Keynote: Professor Dr. Vesna Leskošek 

Dr. Vesna Leskošek is a full professor in social work at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of social work where she was a dean in years 2015-2019. Her main research interests are in social inequalities, poverty, welfare state and gender. Recently she is working on the topics of Violence against women and co-chaired the European conference on domestic violence in 2021 held in Ljubljana; in-work poverty and served as an independent expert on poverty and social exclusion for the European commission in years 2003-2010; child protection and established an interdisciplinary life-long learning programme on child protection that is available to practitioners in Slovenia and she has just won the basic research programme on life course and everyday life of old people living in poverty from the Slovene research Agency. She is publishing broadly on the results of her research. The last book was published in 2021 with a title The right to abortion and will be soon translated into English. Last articles were: Social work during Covid-19 in Slovenia: Absent, invisible or ignored? The British journal of social work, 2022 doi 10.1093/bjsw/bcac149 (with Nina Mešl, Tadeja Kodele and Tamara Rape Žiberna);  Applying transdisciplinary sustainability transitions research in international social work doctoral training. Social work education, 2021, vol. 41, no. 7, pp. 1541-1559 (with Aila-Leena Matthies and Koen Hermans) and Poverty of older women in Slovenia. Revija za socijalnu politiku, 2019, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 227-240.  

Abstract: The interdependence of structural context and social work practice in Covid-19 pandemic in Slovenia 

In sudden and crisis situations, such as the emergence of a new coronavirus pandemic, it is important that the institutions are able to adopt themselves as quickly as possible to new circumstances. Social work has an important role in this on different levels: in planning interventions, in crisis work at local and community level, and in working directly with people in need for the assistance. There has been a large body of research now available on this topic, which has shown that the circumstances have been very similar all over the world (public life has been shut down, there has been a move to teleworking, institutions have been closed, travel was restricted, etc.), but the response of social work has been different. An important reason lies in the diverse structural contexts in which social work operates, which will be illustrated in this paper with the example of Slovenia. 

The research on social work conduct in the Covid-19 period in Slovenia has shown that the (in)ability of public social services to adapt effectively and quickly to the new circumstances has been influenced by the institutional changes in recent decade what includes the introduction of new public management in Slovene social services. The changes include the establishment of the hierarchical managerial structure, decentralisation, increased control over the work, computerised recording of performance, which has reduced the professional autonomy in deciding how to address people's problems and needs, which methods of work to use and, in some cases, even how to understand and contextualise these problems. Reduced possibilities for autonomous professional work and increased control were the main reasons for the failure to adapt to this sudden and frightening pandemic situation.  

Keynote: Assistant Professor Dr. Joseph Mooney

Joseph is Assistant Professor of Social Work at University College Dublin and has a specific focus on child welfare and protection social work. Joseph is a professionally qualified and CORU registered Social Worker and former practitioner in the field of child welfare and protection. He is highly active in the area of Child Protection and Welfare research and has spent the past eleven years researching the area of Irish policies concerning adult retrospective disclosures of childhood sexual abuse. Joseph presents his work to national, international and community and practice-based audiences.  

Joseph was awarded his PhD at the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre under the supervision of Professor Caroline McGregor (Skehill) and his research interests include disclosure of childhood trauma; child sexual abuse; child welfare and protection systems, practice, policy, and law.  

Joseph teaches and coordinates two child welfare and protection modules and a Law for Social Work module on the Professional Masters in Social Work at UCD, alongside other teaching. He is also a director of the Irish national charity, One in Four, which offers therapy and advocacy supports to survivors of childhood abuse.

Abstract: Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Irish child protection social workers’ experiences of a national cyber attack during a COVID-19 lockdown 

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic introduced periods of lockdown in Ireland where, outside of emergency situations, key services could not access vulnerable families. On the 14th of May 2021 core Child Protection Service IT infrastructure was also shut down due to an external cyber-attack; making a difficult situation even more difficult. This paper presents the findings of empirical research that gathered the practice insights of social workers who were working in statutory child protection services in Ireland during the Covid 19 global pandemic. The paper will also provide a focus on the social workers’ interactions with and use of technology.  

The study was designed as a practice research project. Data were gathered on the experiences of ten frontline social workers in child protection and welfare services in different regions in Ireland via qualitative interviews and reflective diaries. A constructivist grounded theory approach was adopted. We collated and analysed the data to develop a new conceptualisation of social work practice in Ireland during the pandemic, grounded in the experiences and perspectives of the research participants. A core concept of ‘connection’ was identified alongside its disparate variations; dis-connection, and re-connection.  

While the overarching research project focused on social worker’s experiences of working through the pandemic, data were also collected during a period of a national cyber-attack which shut down the Irish Child Protection Services’ computer networks. Social workers shared their experiences of connection and disconnection in this context and provided interesting comparisons of experiencing these two unrelated ‘disaster’ events simultaneously.  

Reflections related to the use of technology within social work child protection practice, connection with vulnerable clients, and re-connection with team members. The findings of this study demonstrate the value of person-centred practice and also the role of technology in our work with children and families.

Keynote: Professor Dr. Malathi Adusumalli

Dr. Malathi Adusumalli is currently Professor at the Department of Social Work, University of Delhi, India. She has a Masters degree in Social Work from University of Delhi, an M. Phil.degree from Delhi University (Education Department) with research on ‘Review of Research in Education: In search of a Feminist Perspective’. Her Ph.D. is from Jamia Millia Islamia (Department of Social Work) with research topic ‘Towards Understanding Development as a process: A Case study on Eco- Income generation Approach’.

She has over 2 decades of teaching experience with the Department of Social Work, Jamia Millia Islamia (6 yrs) and Department of Social Work, University of Delhi (over 17 yrs) and she has actively worked with grassroots organisations in the field of social action (Jogin Reformation and Rehabilitation), disaster management and development in Andhra Pradesh, India .

Her publications concentrate in national and international journals and have three books to my credit. She has successfully guided M.Phil. and Ph.D. research scholars on wide ranging areas covering social work education, indigenous groups with respect to their livelihoods and health, inter-community relations, community development and organisation, children in marginalised urban communities and children in street situations.

Her research interests are social justice, social policy, urban and rural communities, gender and development and climate change (impacts, mitigation, adaptation) of urban communities, mountain communities and coastal communities. Her research projects were in the areas of mountain communities and sustainable development with a strong orientation towards qualitative research.

Abstract: Social Work Research with Communities in Pandemic Context: Crises, Complexities and Possibilities 

Social work research with communities affected by Covid-19 has taken up concerns that mostly focused on their health issues and response of health systems. Members of communities across varied social contexts have experienced these issues differently, there has been a differential response based on their acceptance of the ‘norms of behaviour’ for controlling the spread of pandemic. Micro studies are important as they can provide necessary insights for understanding the complexity of the human condition and strive to connect with the macro conditions. The nuances may be missed out with large scale surveys which are quick and limited as they may not be in tune with the contextual concerns of participants and assume semantic meanings  that may not be true for the participants. The village level studies help in bridging this gap and bringing to the fore the subtleties of human existence which can pave way for constructive possibilities.  

This paper is based on the study of villages (16 villages with differing population sizes) affected by a power project in the Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh in India, which was already impacted by the project before the pandemic struck. In addition the governmental measures adopted to deal with the pandemic have accentuated their woes. The study relied on quantitative (household survey covering livelihoods, health, education, basic amenities, including the impact of the pandemic on their health and asset position) and qualitative discussions related to the transformations and possibilities for enhancing livelihoods, health, education and basic amenities like connectivity, drinking water, sanitation, housing and fuel needs. The qualitative methods relied on focus group discussions and use of PRA exercises, like transect walk and seasonality mapping. Multiple systemic interventions were suggested and these are also shared with the communities and the power project company.  

The study exposed the faultlines in governance mechanisms as also the dependency of communities, their internal tensions that constantly shape their adaptation and possibilities, closely enmeshed with their social group identities and gendered realities. This paper argues that the impacts of the pandemic have to be seen in their gendered and social identity contexts that shape both the response and adaptation to new crises, along with the institutional matrix of governance mechanisms which themselves are influenced by these identities. These processes have impacts on the communities which are traditionally marginalised, in ways that reinforce the existing inequalities in social and economic sectors and in access, affordability and utilisation of basic services. 

The paper specifically will focus on the complexity of the livelihood and education sector, that calls for systematic, committed and participatory approaches that can be courageous enough to go beyond the ‘traditional’ governance approaches in addressing the issues concerned.  

Keynote: Senior Lecturer Dr. Paula McFadden

Dr. Paula McFadden is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Ulster University, with research interests on workforce wellbeing, resilience, and burnout. McFadden conducted several UK wide research studies, examining burnout, workforce ageing in social work, and recently, wellbeing and coping during COVID-19, for health and social care professions. In June 2020, McFadden was awarded funding by the Health and Social Care Board, Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland to study ‘COVID-19: UK Health and Social Care Workforce Wellbeing and Coping’ over a 2.5-year period.  This research informs employers, regulators, professional bodies, and service commissioners, about the key issues for workers and provides strategic guidance on what is needed to address workforce concerns relating to staff absence, turnover and retention.  McFadden is currently collaborating with colleagues in Japan, on comparisons of workforce wellbeing and coping of social workers, nurses and social care workers in the UK and Japan (in older people residential care) during COVID-19 in both contexts in 2021.  In addition to workforce research, McFadden is also interested in social work education and graduate preparation for social work practice.  McFadden has collaborated with authors from international countries on social work regulatory comparisons including curriculum and practicum.  During the onset of COVID-19, McFadden also collaborated with international social work educational providers, on rapid changes to admissions and education due to social distancing and lock down restrictions.  McFadden is also the founder and co-convenor of the Workforce Research Special Interest Group with ESRWA. 

Abstract: Social Worker Wellbeing and Coping During the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK: Giving Voice to the Workforce in Making Recommendations for Recovery

Dr McFadden will present on the key findings from the 5 Phases of the Health and Social Care Workforce Wellbeing and Coping research, comparing the results on social worker wellbeing, coping, burnout, and work-related quality of life from May 2020 until July 2022. This research design has used mixed methods and included survey questionnaires and focus groups with front line worker, managers, and Human Resource professionals. The survey used open ended qualitative questions as well as standardised scales to measure wellbeing (Short Warwick Edinburgh Emotional Wellbeing Scale), burnout (Copenhagen Burnout Inventory), Work Related Quality of Life (Easton and Van Lar) and coping (Carver Brief Cope Scale and Clark Work Stress and Coping Scale).  McFadden will present on social worker wellbeing during this phase, using analysis from both quantitative and qualitative findings.  She will discuss key issues and challenges and good practice recommendations, developed as a result of this research, which inform employers, professional bodies, regulators, and service commissioners, on strategic planning for workforce recovery.  A website with study reports and publications is available here https://www.hscworkforcestudy.co.uk/  

HSC Workforce Wellbeing and Coping Study Research Team: Paula McFadden1, Patricia Gillen1, John Mallet1, Susan McGrory1 and Ruth D Neill from Ulster University, Northern Ireland. Heike Schroder2, Denise Currie2, John Moriarty2, Patricia Nicholl from Queens University Belfast, Northern Ireland. Jill Manthorpe from King College London, and Jermaine Ravalier from Bath Spa University. Funding: Public Health Agency: COM/5603/20; National Institute for Health Research: NIHRPR-PRU-1217-21002.