Robert Chigangaidze

Lecturer

Health, Education, Policing and Sciences

I am a Lecturer in Social Work/ Health and Social Care. My background is in mental health and I have practiced both in the United Kingdom and in Zimbabwe. I have also taught Social Work courses from Certificate level to Masters Level at Midlands State University at the School of Social Work in Harare. Before relocating to the UK, I had an opportunity to teach several Social Work courses at Women’s University in Africa. As a Clinical Social Worker, I practiced at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals from 2014-2020 focusing on social work interventions in mental health inpatients and outpatients. I also attended child psychiatry clinics with the multidisciplinary team members. As a versatile practitioner, my work was both at the grassroot level and at policy formulation as when required.

In May 2021, I joined Bluestones Medical an agency for health workers, and I was assigned to Trafford Primary Care Mental Health and Wellbeing Service during the COVID-19 pandemic. Working with service users experiencing mental health challenges enlightened my perspective to how I view the world. Reflective of having worked extensively in diverse communities, I learnt to talk to a soul as a soul and heart to heart. Empathy and compassion at the centre of my practice, I completed the assignment knowing that I had positively contributed to the society. I have built strong professional relationships with mental health service users and advocacy being my strength networked with other professionals to ensure that the voices of service users are heard in all the settings I worked in.

As a way of diversifying my expertise, I joined the Manchester Citywide Care Homes Team in 2022 before joining Staffordshire University. My experience in Manchester enhanced my knowledge in dementia and partnership working. It also reinforced my knowledge in legislation and an appreciation of the beauty of aging. The smiles on the faces of people whom I attended to when visiting care homes kept me motivated and encouraged me to keep focused on my practice. Dealing with safeguarding concerns was part of the tasks I followed through to ensure organisations would learn from these cases. As you may have noted, I have worked with all age groups, and I am flexible to adapt to environments as it is a prerequisite for humanistic work. My focus now is to impact the global community through extensive scholarly work, teaching, research, collaborations, presenting at workshops and conferences. I am interested in understanding the divine fellowship of the Creator and the created, the harmonious relationship of creation, and promoting the relationships of nature and nurture. Thus, expanding my expansive philosophical exploration of humanistic social work, especially within the domain of African philosophy of Ubuntu. How microcosms link to macrocosms?

Professional memberships and activities

Registered Social Worker with Social Work England
Member of the African Network of Social Workers Ubuntu Research Group

Academic qualifications

MSc in Clinical Social Work awarded with University Book Prize (Midlands State in Zimbabwe)
BSc in Social Work Honours (University of Zimbabwe)

Expertise

Social Work in Mental Health
Social Work Education
Humanistic Social Work
Ubuntu Social Work
Clinical Social Work

Research interests

Humanistic Social Work
COVID-19 and Social Work Practice
Human rights and Social Justice
Ubuntu Social Work
Clinical Social Work
Environmental Social Work
Music and films as a pedagogic in Social Work
Social Work Education
Racism and anti-oppressive practices

International Social Work

Enterprise and commercial interests

I have special interests in working in mental health. I worked extensively with mental health service users both in the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe. As a Clinical Social Worker, I practiced at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals at the Psychiatry Unit for over 5 years. In the United Kingdom, I worked with the Trafford Primary Mental Health and Wellbeing Service and the Early Interventions Treatment and Prevention of Psychosis Service in Trafford.

In Manchester, I have also worked with the Manchester Citywide Care Homes Team mainly conducting annual care reviews for service users in care homes and diagnosed with Dementia. I have worked as a voluntary youth worker for more than 5 years with Church organizations training youths in areas such as Substance Abuse, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Mental Health and Peace building.

Publications

Chigangaidze, R.K., & Dudzai, C. (2023). Positioning the Natural Environment in Ubuntu’s Axiom ‘Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu’ : An Ecospiritual Social Work Perspective. In: Mayaka, B., Uwihangana, C., & Van Breda, A.D. The Ubuntu Practitioner : Social Work Perspectives. International Federation of Social Workers, Rheinfelden. (p 156-170)

Chigangaidze, R.K., & Chikanya, N. (2023). Ubuntu Social Work Benefits both the Practitioner and Service Users: An Axiological Reflection of a Clinical Social Worker and a Theologian. In: Mayaka, B., Uwihangana, C., & Van Breda, A.D. The Ubuntu Practitioner : Social Work Perspectives. International Federation of Social Workers, Rheinfelden. (p 171-188)

Chigangaidze, R.K., Mafa, I.T, Simango, T.G., & Mudehwe, E. (2022). Establishing the relevance of the Ubuntu philosophy in Social Work Practice: Inspired by the Ubuntu World Social Work Day, 2021 Celebrations and the IFSW and the IASSW's (2014) Global Definition of Social Work, International Social Work, DOI:10.1177/00208728221078374.

Dudzai, C., & Chigangaidze, R.K. (2022). The conundrum of corruption during a Coronavirus Lockdown in Zimbabwe. Lessons for Social Work. Ethics and Social Welfare, DOI:10.1080/17496535.2022.2147203.

Chigangaidze, R.K. (2022). Environmental Social Work through the African philosophy of Ubuntu: A conceptual analysis. International Social Work, 1-12. DOI:10.1177/00208728211073382.
Chigangaidze, R.K. (2022). A call for a new perspective in social work and health care: the developmental-clinical social work perspective. COVID-19 pandemic through the human rights perspective. Social Work in Health Care, 61 (1), 1-21. DOI:10.1080/00981389.2022.2027847

Chigangaidze, R.K., & Chinyenze, P. (2022). What it means to say, ‘a person is a person through other persons’: Ubuntu through humanistic-existential lenses of transactional analysis. Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, DOI:10.1080/15426432.2022.2039341.
Chigangaidze, R.K. (2022). The Environment has rights: Eco-spiritual social work through Ubuntu Philosophy and Pachamama. A commentary. International Social Work, https:// doi.org/10.1177/00208728211056367.

Chigangaidze, R.K & Chinyenze, P. (2021). Is it “Aging” or Immunosenescence? The COVID-19 Biopsychosocial Risk factors aggravating immunosenescence as another risk factor of the morbus. A Developmental-clinical social work perspective. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 1-16. DOI:10.1080/01634372.2021.1923604.

Chigangaidze, R.K. (2021). Utilising ubuntu in social work practice: ubuntu in the eyes of the multimodal approach. Journal of Social Work Practice, Doi:10.1080/02650533. 2021.1981276.
Chigangaidze, R.K., Matanga, A.A., & Katsuro, T. (2021). Ubuntu philosophy as a humanistic-existential framework for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 1-15, DOI:10.1177/00221678211044554.

Chigangaidze, R.K. (2021) Defending the African Philosophy of ubuntu and its place in clinical social work practice in mental health: The biopsychosocial and ecological systems perspectives. Social Work in Mental Health, https://doi.org/10.1080/15332985.2021.1910894.

Chigangaidze, R.K. (2021). COVID-19 and the calls of humanistic social work: Exploring the developmental-clinical social work concerns of the pandemic. International Social Work, 64 (5), 663-675

Chigangaidze, R.K. (2021) Risk factors and effects of the morbus: COVID-19 through the biopsychosocial model and ecological approach to social work practice. Journal of Social Work in Public Health, 36 (2), 98-117. DOI: 10.1080/19371918.2020.18

Chigangaidze, R.K. (2021). An exposition of humanistic-existential social work in light of ubuntu philosophy: Towards theorizing ubuntu in social work practice. Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, 1-20. DOI:10.1080/15426432.2020.1859431.
Conferences

Chigangaidze, R.K., & Dudzai, C. (2021). Establishing the relevance of Ubuntu in Social Work: A Human Rights Perspective. International Federation of Social Workers Africa Conference, in Rwanda. (Conference Presentation 23-26 November 2021).

robert.chigangaidze@staffs.ac.uk