The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on UK social workers working with people with learning disabilities: A mixed methods study

Justin MacLochlainn; Jill Manthorpe; Paula McFadden; Rachel Naylor; Heike Schroder; Susan McGrory; Patricia Nicholl; Denise Currie; Karen Kirby; J. Mallett

doi:10.1177/17446295251315525

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on UK social workers working with people with learning disabilities: A mixed methods study

Justin MacLochlainn
, Jill Manthorpe
, Paula McFadden
, Rachel Naylor
, Heike Schroder
, Susan McGrory
, Patricia Nicholl
, Denise Currie
, Karen Kirby
, J. Mallett

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

93 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health and wellbeing of social workers working with
people with learning disabilities has not been fully explored. This paper reports findings from a large
United Kingdom study that surveyed health and care workers in six phases of the pandemic and
shortly thereafter (2020-23) relating to 310 social workers who worked with people with learning
disabilities. Mann-Whitney U tests revealed that these social workers experienced a decline in
wellbeing over the pandemic period, but this lessened as time passed. Logistic regression showed
that social worker wellbeing predicted intentions to leave their profession. This study offers an
evidence-based foundation to guide retention policies in learning disability social work, aiming to
stabilise the sector and preserve essential experience for workforce planning.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1 -15
Number of pages	15
Journal	Journal of Intellectual Disabilities
Early online date	21 Jan 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/17446295251315525 https://doi.org/10.1177/17446295251315525
Publication status	Published online - 21 Jan 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2025.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was funded by the Health and Social Care Research Division (HSC R&D Division) of the Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland (COVID Rapid Response Funding Scheme COM/5603/20), the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) and the Southern Health and Social Care Trust and funding from England’s National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce-PR-PRU-1217–21002.

Funders	Funder number
HSC R&D Division
Public Health Agency
Southern Health and Social Care Trust
Northern Ireland Social Care Council
Department for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland	COM/5603/20
Department for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland
Workforce-PR-PRU-1217–21002

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

COVID-19
learning disability
Retention
Social work
Wellbeing
Covid-19
wellbeing
social work
retention

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10.1177/17446295251315525Licence: CC BY-NC
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Cite this

MacLochlainn, J., Manthorpe, J., McFadden, P., Naylor, R., Schroder, H., McGrory, S., Nicholl, P., Currie, D., Kirby, K., & Mallett, J. (2025). The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on UK social workers working with people with learning disabilities: A mixed methods study. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 1 -15. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/17446295251315525, https://doi.org/10.1177/17446295251315525

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MacLochlainn, J, Manthorpe, J, McFadden, P , Naylor, R, Schroder, H, McGrory, S, Nicholl, P, Currie, D, Kirby, K & Mallett, J 2025, 'The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on UK social workers working with people with learning disabilities: A mixed methods study', Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, pp. 1 -15. https://doi.org/10.1177/17446295251315525, https://doi.org/10.1177/17446295251315525

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The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on UK social workers working with people with learning disabilities: A mixed methods study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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