Working in Long Term Care Facilities during a Global Pandemic

Dr. Hai Luo’s work addresses social and health issues of older adults of diverse cultural backgrounds and the implications to social theory and social work practice. Her research and publications include cross-cultural aging, Indigenous older adults and aging, sexuality and older adults, gambling in older adults, elder abuse, and social capital and social support for older adults. She currently is involved in local and international projects to study the impact of COVID-19 on long-term care facilities and Indigenous older adults, cross-cultural active aging, cultural minority and Indigenous older adults in global aging, mental health and substance abuse in older adults, and transformation of nursing home. Dr. Luo is active in gerontological education in higher education and international teaching and research collaboration. She co-founded and facilitates a Gerontological Social Work Group (GSWG) for local social workers and graduate students and an International Network for Indigenous Aging (INIA) for interested international scholars and practitioners.

Dr. Judy Hughes is an Associate Professor and the Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and Research in the faculty. Her continuing program of research centers on exploring the meaning of violence from the point of view of victims and the responses provided by social workers and other professional intervenors. Past projects have focused on how professional service providers understand and respond to intimate partner violence, including one project investigating how women indirectly disclose abuse to community health nurses and another project that examined how professionals in the family law system, lawyers, mediators, and custody assessors, respond to women who have experienced intimate partner violence. I have also completed interviews with child welfare workers and women who experience intimate partner violence and involvement with the child welfare system. One current project examines the experience of working and living in a shelter for abused women from the perspective of women residents and shelter workers and the experience and another project measures the impact of shared parenting/custody arrangements on women who have experienced violence from former partners. Currently, Dr. Hughes is focusing on social work education. A recent project in this area investigates how undergraduate social work students come to assume identities as professional social workers.

Liisa Cheshire’s social work career began in 1994 in Ontario. Liisa worked in child welfare in Ontario, British Columbia, and Manitoba. Since moving to Manitoba in 1998 Liisa has worked in a wide variety of roles including quality assurance and leadership positions. In 2015, Liisa joined the Manitoba College of Social Workers (MCSW). Since that time Liisa has spent time discussing ethical dilemmas with members, listening to feedback from members regarding Continuing Competence needs and assisting members of the public with questions related to the MCSW Complaints process. Liisa has been in the role of Manager of Regulatory Practice since 2017 with primary responsibility for the coordination of the complaints process. This has provided Liisa with the opportunity to hear from both clients and social workers about what can be problematic in private practice and what works well.