Social work student telephones Expert by experience. Service users involvement in social work education during Covid-19 pandemic

This article presents an innovative activity based on the involvement of Experts by Experience in social work education. The activity was conducted in Italy during weeks of lockdown. In the spring of 2020, due to containment measures adopted by the Italian government to face with COVID-19, day-long meetings of students of social work with Experts by Experience were suspended. This impediment encouraged educators to develop a new initiative named ‘Social work student telephones Expert by Experience’ in which 119 students of social work and 69 Experts by Experience participated. The activity entailed a telephone call exchanged between a student and an Expert by Experience. After their respective calls, each student was invited to fill out an online form describing the lived experience through a short story addressed to an imaginary friend. Three main themes emerged from the content analysis of the students’ stories: students’ learnings acquired through the activity; students’ feelings during the activity; students’ overall opinions on the educational activity. In the international field of service users’ involvement in social work education, the activity represents an innovation that could inspire other universities to adopt similar practices.