Abstract: Submission #47

Abstract Despite international and national agreements, guidelines, laws, and policies designed to ensure effective disaster management and social work services, vulnerable communities and multidisciplinary frontline responders often face significant challenges in accessing essential mental health and psychosocial services (MHPSS) during disasters. The novel Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak further exacerbated these challenges in South Africa, revealing critical policy-practice gaps. This study aimed to address these gaps by integrating the Disaster Risk Management Helix, the Eco-Social Model, and the Resilience Theory into a newly conceptualised theoretical and practical framework, viz., the proposed Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction Social Work (IDRRSW) Framework. Using a cross-sectional convergent sequential mixed-method approach to interview social workers in Mangaung Metro, the emerging qualitative themes were triangulated with the quantitative data to determine similarities and differences in the social workers’ responses during the different lockdown levels. The study resulted in the proposed IDRRSW Framework incorporating key lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic. The framework outlines key definitions and the theoretical foundations underpinning its design. Furthermore, it includes a quick reference legislative summary and practical guidelines aimed at supporting social workers' MHPSS efforts in disaster-stricken areas tailored to the South African context. The framework was reviewed by social work and disaster management professionals and academics, ensuring its grounding in practical expertise and theoretical knowledge. The guidelines are designed for flexible applications across various disaster scenarios, allowing adaptability to different levels of disaster impact and community needs. Presented in a user-friendly Excel sheet featuring colour-coded dropdown options, the tool is divided into two sections. The first section offers guidelines to assess and monitor social workers’ knowledge, support and resources. The second section provides guidelines across the system levels – ensuring a whole-systems approach to rendering MHPSS interventions to disaster-stricken community members and frontline responders that remain responsive, contextually appropriate, and effective.