Hospital social workers and mental health: essential roles during the COVID-19 pandemic

Hospital social workers play a critical role during public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined how hospital social workers describe essential roles and responsibilities in mental health care. In response to an exploratory survey, 97% of participants (N = 225) stated that hospital social workers provide essential services and using inductive content analysis, five essential responsibilities of social work practice emerged: (1) counseling, intervention, and support, (2) suicide and crisis intervention, (3) support for families, (4) clinical case management, and (5) interprofessional collaboration and support. We discuss implications for social work practice in mental health.