Child welfare workers’ self-care activities and impacts on health and well-being

Abstract

Child welfare workers experience high levels of emotional and physical health problems stemming from their work. Though self-care among social services professionals is often encouraged, only recently have scholars begun to examine the self-care behaviors of child welfare workers. Despite plentiful research on the positive impact of self-care in reducing stress and burnout, limited research with child welfare workers shows only modest engagement in self-care practices. The present study used closed and open-ended survey responses to explore the type and frequency of self-care activities of a cohort of child welfare workers in Florida (n = 1006), and the impact of those activities on workers’ health and well-being, to include measures of burnout, secondary traumatic stress, job satisfaction, and work-life balance. Workers’ responses to open-ended survey questions were analyzed for themes across physical, emotional, and spiritual self-care domains. Chi-square tests determined differences in physical and emotional health ratings for workers who regularly engaged in self-care practices. Linear regression results showed that physical and motional self-care practices were associated with workers’ well-being. The overwhelming participation in self-care activities among child welfare workers and their impact on their health and well-being suggests the importance of an organizational approach to self-care and well-being in the workplace.