The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled university students to adapt to remote learning modalities resulting in increased of anxiety symptoms. This study explores levels of anxiety, and risk and protection factors among Social Work students at two universities in southern Spain. Thirty four percent were experiencing severe anxiety, and 28.5% mild to moderate, revealing that anxiety levels had increased significantly. Greater concern about academic situation and future economic scenario, living in an urban area and leave the habitual residence increased anxiety symptoms. By contrast, family income stability and higher social support from relatives reduced anxiety symptoms. These results support the planning of emotional support services for college students, as well as the incorporation in the study plans the acquisition of skills to live better in these conditions.

The Quality of Life (QoL) of older adults in nursing homes depends on multiple factors. It is necessary to discover the dimensions of QoL, and to obtain an integrating model, analyzing their relationships. With this aim, an exhaustive systematic literature review has been conducted in this area over the last decade. The research question has been to obtain the advances on the key factors influencing the QoL and well-being of older adults living in nursing homes in the last decade. Multiple databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, Wiley Online Library, PubMed, ProQuest, EBSCOhost, and Emerald were used. This review was reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. “Thematic Synthesis Analysis” was used to analyze the studies. The CADIMA web tool was used to conduct the systematic review. The quality of the studies was assessed. The findings were summarized, obtaining a classification of the relevant studies: models or scales for QoL; vision and perception of the QoL of the stakeholders; and determination of QoL through factors (relationship between factors and predictive factors). The results not only evidence the need for further research into this topic, but also the need for an integrative model of QoL, personalized and adapted both to the residents and the nursing home.

This study compares mental health problems among Social Work students at Spanish and Mexican universities during confinement due to COVID-19. A total of 1,252 undergraduate students completed an online survey, including demographic variables, related to COVID-19, perceived social support and levels of depression, anxiety and stress. Students from Spain, compared to those from Mexico, reported statistically higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Analyzing the associated risk and protective factors, differences were found between students from Spain and Mexico. Notably, social support was a significant protective factor in both countries during the COVID-19 crisis to improve their mental health levels.

In recent years, international migration has changed considerably, improving our understanding of the diversity of migrants, something that until recently was viewed as a fixed pattern associated with the ethnic group in question. At the same time, in the international context, the importance and the need to recognize the rights of people with disabilities has grown. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a more detailed analysis of this phenomenon in Europe, from the perspective of superdiversity, which covers the different variables that come into play, as well as the responses to the diverse needs that are provided through the action protocols in host countries. To address the objective of this research, we present a critical review of the migration policies undertaken at the European level, methodologically approached using the causal inference model. Our findings show a lack of structure of social and professional intervention policies, at the international level, towards refugees with disabilities. We conclude by presenting a series of political guidelines that rely on scientific evidence to improve the lives of migrants with disabilities.

The process of developing the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) that was initiated after the Bologna Declaration in 1999 led to the harmonization of European university systems and a profound modernization of university. Social work education has been no exception in this regard. Focusing on youth as a group subject to intervention and addressed through documents and references from the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), from the European Social Work Research Association (ESWRA), in specialized literature and through social services, we consider it important to analyse how young social work students are trained in order to work with young people. It should be noted that they are young to all intents and purposes once they complete their studies, thus implying they face the same problems as their target intervention subjects. For this reason, we have undertaken a cross-country comparison between undergraduate study programs that provide training in youth from 16 European universities, namely Spain, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Portugal, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Poland, and the Slovak Republic. The data obtained leads to the following paradox: the relevance of young people as a field of action does not match the creation of study programs and specific courses on the problems young people face and how to tackle them.

Information and communication technologies are increasingly relevant. Finding a sphere of activity that is isolated from technological advancement proves increasingly difficult, and social work is no exception. Therefore, given the socio-demographic and technological context for this sector in Spain, we must face and tackle new challenges. Focusing exclusively on the elderly, e-social work highlights new skills and abilities that can be developed by means of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), which are viewed as powerful tools that can guarantee egalitarian access to an improved life standard. Nevertheless, despite the digital divide growing smaller, its impact on people over 75 is still significant; hence, we need to use every tool at our disposal to reduce it to the bare minimum. With that purpose in mind, this article discusses usability, the causes of unequal access to ICTs, technological gerontological pedagogy and robotics as forward-looking technology. The aim is to technologically enable the senior population by adapting the necessary interfaces for an easier interaction; likewise, online intervention also aims for the utilization of alternative technologies. Technology has completely changed the world we live in pushing us to a new approach towards old age, fragility and chronicity. ICTs in social intervention must be a true source of opportunities to further social cohesion.