Abstract: Submission #68

Abstract Social workers play fundamental roles in disaster response, recovery, preparedness and planning for future occurrences, by being among frontline practitioners who respond to the complex challenges posed by disasters. However, they get exposed to similar mental stressors and societal shifts as the public. Working in the frontline setting has been repeatedly identified as a risk factor for poorer mental health among social workers. This means that social workers are not immune to disasters' damaging and traumatic effects. Despite this, the frontline workers' mental well-being, especially social workers, is often overlooked.
There is an evident gap in the literature on the mental well-being of social workers during disasters. This is the case against the urgent need to ensure that social workers are well supported to respond to the overwhelming needs of service users emerging during disasters. It is important to explore the mental well-being of social workers in mitigating the ravages of disasters and developing strategies to safeguard their mental well-being during similar disaster scenarios. This paper will critically investigate social workers as a vulnerable group during disasters, their role in mitigating the ravages of disasters, the impact of disasters on their mental well-being and provide recommendations for practice going forward.