IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v160y2024ics0190740924001245.html

Social workers’ perspective on the impact of Covid-19 on clients’ vulnerability in Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • Hamenoo, Emma Seyram

Abstract

Leaning on Vulnerability as a theoretical foundation, this study explores the perspective of social workers in Ghana, a global south country, concerning the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on their clients. Using a descriptive qualitative approach as a methodological standpoint, the study engaged 25 social workers, consisting of ten males and 15 females, selected through snowball sampling and interviewed via telephone. Analysing the data thematically, the findings suggested that social workers informed that their clients were confronted with economic hardship, inadequate state support, and childcare and social capital challenges. The study thus proposes the establishment of social protection infrastructure in the form of fiscal support and universal healthcare coverage for citizens, as a buffer to ensure a stable livelihood for all in times of crisis. It further suggests improvement of internet facilities throughout the country, to enable families to stay connected.

Suggested Citation

  • Hamenoo, Emma Seyram, 2024. "Social workers’ perspective on the impact of Covid-19 on clients’ vulnerability in Ghana," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:160:y:2024:i:c:s0190740924001245
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107552
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740924001245
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107552?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:plo:pone00:0233874 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Gupta, Divya & Fischer, Harry & Shrestha, Suchita & Shoaib Ali, Syed & Chhatre, Ashwini & Devkota, Kamal & Fleischman, Forrest & Khatri, Dil B. & Rana, Pushpendra, 2021. "Dark and bright spots in the shadow of the pandemic: Rural livelihoods, social vulnerability, and local governance in India and Nepal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    3. Mikael Nordenmark & Bodil J. Landstad & Åsa Tjulin & Stig Vinberg, 2023. "Life Satisfaction among Self-Employed People in Different Welfare Regimes during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Significance of Household Finances and Concerns about Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-13, March.
    4. Seth E. Spielman & Joseph Tuccillo & David C. Folch & Amy Schweikert & Rebecca Davies & Nathan Wood & Eric Tate, 2020. "Evaluating social vulnerability indicators: criteria and their application to the Social Vulnerability Index," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 100(1), pages 417-436, January.
    5. Jorge Pinto & Humberto Varum & Isabel Bentes & Jitendra Agarwal, 2010. "A Theory of Vulnerability of Water Pipe Network (TVWPN)," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(15), pages 4237-4254, December.
    6. Christian Kuhlicke & Anna Scolobig & Sue Tapsell & Annett Steinführer & Bruna Marchi, 2011. "Contextualizing social vulnerability: findings from case studies across Europe," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 58(2), pages 789-810, August.
    7. Dee Warmath & Genevieve Elizabeth O'Connor & Nancy Wong & Casey Newmeyer, 2022. "The role of social psychological factors in vulnerability to financial hardship," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 1148-1177, September.
    8. Denisa M. Sologon & Cathal O’Donoghue & Iryna Kyzyma & Jinjing Li & Jules Linden & Raymond Wagener, 2022. "The COVID-19 resilience of a continental welfare regime - nowcasting the distributional impact of the crisis," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(4), pages 777-809, December.
    9. Tim Reeskens & Leen Vandecasteele, 2017. "Economic Hardship and Well-Being: Examining the Relative Role of Individual Resources and Welfare State Effort in Resilience Against Economic Hardship," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 41-62, February.
    10. Han, Wen-Jui & Hart, Jake, 2022. "Precarious parental employment, economic hardship, and parenting and child happiness amidst a pandemic," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Viviana Torres-Díaz & María de la Cruz del Río-Rama & José Álvarez-García & Francisco Venegas-Martínez, 2025. "Spatial Inequalities and the Sensitivity of Social Vulnerability in Ecuador," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-21, October.
    2. Anjum Tasnuva & Md. Riad Hossain & Roquia Salam & Abu Reza Md. Towfiqul Islam & Muhammad Mainuddin Patwary & Sobhy M. Ibrahim, 2021. "Employing social vulnerability index to assess household social vulnerability of natural hazards: an evidence from southwest coastal Bangladesh," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(7), pages 10223-10245, July.
    3. Yi Ge & Wen Dou & Yiheng Wu & Di Zhou & Yujing Guo & Furong Zang, 2026. "Unfolding the Spatial Inequality of Neighborhood-Level Social Vulnerability to Flood Hazards During Urbanization in China: Nanjing as a Case Study," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 181(1), pages 1-35, January.
    4. Francisco Valderrey & Lina Carreño & Simone Lucatello & Emanuele Giorgi, 2023. "Multidisciplinary Evaluation of Vulnerabilities: Communities in Northern Mexico," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-22, August.
    5. Cathal O’Donoghue & Beenish Amjad & Jules Linden & Nora Lustig & Denisa M Sologon & Yang Wang & Zeynep Gizem Can, 2025. "The Distributional Impact of Inflation in Pakistan: A Case Study of a New Price Focused Microsimulation Framework, PRICES," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 18(3), pages 102-131.
    6. Pin Wang & Fiona O’Brien & Ji-Young Son & Seulkee Heo & Michelle L. Bell & Robert Dubrow & Kai Chen, 2026. "An updated modeling framework and sensitivity analysis of methodology for the climate health vulnerability index," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 17(1), pages 1-11, December.
    7. Agathoklis Agathokleous & Chrystalleni Christodoulou & Symeon E. Christodoulou, 2017. "Topological Robustness and Vulnerability Assessment of Water Distribution Networks," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(12), pages 4007-4021, September.
    8. Ana Noemí Gomez Vaca & Lucía Alexandra Popartan & Sergi Nuss-Girona & Ignasi Rodríguez-Roda, 2025. "Spatial approach for assessing vulnerability to urban flooding: a proposal for a multidimensional index," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 121(14), pages 16799-16825, August.
    9. Michalis Fragiadakis & Symeon Christodoulou & Dimitrios Vamvatsikos, 2013. "Reliability Assessment of Urban Water Distribution Networks Under Seismic Loads," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 27(10), pages 3739-3764, August.
    10. Isao Nakamura & Maria Carmen Llasat, 2017. "Policy and systems of flood risk management: a comparative study between Japan and Spain," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 87(2), pages 919-943, June.
    11. Abbas, Syed Jaffar & Arshed, Noman & Iqbal, Asim, 2024. "Investigating the impact of FDI on regional economic misery – A nonlinear panel data analysis," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(4).
    12. Sean Fox & Felix Agyemang & Laurence Hawker & Jeffrey Neal, 2024. "Integrating social vulnerability into high-resolution global flood risk mapping," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    13. Nicolás C. Bronfman & Paula B. Repetto & Nikole Guerrero & Javiera V. Castañeda & Pamela C. Cisternas, 2021. "Temporal evolution in social vulnerability to natural hazards in Chile," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 107(2), pages 1757-1784, June.
    14. Immervoll, Herwig & Linden, Jules & O'Donoghue, Cathal & Sologon, Denisa M., 2025. "Carbon pricing and household burdens in newly affluent countries - An application to Lithuania," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    15. Marta Contreras & Alondra Chamorro & Nikole Guerrero & Carolina Martínez & Tomás Echaveguren & Eduardo Allen & Nicolás C. Bronfman, 2025. "Risk Management of Rural Road Networks Exposed to Natural Hazards: Integrating Social Vulnerability and Critical Infrastructure Access in Decision-Making," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-23, August.
    16. Hausmann, Ricardo & Schetter, Ulrich, 2022. "Horrible trade-offs in a pandemic: Poverty, fiscal space, policy, and welfare," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    17. Muhammad Nazeer & Hans-Rudolf Bork, 2019. "Flood Vulnerability Assessment through Different Methodological Approaches in the Context of North-West Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-18, November.
    18. Gainbi Park & Zengwang Xu, 2022. "The constituent components and local indicator variables of social vulnerability index," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 110(1), pages 95-120, January.
    19. Itziar Modrego-Monforte & Mikel Barrena-Herrán & Olatz Grijalba, 2023. "A Multi-Criteria Analysis GIS Tool for Measuring the Vulnerability of the Residential Stock Based on Multidimensional Indices," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-16, August.
    20. Rahimi-Golkhandan, Armin & Aslani, Babak & Mohebbi, Shima, 2022. "Predictive resilience of interdependent water and transportation infrastructures: A sociotechnical approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:160:y:2024:i:c:s0190740924001245. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.