Self-care management 101: Strategies for social workers and other frontline responders during the COVID-19 pandemic in rural communities

Mental well-being and quality of working life in UK social workers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: A propensity score matching study

“…Considering the psychological impact, prolonged stress and higher job demands often associated with the COVID-19 pandemic (Dominelli, 2021;Harrikari et al, 2021;Holmes et al, 2021;Miller and Reddin Cassar, 2021), these results may seem counterintuitive. As indicated in the literature, COVID-19 has been challenging for social workers (Downing et al, 2021;Morse and Dell, 2021). In contrast to the findings of the present study, some commentators outside the UK have argued that social workers are more under pressure and undervalued during COVID-19 times than they were previously (Amadasun, 2020 (Nigeria); Downing et al, 2021 (commenting on rural social work in the USA)).…”

“…It is possible many people working from home have had more opportunity to relax and get outside. Furthermore, the higher scores in 2020 could be associated with workplace well-being promotion, self-care, support services, communication skills training, effective planning systems, flexible work hours and less excessive work demands (Kalliath et al, 2020;Mette et al, 2020;Downing et al, 2021;Miller and Reddin Cassar, 2021;Morse and Dell, 2021). In order to improve WRQoL and reduce the pressures within the social work profession, compassionate and understanding employers and co-workers are important factors alongside regular team communication and support services within the workplace (Cook et al, 2020;Kalliath et al, 2020;Dominelli, 2021).…”

“…Banks et al (2020) have observed that the inherent weaknesses within the social work system have been exposed. COVID-19 has made the daily work of social workers more difficult as it has exacerbated the consequences associated with a challenging social work system (Downing et al, 2021;Miller and Reddin Cassar, 2021). However, whether these weaknesses have impacted the well-being and quality of working life of social work is uncertain.…”

Exploring the self‐care practices of social workers in China under the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…

The professional mission of social work is to help needy and vulnerable groups improve their life opportunities and promote social fairness and justice (Brown, 2020). Under the influence of neoliberalism, fewer resources have been devoted to social services, and social workers not only have come under pressure to meet the various needs of clients in practice (Miller et al, 2017) but also face an increasing number of cases and administrative burden (Downing et al, 2021). Professional burnout, secondary trauma, compassion fatigue, and other problems potentially affect the physical and mental health of social workers (Grise-Owens et al, 2018;Lee & Miller, 2013).

…”

Self-Care Insights from COVID-19

“…Yet, these routine safety precautions fall short as we should not wait for the unexpected, emergency situations or global pandemics to employ self-care strategies. The importance of wellness has long been a consistent part of our training and continual professional development that is supported by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW, 2021) Code of Ethics as professional responsibility to ensure ethical practice (Downing et al, 2021).…”