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Searching for the ‘Aha Moments’: Healthcare Social Workers’ Experiences of Hope and Meaning-Making during COVID-19

Abstract While serving as the leading mental health providers in healthcare systems during COVID-19, social workers have faced numerous career-defining moments, both negative and positive; however, limited research highlights how healthcare social workers process these pivotal professional and personal encounters to find hope and meaning. The purpose of this study was to gather a deeper understanding of how healthcare social workers navigated oppressive healthcare systems, social injustice, and their personal and professional caregiving roles to sustain hope, meaning, and purpose during COVID-19. Participants were recruited through healthcare social work professional organizations from October to December 2020. Participants (N = 54) completed an individual interview over Zoom or telephone. The study incorporated feminist phenomenology to understand how the predominantly female (96%) sample sustained hope amidst institutional, societal, and personal despair. Five themes emerged from social workers’ responses: withstanding existential dread; reclaiming family time and community; embracing “aha moments”; answering the call to action; and yearning for normalcy while balancing personal risk. Findings from this study highlight how social workers confronted oppressive systems and gendered social roles to find hope and meaning in the care that they provided for their clients, families, and communities.