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. 2023 Jan;66(1):144-157.
doi: 10.1177/00208728221104395.

COVID-19 and client violence toward healthcare social workers in Chile

Magdalena Calderón-Orellana  1 , Daniela Díaz Bórquez  1 , Paula Miranda Sánchez  1
Affiliations

COVID-19 and client violence toward healthcare social workers in Chile

Magdalena Calderón-Orellana et al. Int Soc Work. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

This article discusses the violence perpetrated by clients against social workers who provided services to COVID-19 patients and their families in Chilean hospitals during the initial peak of the disease in the country. In this way, this becomes the first study to analyze client violence toward social workers in the health crisis generated by the pandemic. The results indicate that the presence of aggressions from clients is high and social workers' coping strategies are passive. Finally, the urgent call for prevention and the need for research are presented.

Keywords: COVID-19; Chile; client violence; healthcare; social workers.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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