Anxiety among hospital social workers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam during the COVID-19 pandemic: Suggestions for social work administration

Abstract

Little is known about the anxiety of hospital social workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and their response to social work administration in mental health care for hospital social workers. This study investigated anxiety among hospital social workers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional study was conducted in August 2021 among 577 hospital social workers. The study results show that 67.0% of hospital social workers experienced normal and mild anxiety levels, 19.5% reported a moderate level of anxiety, and 13.5% had a severe level of anxiety. In the regression models, significant factors related to anxiety levels among hospital social workers were hospital class, gender, type of housemate, and job satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Suggestions for social work administration are also discussed.

Keywords:

• Anxiety
• hospital social workers
• social work administration
• COVID-19 pandemic
• Vietnam

Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the kind cooperation and participation of hospital social workers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. We are thankful to Dr. Pham Thanh Tung for his support to our study. The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).