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.

Keywords

• organizational support
• self-care practices
• secondary trauma
• social workers
• well-being

SOSYAL ÇALIŞMACILARIN KENDİNE BAKIM UYGULAMALARINA KATILIMI: BİR DERLEME ÇALIŞMASI

Öz

Sosyal hizmet uzmanları ağır iş yükleri ve sürekli serviste olma konusundaki toplumsal beklentiler yüzünden genellikle öz bakım uygulamaları konusunda başarısız olurlar. Yoğun çalışma temposu kendilerine yeterli zaman ayıramamayı ve kendilerine karşı yetersiz öz-bakım davranışı sergilemelerine neden olur. Bu çalışmanın iki temel amacı vardır; sosyal hizmet uzmanlarının ikincil travma ve kaçınılmaz stres durumlarına nasıl hazırlandıklarını incelemek ve uzmanların öz bakım uygulamalarına etkileyen faktörlerin neler olduğunu araştırmaktır. Bu konuyu incelemek için öyküsel alan taraması tasarlanmıştır. Bu alan taramasına dahil edilme kriterini karşılayan 8 çalışma incelenmiştir. Çalışmanın sonuçlarına göre, sosyal hizmet uzmanlarının öz bakım faaliyetlerine katılımında örgütsel öz bakım desteği önemli bir etken olduğu görülmüştür. Bu çalışma, sosyal hizmet kurumlarının öz bakım uygulamalarına katılmalarında farklı faktörlerin göz önünde bulundurulması gerektiğini ve bu faktörlerin de uzmanların öz bakım uygulamalarına katılımlardaki motivasyonlarıyla ilişkili olduğunu önermiştir. Bu makale, sosyal hizmet uzmanlarının ikincil travma stresini azaltmalarında öz bakım becerilerini nasıl uyguladıkları ve uygulamalara nasıl katılım gösterdikleri konusundaki tartışmalara katkıda bulunmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• öz bakım uygulamaları
• İkincil travma
• iyilik hali
• sosyal hizmet uzmanları
• örgütsel destek

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