SOCIAL WORKERS’ PARTICIPATION IN SELF-CARE PRACTICES: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Social workers often fail to practice self-care due to the heavy caseloads and societal expectations about being always on the service, which does not let them have sufficient time to do self-care activities for their well-being. This study aimed to examine how social workers prepare for the inevitable stresses and secondary trauma and what the key factors of participation in self-care practices are for them. To examine this issue, a narrative style literature review was designed. According to the literature review, in 8 studies meeting inclusion criteria, organizational self-care support was the important factor for social work professionals’ participation in self-care activities. The synthesis of the literature review suggested that human services and social work agencies should recognize multiple factors of attending self-care practices and its relationship with the degree of motivations in their engagement in self-care. This article contributes to the debates around how social workers apply and engage in self-care practices in the reduction of secondary traumatic stress.