Is Self-Care Sustainable Without Structural Support? A Systematic Review of Self-Care Interventions

Area of Science:

• Social Work Research
• Occupational Health
• Intervention Science

Background:

• Social workers face significant systemic stressors and limited institutional support for self-care.
• Effective self-care is crucial for social work practitioners to manage burnout and maintain well-being.
• Existing research primarily addresses individual self-care strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and critically analyze research on self-care interventions for social workers.
• To identify trends and gaps in the current literature on social work self-care practices.

Main Methods:

• A systematic review of empirical research articles published between 2011 and 2022.
• Included 22 research articles focusing on self-care interventions within the social work field.

Main Results:

• All reviewed interventions targeted individual behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge.
• Mindfulness-based interventions (83% of studies) were associated with improved mindfulness, distress management, and self-efficacy.
• Other interventions improved self-care attitudes, knowledge, practices, and overall wellness.

Conclusions:

• Current self-care interventions predominantly focus on individual-level changes.
• Structural and institutional factors significantly influence social worker self-care but are not addressed in interventions.
• Multilevel interventions are necessary to address the systemic, institutional, and relational determinants of burnout in social work.