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Globally, the social work profession seeks to empower and support vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 pandemic. These roles and responsibilities seem to be lagging in Africa as the potentials of social workers are underutilized in many areas of practice including the hospital setting. Given the contributions of medical social work, this article highlights the roles of social workers in healthcare delivery amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, it emphasizes the challenges of medical social work. Since healthcare delivery requires collaboration, suggestions are made regarding ways to incorporate medical social work in healthcare settings for optimal healthcare delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the insights of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems and Lazarus' coping theories, this article highlights the challenges and coping strategies of women living with obstetric fistula in the Northern Region of Ghana. Employing the convenience sampling technique, 55 women were purposively recruited to participate in the study. Focus group discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted to collect data. With the permission of participants, the FGDs and IDIs were audio-recorded and transcribed. The data were analyzed to identify emerging themes that addressed the objectives of the study. The findings indicated that participants encountered varied challenges (physiological issues; abandonment and divorce; psychological problems; financial constraints; and difficulty accessing healthcare). Furthermore, it was found that the women included in this study adopted both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies. Evidence showed that the problem-focused strategies were begging for assistance and seeking support from the Fistula Kpandai support group. Maintaining personal hygiene and optimistic motivation were the emotion-focused strategies employed by the participants. Based on the findings of the study, implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]