In my master's thesis, I focus on a period that meant a lot of changes, adaptation, and a different way of life for most people. In the beginning, I focus on the COVID-19 pandemic, crisis situations and human adaptation capability, and the impact of COVID-19 on life, mental and physical states, or the quality of life in general. Further, I focus on social work and on guidelines that could be used to approach similar situations in the most complex and effective way and the importance of connecting social work with other professions.
In my research, I am mainly interested in how social work in the field of child care, adolescents, family, and adults was carried out in the Social Work Centre Koroška, what the obstacles the service users encountered were, how much the conditions of service users' lives have changed, what the obstacles the employees encountered were, how their work has changed during the extraordinary conditions. I was also interested in what helped the employees in carrying out their tasks, where and in what way they would need the help of the state and other institutions for better conditions, and what would need to be changed to be able to work even better in similar situations.
As a key finding, I can state that the work tasks have not changed significantly. However, the way they were performed has changed. I found out that many adaptations to rapidly changing measures were necessary and that employees were often in a dilemma about what to do when faced with emergencies involving violence or other threats. Although they tried to establish contacts with other organizations, some of them were closed for a certain period of time, which made it impossible to accommodate people urgently. Whenever possible, service users could meet in person with employees but a lot depended on the employee's experience, ingenuity, and flexibility. In the Social Work Centre Koroška, they tried to ensure that everyone who sought help got it. The participants in the research did not notice an increased amount of work. In their opinion, however, some of the distresses deepened due to the measures that were set (problems in personal relationships, finances, and education). Help and support from colleagues and management, as well as the possibility of cooperation with others, were also crucial for the employees in carrying out their work.
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