The Six Dimensions of Child Welfare Employees’ Occupational Well-Being

Baldschun, Andreas

doi:10.19154/njwls.v4i4.4708

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Baldschun 2014). In the international social work literature, the concept of subjective well-being (SWB), which is considered a social scientific concept of happiness, has become increasingly popular when studying employee well-being.…”

Section: Theoretical Approaches and Empirical Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moral distress among social workers: The role of insufficient resources

Kuip

2015

Int J Soc Welfare

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The present study examined moral distress among Finnish social workers and the role of perceived resource insufficiencies in explaining it. The aim was to shed light on this understudied phenomenon in the field of social welfare. The study focused on work‐related moral distress, defined as impaired wellbeing that is connected to the continual inability to implement actions that one considers morally appropriate. The survey data were collected with an electronic questionnaire between the years 2011 and 2012. The respondents (n = 817) were social workers in the public social welfare services and the overall response rate was 46.5 per cent. Nearly 11 per cent of the respondents reported experiencing moral distress and perceived resource insufficiencies strongly explained this experience. Moreover, social workers with moral distress reported that they were less willing to continue in their post, were more frequently on sick leave and had positive work‐related experiences less often than their colleagues who did not experience moral distress. Key Practitioner Message: ● The concept of moral distress is useful in describing the experiences of social welfare workers when they are unable to practise their profession according to their moral code and the emotional burden related to this inability; ● Perceived resource insufficiencies are strongly associated with experiences of moral distress among frontline social workers; ● Social workers experiencing moral distress are less willing to continue in their work, take sick leave more often and less frequently have positive experiences related to their work.

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Section: Theoretical Approaches and Empirical Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moral distress among social workers: The role of insufficient resources

Kuip

2015

Int J Soc Welfare

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“…Employee welfare Kurup and Rishi (2016) describe employee welfare as the general health and wellbeing of an organisation's workforce that requires constant focus in organisational decision making and planning. To manage and reduce the risk of burnout and fatigue, Baldschun (2014) suggests welfare-related strategies be implemented at the earliest point of the employee's journey and take a proactive approach to maintaining welfare. Similarly, Robertson and Cooper (2010) discussed a hedonic approach to addressing the psychological welfare of employees.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As supported by Pawar (2016), improving the psychological welfare of an employee has proven results in the quality of work provided by a 'healthy and happy' employee. In a study exploring the perspectives of childcare workers, Baldschun (2014) found a strong relationship between the welfare of employees and the resulting welfare outcome for patients. For example, a healthcare professional working overtime without adequate rest breaks is likely to provide poor quality of care to their patient (Baldschun, 2014).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a study exploring the perspectives of childcare workers, Baldschun (2014) found a strong relationship between the welfare of employees and the resulting welfare outcome for patients. For example, a healthcare professional working overtime without adequate rest breaks is likely to provide poor quality of care to their patient (Baldschun, 2014). Further, Robertson and Cooper (2010) and Pierre and Tremblay (2011), argued that managers are responsible for the welfare of their employees and must do all that is practicable to reduce the risk of psychological difficulties that may result in disengagement, empathy burnout and employee turnover.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further, Robertson and Cooper (2010) and Pierre and Tremblay (2011), argued that managers are responsible for the welfare of their employees and must do all that is practicable to reduce the risk of psychological difficulties that may result in disengagement, empathy burnout and employee turnover. Taking preventative steps such as introducing welfare benefits means managers are empowered to improve the welfare of their workforce (Pierre & Tremblay, 2011;Baldschun, 2014). It is important for leadership to prioritise the needs and interests of employees to improve the health and wellbeing of an organisation's workforce and take practical steps to retain valuable employees.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Employee welfare: Developing change strategies to address empathy burnout in caring professions

Turner¹,

Gill²

2019

Scope (Flexible Learning)

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INTRODUCTIONThe general health and wellbeing of an organisation's workforce, also referred to as employee welfare, remains a crucial component in organisational and leadership planning. At the level of an individual, welfare is often related to one's level of satisfaction, engagement and dedication. At the organisational level, welfare can be associated with productivity, turnover, and employee relationships. An employee's welfare, particularly in a caring profession, is often subject to the emotionally demanding needs of their patients, which significantly affects their ability to remain empathic and compassionate towards others, and themselves. Empathy, like any emotional resource, can be exhausted if not replenished often. Compassion fatigue, also known as empathy burnout, is an emotional state experienced by those working in emotionally demanding roles, such as healthcare professionals, police service and social workers. The common symptoms of empathy burnout include depression, anxiety, absenteeism and lethargy. At an organisational level, it is imperative that leadership decisions consider the implications of their profession to the wider workforce, and so develop strategies to prevent empathy burnout. This paper explored the perspectives of employee welfare at a local hospital to develop strategies for change that may assist caring professionals in managing their stress and maintaining levels of empathy. From the exploratory research project, strategies emerged that could be actioned to improve employee welfare across the organisation. These strategies for change included strengthening communication lines to eliminate barriers to support, bolstering the existing employee assistance programme, developing resilience training schemes, and closing the gap between executive leadership and staff. Caring professions are positions/roles including but not limited to nursing, clinicians, physicians, paramedics, mental health employee, caregiving, counsellors, physiologists, orderly and welfare officers.Emotional intelligence research remains an area of interest across industries, particularly in human resources management and the healthcare industry (Kurup & Rishi, 2016). The need for this research originated from the desire of a Health and Safety Manager to understand the current state of employee welfare within their organisation, and explore related benefits available in their workforce. The aim was to understand perspectives of employee welfare at the hospital at the focus of this research, and compare findings between managerial and non-managerial employees. To achieve this aim, a series of semi-structured interviews and quantitative surveys were undertaken with hospital employees including those working in clinical areas, management and administration. Though the sample size of this research was small, the findings revealed a valuable snapshot of employee welfare within the hospital, and and potentially, wider implications.The questionnaire items that were developed from existing research, assessed three speci...

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Child welfare worker wellness: An ethical imperative in the service of children

Bowman

2022

Child Abuse Review

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Child welfare social workers are at high risk of burnout due to the demanding nature of their work (Bowman, 2020;Lizano & Mor Barak, 2012; Sprang et al., 2011;. This condition can have drastic consequences for the psychosocial and emotional wellbeing of social workers and the vulnerable children and families they serve in child welfare organisations across the world. However, burnout and the associated risk of turnover and reduced self-efficacy can be prevented through effective workplace support and intervention (Brode, 1990). This article provides an overview on the impact of burnout on child welfare workers' health, mental health and turnover as well as child and family outcomes, while underscoring the organisation's role in mitigating this issue. From an extensive literature review, the author proposes the following organisational child welfare wellness model: workplace wellness in child welfare organisations. Recommendations within this model focus on child welfare practices which provide support to workers including wellness (i.e. on-site crisis and mental health support) and growth-needs-focused interventions (i.e. supervision, specialisation and promotion). Key Practitioner MessagesThis model seeks to help practitioners and administrators in child welfare organizations to (A) better understand and identify indicators of burnout in child welfare social workers; (B) define and conceptualize workplace wellness and holistic interventions in child welfare workplace settings; and (C) clearly identify measurable wellness interventions in child welfare settings and apply this knowledge to burnout prevention efforts at the micro (worker), mezzo (unit), and macro (agency) levels.

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The Six Dimensions of Child Welfare Employees’ Occupational Well-Being

Abstract: The objective of this paper is the creation of a multidimensional model of occupational well-being for child welfare professions and the definition of the model's six dimensions of well-being: affective, social, cognitive, professional, personal, and psychosocial well-being

Cited by 15 publications

References 60 publications

Moral distress among social workers: The role of insufficient resources

Moral distress among social workers: The role of insufficient resources

Employee welfare: Developing change strategies to address empathy burnout in caring professions

Child welfare worker wellness: An ethical imperative in the service of children

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