A case study of social work leadership in the pandemic intervention in Wuhan

Abstract

Social workers in Wuhan, China were among the first to respond to the public health crisis caused by Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in early 2020. Social workers in Wuhan developed and implemented an effective interventional model integrating online and offline volunteers of multiple professions—the ‘4 + 1’ model—to support affected individuals in the process of battling the pandemic. Transformational social work leadership played a vital role in the widely adopted model in China, characterised by idealised influence—attributed (or charisma); idealised influence—behavioural; inspirational motivation; intellectual stimulation and individual consideration. Contextual performance is also discussed, followed by a discussion on why social work can play a leadership role in inter-disciplinary intervention in the pandemic crisis. The article concludes with the areas social workers can improve on for the betterment of leadership.