Self- Care and Preventing Burnout

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Johnson ◽  
Cassandra McKay-Jackson ◽  
Giesela Grumbach
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Community Action ◽  
Youth Engagement ◽  
Creative Solutions ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
Time And Energy ◽  
New Strategies

Maslach and Jackson (1981) aptly pointed out that helping professionals are often required to spend considerable time in intense involvement with clients. The time is focused on solving the client’s current problem and may therefore be charged with a wide array of strong emotions. In addition, Maslach and Jackson (1981) noted that solutions are not always easily reached, thus adding to the social workers’ feelings of frustration or inadequacy about job performance. “For the helping professional who works continuously with people under such circumstances, the chronic stress can be emotionally draining and poses the risk of burnout” (Maslach & Jackson, 1981, p. 99). Finding solutions to client problems can be tough, especially dur¬ing times of dwindling resources. It is critical for social workers to stay connected to their own energy level, sense of agency, and self- care during times when the lack of adequate resources constrains the amount and types of services practitioners are able to provide.The practice of self-care is important in providing quality service and may help to prevent burnout in the workplace. Over time, practitioners may become overwhelmed by societal ills, declining resources, and the pressure to fix really tough problems. Critical service learning (CSL) is an approach to practice that empowers students or youth to work toward solutions and encourages them to take action toward social change within their own communities. Furthermore, CSL provides secondary benefits to the practitioner. The practitioner becomes proactive in addressing community problems by empowering youth to examine and challenge the status quo. In this way, practitioners may feel reenergized by an empow¬ering process. Practitioners may also realize faster returns on their investment of time and energy as students or youth become more engaged in community action. In addition, CSL allows the practitioner to seek creative solutions and new strategies for dealing with difficult problems. Implementing CSL projects promotes innovative youth engagement. A well- executed CSL project has the potential to enhance the practitioner’s job satisfaction as well as increase youth motivation. As practitioners engage youth in CSL and witness youth becoming more empowered, the practitioner’s sense of purpose may be renewed.

Hazards of Our Helping Profession: A Practical Self-Care Model for Community Practice

Social Work ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary-Ellen Brown
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Compassion Fatigue ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Professional Burnout ◽  
Community Practice ◽  
Care Model ◽  
The Social ◽  
Vulnerable People ◽  
Community Organizer ◽  
Community Practitioner

Abstract The social work profession is a helping profession; social workers provide services with the intent to improve life opportunities in pursuit of social justice for individuals, groups, communities, and society as a whole. Social workers are called to work on behalf of the most vulnerable people in our society, and as such, the hazards of our helping profession are abundant. Though the literature offers numerous frameworks that can be used by social workers in a variety of settings, many issues that are unique to community practice settings can lead to professional burnout and compassion fatigue for social workers. At present there are no comprehensive models for self-care that attend specifically to the unique needs of the community practitioner. This article presents the iM-PAACT model, a four-part conceptual framework that helps to fill this gap in the literature. This practical self-care model has been designed specifically for social workers engaged primarily in community practice settings, including the community activist, community organizer, and community-engaged scholar.

scholarly journals Modelling community formation driven by the status of individual in a society

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 817-838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan E Snellman ◽  
Gerardo Iñiguez ◽  
Tzipe Govezensky ◽  
R A Barrio ◽  
Kimmo K Kaski
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Network Size ◽  
Community Formation ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
Network Properties ◽  
Willingness To Compete ◽  
New Strategies

Abstract In human societies, people’s willingness to compete and strive for better social status, as well as being envious of those perceived in some way superior, lead to social structures that are intrinsically hierarchical. Here, we propose an agent-based, network model to mimic the ranking behaviour of individuals and its possible repercussions in human society. The main ingredient of the model is the assumption that the relevant feature of social interactions is each individual’s keenness to maximize his or her status relative to others. The social networks produced by the model are homophilous and assortative, as frequently observed in human communities, and most of the network properties seem quite independent of its size. However, we see that for a small number of agents the resulting network consists of disjoint weakly connected communities, while being highly assortative and homophilic. On the other hand, larger networks turn out to be more cohesive with larger communities but less homophilic. We find that the reason for these changes is that larger network size allows agents to use new strategies for maximizing their social status, allowing for more diverse links between them.

Healing Justice, Transformative Justice, and Holistic Self-Care for Social Workers

Social Work ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loretta Pyles
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Historical Trauma ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Moral Injury ◽  
Work Organizations ◽  
Transformative Justice ◽  
The Social ◽  
Transformative Approach ◽  
Body Practices

Abstract A self-care movement for social workers is beginning to embrace mindfulness and other forms of wellness. However, self-care is often framed as merely an individualistic pursuit and may be a tool of managerialism, reinforcing the social and economic structures and culture that are causing burnout and moral injury in the first place. Particularly for people who are marginalized, the self-care movement may ignore historical trauma and the ways that interlocking oppressions contribute to stress, trauma, moral injury, and burnout. Drawing from the evidence base on East–West mind–body practices and informed by a transformative practice lens, healing justice is presented as a framework and set of practices of the whole self. The whole self includes the physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, social, and ecological selves. A transformative approach to healing can be supported by enhancing the capabilities of mindfulness, compassion, curiosity, critical inquiry, effort, and equanimity. The concept of the healing justice organization is introduced as an opportunity for organizational change beginning with a set of inquiries for social work organizations to attend structurally and more purposefully to collective care.

scholarly journals Receptivity and Readiness for Cultural Competence Training Amongst the Social Workers in Hong Kong

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent W P Lee ◽  
Daniel W L Lai ◽  
Yong-Xin Ruan
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Cultural Competence ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
The Social ◽  
Competence Training

Abstract This research examined understandings of cultural competence of social workers in Hong Kong, their needs and challenges in serving culturally diverse groups, and their willingness and receptivity to receive cultural competence training by using constructivist grounded theory. Individual qualitative interviews were conducted with thirteen frontline and managerial practitioners and educators in training institutions in the social work profession. Data were analysed by identifying major themes. The findings show that social workers in Hong Kong tend to encounter language barriers and various forms of cultural shocks in serving ethnoculturally diverse clients. The professional code of practice is not sufficient in promoting culturally competent practice and there are institutional barriers to the enhancement of cultural competence of the social services. Mainstream social work units are generally not well prepared to provide services to non-Chinese communities. In response to these obstacles, professional training should provide future Hong Kong social workers with opportunities to interact with ethnoculturally diverse communities through service-learning. To tackle institutional racism, leaders should have cultural awareness and promote culturally inclusive practices. Inclusion of staff members from diverse cultural backgrounds would increase the capacity of the organisations to better serve clients of diverse needs. Anti-racism training should be made as an essential professional development component for social work students, practicum students, practitioners and managers.

scholarly journals The Current Situation of Social Work Activities in Hospitals in Vietnam

2022 ◽  
Vol 05 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. Nguyen Trung Hai ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Organizational Form ◽  
Project Development ◽  
Medical Field ◽  
Work Activities ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status

Since the Prime Minister signed the decision approving the project 32/2010 on March, 25, 2010 “Development of Social Work Profession in Vietnam in the period of 2010 – 2020”, social work has strongly developed in many different areas including the medical field. Specifically, the Ministry of Health approved the project “Development of the Social Work profession in the health sector from 2011 through 2020” and the Circular 43/2015 on “The social work activities in the hospitals and the organizational form to perform the social work activities in hospitals”. These documents are fundamental to carry out social work activities in hospitals. However, this is a new field so the implementation of these activities is still difficult and lacks detailed supporting guidelines. This study was conducted to assess the status of the five main activities of social workers in hospitals regulated under Circular 43/2015, thereby providing solutions to improve the effectiveness of social work activities.

scholarly journals Resiliency-Focused Supervision Model

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 596-614
Author(s):  
Brenda M. Mack
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Culturally Responsive ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Client Care ◽  
The Social ◽  
Supervision Model ◽  
Mental And Physical Health

Social workers often deal with complex, challenging, and emotionally exhausting situations that can negatively impact their mental and physical health. When a helping professional is in distress, client care may be compromised. Therefore, the necessity of wellness practices to reduce stress and mitigate burnout is gaining recognition in the social work profession. The National Association of Social Workers (2013) asserts that supervisors are responsible for recognizing and responding to supervisees’ work-related angst. However, there is little research published that addresses pre-burnout symptoms and self-care practices in the supervisory process. The Resiliency-Focused Supervision Model (RFSM), a culturally-responsive, strengths-based framework, was developed to assist supervisors in helping supervisees to manage stress, avoid burnout, and be successful in the workplace. The RSFM’s interrelated domain areas include: 1) structural/environmental, 2) relational, 3) work self-care, and 4) life self-care. The RFSM is a practical, pragmatic option for supervisors to use in partnership with social workers to promote good health, well-being, and resiliency.

scholarly journals Prevention as an Explicit Part of the Social Work Profession: A Systematic Investigation

10.18060/1444 ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily L. McCave ◽  
Carrie W. Rishel
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Systematic Investigation ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
Practice Gap

Historically, social workers have espoused a philosophy of prevention. However, this philosophy has not consistently translated into prevention-focused social work practice. This gap in social work practice is of concern given the growing federal attention placed on prevention efforts in key social work arenas, such as health, mental health, and substance abuse. In an effort to illustrate this practice gap, this article presents a systematic investigation of the status of prevention and social work through the examination of three seminal indicators including: the social work literature, the 2009-2012 National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Social Work Speaks, and the 2008 Educational Policy Accreditation Standards (EPAS). Results indicate that the social work profession lacks an emphasis on prevention, as well as cohesiveness regarding prevention across social work practice, education, and scholarship. Opportunities for integrating prevention into the profession are highlighted for key stakeholders, namely social work scholars, educators, and practitioners.

The Challenge to Social Work

2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Hollows
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
New Era ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
Professional Judgement

The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families signifies a major achievement in the development of a coherent approach to promoting the welfare of children while safeguarding them from harm. In this article, the aspirations of the Framework are considered, with particular focus on the challenges posed by the Framework, not only to the practice of social workers but also to the status of the social work profession. The area of professional judgement making is discussed, along with the threats to the effective implementation of the Framework. The author concludes that the Framework could bring about not only a better deal for children and families service users, but a new era of professional respect for social workers.

Women in Power and Decision making Positions : Conditions and Restraints

1970 ◽  
pp. 53-57
Author(s):  
Azza Charara Baydoun
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
Slow Progress

Women today are considered to be outside the political and administrative power structures and their participation in the decision-making process is non-existent. As far as their participation in the political life is concerned they are still on the margins. The existence of patriarchal society in Lebanon as well as the absence of governmental policies and procedures that aim at helping women and enhancing their political participation has made it very difficult for women to be accepted as leaders and to be granted votes in elections (UNIFEM, 2002).This above quote is taken from a report that was prepared to assess the progress made regarding the status of Lebanese women both on the social and governmental levels in light of the Beijing Platform for Action – the name given to the provisions of the Fourth Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. The above quote describes the slow progress achieved by Lebanese women in view of the ambitious goal that requires that the proportion of women occupying administrative or political positions in Lebanon should reach 30 percent of thetotal by the year 2005!

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document