"Self care is not about self-indulgence, it's about self preservation"
-Audrey Lorde
Before reading on:
THINK OF THE FOLLOWING
http://socialwork.buffalo.edu/resources/self-care-starter-kit/how-to-flourish-in-social-work.html
Introduction to Our Project
Self-care
plays a vital role in the social work profession. Most social workers are
working with vulnerable populations and people who have experienced abuse,
neglect, discrimination, as well as people who suffer from disability and
mental illness. As members of the social work profession, our group had the
desire to research the students in the MSW program for their current level of
self-care on the physical, emotional and spiritual level. As students in the
MSW program, we are exposed to the stressors of the profession in practicum and
sometimes even in the courses required for the program.
SECTION 1
1. Identify trends and patterns that appear within the text (i.e., answers to questions, similarly used words and/or phrases)
The survey we administered to The University of Utah’s
Social Work Graduate students came directly from the University of Buffalo’sWebsite. According to the Universities self care site their initial project states that, "The Self-Care Starter Kit was initially developed for UB Social Work students, but it is our hope that these resources will be useful for students and professionals alike. " After examining the students at University of Buffalo's project we decided that we would like to do something similar. The results listed below show our initial findings from the University of Utah College of Social Work.
We had a total of 53 students take the Stress and Burnout
Questionnaire and the Burnout Prevention Assessment survey. The Stress and Burnout Questionnaire had a
total of 25 questions and each question was worth two points. The closer a participant scored to 50 points,
the more burned out they are. The mean score for the Stress and Burnout
Questionnaire was 21 points.
.png)
The Burnout Prevention
Assessment survey had a total of 23 questions. The total points a participant
could score was 100 points. The scale
used for this survey was as follows:
Under 30 points – You
should make adoption of some of these measures a priority.
Over 40 – You have
adequate measures in place but should adopt more.
Over 60 – You have a
wide range of preventative measures in place.
The mean score for this
survey was 51.70 points
Analyzing the burnout
survey, data reveals that the majority of students did not score on the extreme
side of the scales. This could reveal two different things: either the students
are experiencing lower to moderate stress levels or they are more stressed than
the chart reveals, but they are using burnout prevention measures
to manage and reduce their stress levels. Since we did not have any previous scores to
compare our data to we are using our data as a Benchmark for future comparison.
2. Provide quotation to
support assessment and various trends and patterns:
Newell (2014) states in his
article on Teaching Professional
Self-care that “Education and training on the use of professional self-care
to properly address the emotional and psychological risks associated with
working as a provider of social work services with vulnerable populations is an
often overlooked issue in social work education” (Newell, 2014). After
surveying several second year MSW students, we found that most of them were in
the “healthy” levels in regards to their personal self-care and burn out while
in the MSW program. There is several research discussing that social work
students can not be effective social workers if lacking self-care and it is
pleasing to see that the majority of social work students in the MSW program
ranked themselves as “above average” on the self-care/burn-out survey.
Although
our surveys portrayed positive feedback within the program, we feel it is still
important to provide MSW students with resources and skills to effectively
manage the stressors that come along with the profession. McGarrigle
(2011) discusses the importance of mindfulness, self-care and wellness in the
social work profession. He states, “Self-care practices implemented regularly may decrease
the impact of the high levels of stress while also serving as strategies for
coping during particularly stressful times” (McGarrigle, 2011). Although the
majority of the students we surveyed ranked in the “normal” range, it is still
important to take into account the students who scored below the average. Our
group plans on putting together a “resource packet” for social work students
that provides skills and information regarding self-care so that they can
implement it and use throughout the rest of their career. Generally it is hard
for people to practice any sort of self help skills when they are experiencing
extreme stress and hopefully our resource packet will motivate them to practice
the self-care techniques regularly, so they don't reach the point where they
are too burned out to function.
Section 2
1. Plan for addressing the issue/problem
In order to address the issue of burnout, our group has looked to social work programs that have successfully developed self-care programs, such as the University of Buffalo, that teach students self-care practices that social work students could engage in on a regular basis to reduce stress and improve their overall well-being. Our group plans to provide the social work students at the University of Utah some of the same education and resources. Using similar instruments and surveys to measure stress and self-care skills of social work students at the University of Utah, not only was the need for self-care curriculum assessed, but it also was a first step in helping the students who participated become more aware of their stress levels, the importance of self-care, and identify personal ways in which they can incorporate self-care. Our group plans on making packets about the importance of self-care, education about self-care practices and ways students can personally implement them, and information about self-care resources that are available to the social work students attending the University of Utah. We will present our information to students in our cohort and make the self-care packets available to all the social work students. Additionally, because of the risks associated with burnout, research suggests that supporting self-care practices becomes a necessary obligation of social work programs in order to fully prepare students to enter the profession. “Social work educators owe it to neophyte social work practitioners, the agencies in which they work, and ultimately to the clients they serve to provide education on the information and skills necessary to prevent and intervene with the effects of professional burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary traumatic stress” (Newell & Gardell, 2014). We would lastly like to address burnout on a macro in addition to the individual level, by contacting the Social Work administration at the University of Utah and presenting our findings to suggest that self-care education become part of the students course work.
2. Goals for addressing the issue/problem:
The choice of goals, strategies, and tactics require that some type of agreement or consensus is reached among members.(Hardina, 2014) We have taken the data collected from our research and combined it with the findings from our literature review and have established the following goals and objectives for our project:
Main Goal:
The goal of our macro project is to emphasize the importance and benefits of self care among social work students at the University of Utah.
Ways to address the issue/problem:
-Create a detailed list with resources and ideas on how to implement self care. We want to include free and easy to access ways to improve the quality of life among students.
-By the end of the Spring 2015 semester we will have a self care resource sheet included in the new student packet given out at orientation that offers students resources to implement self care.
-We plan on discussing the importance of self care with administration in the college and will request that a small portion of the curriculum cover issues related to self care.
-All practice instructors will dedicate at least one class that is focused around self care.
-We hope that 1/2 the student body increases strategies and knowledge to to the content discussed in practice classes as well as the information provided in the new student packet.
3. Social change model most appropriate to meet the goal:
Social change model most appropriate to meet the goal - Movements for progressive change.
In using the Movements for Progressive Change model we will look to work with a broad scope of key individuals, groups, and systems. With the purpose of arming Social Work Students for their engagement in education and the professional workforce, we will advocate for policy change within the College of Social Work. This will be accomplished by processing our research and data for presentation to administration, faculty, students and staff. based on our preliminary research and data we believe the key players, including end line service users, will benefit from the addition self care education and resources to the core curriculum in the MSW program. We base this belief on our meta-analysis of available research on the topic of social worker burnout and self care. We will also use the bottom up ideology found in the Locality Development model(Maple, 2010), where in addition of self care curriculum encourages students to incorporate self care into their professional orientation thus impacting the work they do and all those they work with. In essence if a social worker is educated about and engaging in regular self care, potentially all services users they come into contact with will benefit. Over the span of a 30 year career this would impact thousands of service users.
Elements of Movements for Progressive Change:
Desired Outcome - Addition and implementation of self care curriculum in the University of Utah College of Social Work, MSW core curriculum action, increase of engagement in self care practices among U of U CSW cohorts, increased in desired outcomes among social services users receiving direct care/interaction from graduates of U of U CSW
Systems Targeted for Change - University of Utah College of Social Work, cohorts within the CSW, social service agencies, government agencies, general public
Primary Constituency - recipients of Social Work service, social work students and professionals, CSW faculty, CSW administration, CSW staff, communities where recipients of services live, government entities and agencies impacted by the outcomes of social services, leaders, citizens, organizations able to create new visions and social structures
Scope of Concern - Individual well being of social work students/professionals thus impacting their primary domains of functioning, impact of social work professionals on service users/quality of services provided, integrity of the curriculum within the college of social work, well being of administration, faculty and staff in the college of social work
Social Work/Community Practice Roles - Advocate, facilitator, leader, educator
4. Strategies and tactics that can be implemented:
In the article Career Counseling for Longevity: Self-Care and Burnout Strategies for Counselor Resilience describes burnout and the lack of self-care to be connected to the “Caring Cycle” which is a process of repeated empathetic attachments, active involvement, and felt separation (Skovholt, 2001).The article suggests that to be sustainably successful the social worker must have a balance of other-care and self-care. The article suggests that people who work in fields such as social work, labor in a pretty constant one-way caring positions which if not recognized and regulated can be a major contributing factor to burn out and decrease in professionalism (Skovholt, 2001). On the flip side, if a social worker works towards and is aware of keeping a balance between self-care and other-care a worker can achieve more professional successes and an overall increased personal well being. The strategies and tactics our group is taking towards this issues is first understanding the prevalence of the issues by surveying the MSW second year cohort about their level of self care. Secondly in our surveys the recipient can add up and see what kind of self-care they have or have not been utilizing in hopes to increase self-awareness. Lastly we will be using data to help future students recognize the importance of self-care in the social work profession. We would accomplish this by providing information on different ways individuals can engage in self-care that are at no cost and can be done simply on a break, at home, or during a commute. We will be making a brochure to give to incoming MSW students that will be a resource to them through out their time in the MSW program to help encourage a development of self-care in the culture and in individuals daily lives.
the effort:
The target population for our project is the second year MSW students at the University of Utah. The students can play a key role in advocating for self-care to be implemented into the curriculum. Including the students shows other stakeholders (professors and Social Work Administration) that the interest level is high, and that this change is important to those who are directly affected. According to the Community Toolbox website, the reasons to include students in the change would be to develop leadership and advocacy within the student body, this can lead to long-term social change. Advocacy in numbers can be influential on the stakeholders. Students can talk to their professors who teach classes where implementation of self-care would be easily implemented. Students can also provide self-care information amongst each other, generating ideas for change. Students can also connect and combine similar change projects into one strong collaborative project to present to the administration. With the target population involved, the likelihood of implementation increases and opportunities for different ideas and resources grow exponentially making the case for change a strong one.
6. Manner in which the action plan can be evaluated
for effectiveness:
After receiving the results from the surveys we passed out to the MSW students, our next plan of action is to create a resource packet that includes a majority of skills students may use to help them with self-care and burnout. Each group member contributed to the resource packet and we will hand them out to students within the MSW program. A promising way to measure if the resource packet is effectively helping students in the MSW program would be to assess their use of the packet and gather information such as if they have the packet, if they have ever used it when feeling stressed and how regularly they implement the skills into their daily life. The next step would be to measure their level of self-care and burnout after using the resource packet and than compare their results to the previous survey they took before they had access to the resources.
In order to effectively test if the resource packet is helping MSW student’s decrease their burnout and increase their level of self-care, we will have to ensure that the students we give the packets too have taken the first round of our self-care surveys so that we have something to compare the new results too. I believe that it is important to make sure that students have a reasonable amount of time to look over and implement the resource packet into their daily schedules. This being said, 6 months appears to be a realistic amount of time to reassess if our action plan was successful in increasing self-care. Another option to effectively test our action plan would be too hold an interview or focus group of MSW students who have had access to the resource packet and give them the opportunity to discuss what was helpful and what wasn't. We could also measure MSW students on self-care and burnout specifically based on what population they are working with. Acker (2009) discusses social work and self-care within the profession and how burnout may depend on what population you are working with and your confidence in that area, “A central finding was that social workers who felt competent in their abilities to practice in a managed care environment also reported lower levels of role stress and burnout. Other findings included that those working with clients with severe and persistent mental illness reported lower levels of sense of competence and higher levels of role stress and burnout symptoms”. Assessing students for level of competence and the population they are working with may provide insight into self-care and burnout.
REFERENCES:
Skovholt, T., Grier, T., & Hanson, M. (2001). Career Counseling For Longevity: Self-Care And Burnout Prevention Strategies For Counselor Resilience. Journal of Career Development, 167-176.
Our Self-Care Starter Kit. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2015, from http://socialwork.buffalo.edu/resources/self-care-starter-kit.html
Our Self-Care Starter Kit. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2015, from http://socialwork.buffalo.edu/resources/self-care-starter-kit.html
McGarrigle,
T., & Walsh, C. A. (2011). Mindfulness, Self-Care, and Wellness in Social
Work: Effects of Contemplative Training. Journal Of Religion &
Spirituality In Social Work, 30(3), 212-233.
doi:10.1080/15426432.2011.587384
Newell,
J. M., & Nelson-Gardell, D. (2014). A Competency-Based Approach to Teaching
Professional Self-Care: An Ethical Consideration for Social Work
Educators. Journal Of Social Work Education, 50(3),
427-439. doi:10.1080/10437797.2014.917928
Newell, J. M., & Gardell, D. N. (2014). A competency-based
approach to teaching professional
Self-care: an ethical consideration for social work
educators, Journal of Social Work Education
50, 427-439. doi:10.1080/10437797.2014.917928
Community Tool Box (2015). Chapter 5: Choosing Strategies to Promote Community Health and Development, Section 3: Social Planning and Policy Change.
Gamble. (2010). Conceptual frameworks and models for community practice. Community Practice Skills; Local to Global Perspectives, 24-46.
K. maple. (2010, January 1). Thinking critically about community development. Retrieved March 9, 2015, from http://communitydevtheories.
Hardina, D. (2014). The Use of Dialogue in Community Organization Practice: Using Theory, Values, and Skills to Guide Group Decision-Making. Journal Of Community Practice, 22(3), 365-384. doi:10.1080/10705422.2014.929060
Acker, G. M., & Lawrence, D. (2009). Social Work and Managed Care: Measuring Competence, Burnout, and Role Stress of Workers Providing Mental Health Services in a Managed Care Era.Journal Of Social Work, 9(3), 269-283. doi:10.1177/1468017309334902
