Well-being at work factors perceived by social work professionals during COVID-19: reflections for the generation of Healthy Organisations

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 crisis brought with it many questions and highlighted the shortcomings of the different social protection systems, including the Social Services, with the consequent impact on their professionals in the form of stress, burnout, fatigue, etc., which do not emerge as a result of the pandemic, but are exacerbated by the fact that they are already present. For this article, 22 semi-structured interviews were carried out with social workers (as a reference professional in Social Services) in Spain, with the aim of finding out their perceptions and experiences derived from the changes in work organisation during the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to extract strategies and good practices specifically identified by social workers, and for their specific professional field, that lead to an improvement in the quality of working life and well-being in their organisations. The results made it possible to identify some specific practices that could be incorporated into the praxis of these professionals for the construction of Healthy Organisations that could have a positive impact on their working conditions, which could also mean an improvement in the services provided by these professionals to the public.

RESUMEN

La crisis del Covid-19 trajo consigo numerosos interrogantes y puso de manifiesto las carencias de los diferentes sistemas de protección social, entre ellos los Servicios Sociales, con el consiguiente impacto en sus profesionales en forma de estrés, burnout, fatiga, etc., que no surgen como consecuencia de la pandemia, sino que se agravan por el hecho de estar ya presentes. Para este artículo se realizaron 22 entrevistas semiestructuradas a trabajadores sociales (como profesional de referencia en Servicios Sociales) en España, con el objetivo de conocer sus percepciones y experiencias derivadas de los cambios en la organización del trabajo durante la pandemia Covid-19, para extraer estrategias y buenas prácticas identificadas específicamente por los trabajadores sociales, y para su ámbito profesional concreto, que conduzcan a una mejora de la calidad de vida laboral y del bienestar en sus organizaciones. Los resultados permitieron identificar algunas prácticas específicas que podrían ser incorporadas en la praxis de estos profesionales para la construcción de Organizaciones Saludables que podrían tener un impacto positivo en sus condiciones de trabajo, lo que también podría significar una mejora en los servicios prestados por estos profesionales a la ciudadanía.

KEYWORDS:

• Social work
• occupational health
• healthy organisations
• COVID-19
• social services

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• Trabajo social
• salud ocupacional
• organizaciones saludables
• Covid-19
• servicios sociales

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Aleix Morilla-Luchena

Aleix Morilla Luchena, Doctor by the University of Huelva (2022) with international mention. Beneficiary of a predoctoral contract from the Ministry of Universities (2018-2022).

Octavio Vázquez-Aguado

Octavio Vázquez Aguado is a Professor and Director of the Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Public Health at the same university.

Manuela A. Fernández-Borrero

Manuela A. Fernández-Borrero, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Social Work and Public Health at the University of Huelva (UHU). Vice-Dean of Postgraduate Studies and International Relations.