School of Social Work

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a globally disruptive force to our human systems for over a year. 

Scholars have already begun researching the effects of the catastrophe as it’s unfolding. But what will that inquiry look like in five years, or a few decades from now? How will researchers measure the shock to and resilience of society?

The COVID-19 pandemic has been hardest on the most vulnerable people, and Arizona State University students have been working to help one group in downtown Phoenix.

Residents at the Westward Ho apartments – low-income older adults and those with disabilities – have faced extra burdens over the past year. A population that was already susceptible to loneliness was further isolated when they couldn’t see friends and family in person. They were unable to access services in their building, like the computer room, which was closed. Some residents didn’t always have enough to eat.

A Maricopa County COVID-19 case investigative team consisting of Arizona State University students, assisted by faculty and staff from the ASU School of Social Work in Tucson, has closed nearly 15,000 cases since June through extensive interviews and contact tracing.

Effective contact tracing involves identifying infected individuals and anyone with whom they’ve been in contact, then working with those people to halt further spread of the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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