SW 8315
Boundary issue in Social Work Practice
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a clinical social worker began
serving clients remotely using video software, which generated novel privacy
and boundary issues. During counseling sessions, the social worker often saw
the interiors of clients’ homes and, on occasion, met clients’ children, spouses,
partners, and pets who entered the room where the client was located and were
on camera briefly. On two occasions, the social worker’s four-year-old child
wandered unannounced and uninvited into the social worker’s home office and
introduced herself to clients who appeared on the social worker’s computer
screen.
Telehealth social work soared during the Covid-19 pandemic. Americans were under stay-at-home orders and in person services were disrupted. Providing telehealth services was an access for providers to increase the accessibility of care during a public health crisis.
Due to the public health crisis that was happening at that time, some boundaries were unintentionally crossed mainly because of where the services were provided. The social worker in this instance was at home, where clearly, he had a family and personal space to provide this service was limited. This was both unprofessional and unethical. The provider service area was clearly not accommodated for a therapy session to discuss issues that aren’t child appropriate. Most of our homes during this time were not equipped with the tools and space to provide and receive telehealth service and this unprofessional conduct was prevalent. The competency to provide such service prior to Covid-19 was provided to social workers for professional use in the office rather than in their private homes.
To prevent this unintended situation from happening, the social worker should schedule client meetings during times where he will not be disrupted by family and client privacy will be protected. Additionally, if a client focused accommodation cannot be met, sessions should be cancelled and rescheduled without penalty to the client.
Hi, I agree with your stance on providing a private and appropriate environment to provide service. But it was also a completely new and unknown situation especially in the beginning of Covid shutdown and all was not established. I hope policy and practices have improved overall.
I like how you added without penalty to the client, I feel like many places charge fees due to unforeseen circumstances that are often not their fault. Accommodating clients should be number 1 in my opinion as many people who seek social work are often from marginalized groups.
Thank you for your post on the challenges social workers faced during the transition to telehealth. While the shift to remote services was necessary during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it brought with it many unexpected ethical and boundary issues. I think you made a great point about how our homes weren’t designed to serve as therapy offices. For many providers, the lack of privacy or space made it difficult to maintain the same level of professionalism expected in a traditional office setting.
During COVID-19, there weren’t many rules and policies in place to circumvent the privacy for both the client and the Social Worker. However, I think as common courtesy, there should have been an agreement between the Social Worker and the client prior to meeting. It was tough during COVID because working remotely was new and there weren’t alot of expectations to remain private and confidential. At my current agency, we have been working remotely prior to the pandemic and we have to sign an agreement to have a separate space to keep equipment and documents in a secure place. There’s also rules and policies in place if you’re working outside of the home and ways to protect the agencies confidential and secure information. For example, working in a place like Starbucks, I would have to use my hotspot provided by the agency and also have my laptop facing the wall where a passerby can not read what’s on my screen. There are rules and policies in place to protect the client’s information.