Self-care Curriculum in College Social Work Programs

Current studies provide evidence supporting the effectiveness of self-care activities on reducing the symptoms of burnout and compassion fatigue. The education social workers receive on self-care during their graduate and undergraduate programs was analyzed in this mixed-method study. Researcher analyzed data from a quantitative survey of professional social workers that have completed their graduate or undergraduate degree in Social Work. The results of this study determine that no correlation exists between collegiate self-care education and the frequency of engagement in self-care activity; however, the qualitative data found that respondents place a high importance on self-care education and the social work profession taking a role in the self-care education of its social workers. Findings also include respondents’ definition of self-care as holistic well- being and self-care activities as being purposeful with the intent of taking care of ones’ self. Further research is necessary to determine what factors contribute to a culture of self-care and how this affects the frequency of engagement in self-care activity