Building Resilient Social Workers Is Everybody’s Business
from The Guardian
by Jim Greer
“Chronic sickness and staff retention problems among health and social care staff – social workers in particular – along with growing interest in mindfulness and meditation, have put the spotlight on building resilience in the professions.
While there is cause for optimism about the benefits of practices such as mindfulness for social workers, it is important to recognise that this will not solve problems such as unfeasibly large caseloads. It is also important that we don’t allow mindfulness to lead us into thinking that building resilience is a purely individual matter. Social work is a profession that builds on an understanding of the individual in their social and environmental context. Resilience building for social workers must do the same.”