Examining self-care practice frequency among social workers: an international comparison

ABSTRACT

The importance of self-care among social work practitioners notwithstanding, research literature is in the nascent stages of examining this area inquiry. This exploratory study examined the frequency of self-care practices among social work practitioners in Czech Republic, Finland, Poland, and Slovakia. Utilising data collected as part of Wave I of the Global Self-Care Initiative, a large-scale exploratory study designed to examine self-care practices among diverse practitioner groups, researchers sought to investigate differences in practitioners, by country. Analyses revealed significant cross-country differences. Both hierarchical regression and regression tree analyses showed country to have significantly explanatory effect. Practitioners from Finland reported engaging in self-care significantly more frequently than did practitioners in the other countries. Implications derived from contextual practice environments and areas for apposite research inquiry are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Self-care
• social work
• wellness

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

J. Jay Miller

Jay Miller is the dean and director of The Self-Care Lab in the College of Social Work at the University of Kentucky.

Zuzana Poklembova

Zuzana Poklembova is a professor in the Institute of Educology and Social Work, University of Prešov.

Chunling Niu

Chunling Niu is the principal researcher in the Training Resource Center at the University of Kentucky. Beáta Balogová is the dean of Faculty of Arts at the University of Prešov.

Monika Podkowińska

Monika Podkowińska is a professor and Head of Department of Sociology at Warsaw University of Life Sciences.

Kalevi Paldanius

Kalevi Paldanius principal lecturer at Savonia University of Applied Sciences.

Alice Gojová

Alice Gojová is the dean in the Department of Social Work at the University of Ostrava.

Larry Owens

Larry Owens is an associate professor in the Department of Social Work at Western Kentucky University.