Agency Support for Self-care and Burnout among Licensed Social Workers

Social workers often work in stressful environments and experience secondary trauma through their clients. An examination of the available literature has found that social workers experience symptoms of burnout. Previous research also indicated that self-care is beneficial to decreasing stress levels in social workers. In this study, a quantitative and qualitative survey was distributed to licensed social workers in the state of Minnesota examining burnout and self-care within the context of the social work agency. Quantitative data was evaluated using descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative data was analyzed and coded using grounded theory methodology. There were no significant quantitative findings. Qualitative findings were congruent with current research on contributing factors to self-care and burnout; themes of support and flexibility to support social workers in maintaining self-care and combating burnout were prevalent in qualitative findings. Future more extensive research can be done to better operationalize the components of a work environment that is supportive of self-care.