurity, more poverty, more crowding, less healthcare services and children left alone or on the streets to beg.

Discussion: COVID-19 and related containment measures have impacted the lives of children with dis abilities and their families to a great extent. There is an urgent need for disability-inclusive responses that deliberately address the needs of children with disabilities and their families, notably uninterrupted access to adequate food, inclusive education, rehabilitation therapy, and income￾generating activities.

In March 2020, the first case of COVID-19 was reported in South Africa. The government swiftly responded and introduced lockdown measures to minimize contagion. Media and social conversations were dominated by news about the outbreak. Adults and children experienced fear, anxiety, depression, and distress as a result of the pandemic. Among social work responses to the pandemic, practitioners, protection organisations, and social work students developed innovative and context-relevant tool to address glaring gaps in the child protection field. Lack of well-developed child-friendly Covid-19 edutainment tools in indigenous languages and tools that support children’s psychological health in light of the pandemic were the gaps identified. In this paper, I reflect on the collaborative engagement between social work researchers, social work practitioners, and students to design and develop a tool which aimed to address practice-related gaps identified during the pandemic using an Afro-centric lens.