Occupational Wellness Concerns and Self-Care Strategies of Filipino Medical Social Workers During The COVID-19 Pandemic
Given the intense demands imposed on medical social workers (MSWs) during the COVID-19 pandemic, they are vulnerable to developing occupational wellness concerns (OWCs): physical, social, emotional, mental, or spiritual issues caused by work-related factors. OWCs adversely affect the occupational we...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Indonesian Social Work Consortium
2023-12-01
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| Series: | ASEAN Social Work Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://aseansocialwork.com/index.php/asw/article/view/44 |
| _version_ | 1797348065403731968 |
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| author | Patricia Marie Imperial Veronique Ann Claire Abes Michael John Ronquillo Mari Allana Corazon Vilegas |
| author_facet | Patricia Marie Imperial Veronique Ann Claire Abes Michael John Ronquillo Mari Allana Corazon Vilegas |
| author_sort | Patricia Marie Imperial |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Given the intense demands imposed on medical social workers (MSWs) during the COVID-19 pandemic, they are vulnerable to developing occupational wellness concerns (OWCs): physical, social, emotional, mental, or spiritual issues caused by work-related factors. OWCs adversely affect the occupational wellness of the worker and the quality of service given to clients. One approach to reduce OWCs is professional self-care. This study explored the experiences of Filipino MSWs during the pandemic, the OWCs experienced, their self-care strategies, and their impact on professional practice. Face-to-face, Zoom, and email interviews were conducted with 10 MSWs who were part of the skeletal workforce of four (4) hospitals in Metro Manila. The findings showed that OWCs were caused by their commitment to professional duty, intense workload, and health and safety risks. This resulted in conflict with coworkers, desire to quit work, undesirable work attitudes, unhealthy habits, and disruption in the quality of service provision. Meanwhile, professional self-care led to enhanced work performance, improved relations with coworkers and clients, enhanced cognitive ability, increased self-awareness, and acted as a first aid response to combat OWCs. Insights on hospital limitations, supportive mechanisms, social work as an undervalued versus satisfying profession, motivation, and professionalism during the pandemic were also documented. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:58:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0f1d19d3c9d243fb98b3e03275c975a8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2089-1075 2963-2404 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:58:08Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Indonesian Social Work Consortium |
| record_format | Article |
| series | ASEAN Social Work Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-0f1d19d3c9d243fb98b3e03275c975a82024-01-23T22:03:15ZengIndonesian Social Work ConsortiumASEAN Social Work Journal2089-10752963-24042023-12-0110.58671/aswj.v11i2.4444Occupational Wellness Concerns and Self-Care Strategies of Filipino Medical Social Workers During The COVID-19 PandemicPatricia Marie Imperial0Veronique Ann Claire Abes1Michael John Ronquillo2Mari Allana Corazon Vilegas3College of Social Work and Community Development, University of the Philippines DilimanCollege of Social Work and Community Development, University of the PhilippinesCollege of Social Work and Community Development, University of the PhilippinesCollege of Social Work and Community Development, University of the PhilippinesGiven the intense demands imposed on medical social workers (MSWs) during the COVID-19 pandemic, they are vulnerable to developing occupational wellness concerns (OWCs): physical, social, emotional, mental, or spiritual issues caused by work-related factors. OWCs adversely affect the occupational wellness of the worker and the quality of service given to clients. One approach to reduce OWCs is professional self-care. This study explored the experiences of Filipino MSWs during the pandemic, the OWCs experienced, their self-care strategies, and their impact on professional practice. Face-to-face, Zoom, and email interviews were conducted with 10 MSWs who were part of the skeletal workforce of four (4) hospitals in Metro Manila. The findings showed that OWCs were caused by their commitment to professional duty, intense workload, and health and safety risks. This resulted in conflict with coworkers, desire to quit work, undesirable work attitudes, unhealthy habits, and disruption in the quality of service provision. Meanwhile, professional self-care led to enhanced work performance, improved relations with coworkers and clients, enhanced cognitive ability, increased self-awareness, and acted as a first aid response to combat OWCs. Insights on hospital limitations, supportive mechanisms, social work as an undervalued versus satisfying profession, motivation, and professionalism during the pandemic were also documented.https://aseansocialwork.com/index.php/asw/article/view/44medical social workoccupational wellness concernsprofessional self-carecovid-19philippines |
| spellingShingle | Patricia Marie Imperial Veronique Ann Claire Abes Michael John Ronquillo Mari Allana Corazon Vilegas Occupational Wellness Concerns and Self-Care Strategies of Filipino Medical Social Workers During The COVID-19 Pandemic ASEAN Social Work Journal medical social work occupational wellness concerns professional self-care covid-19 philippines |
| title | Occupational Wellness Concerns and Self-Care Strategies of Filipino Medical Social Workers During The COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_full | Occupational Wellness Concerns and Self-Care Strategies of Filipino Medical Social Workers During The COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Occupational Wellness Concerns and Self-Care Strategies of Filipino Medical Social Workers During The COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Occupational Wellness Concerns and Self-Care Strategies of Filipino Medical Social Workers During The COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_short | Occupational Wellness Concerns and Self-Care Strategies of Filipino Medical Social Workers During The COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_sort | occupational wellness concerns and self care strategies of filipino medical social workers during the covid 19 pandemic |
| topic | medical social work occupational wellness concerns professional self-care covid-19 philippines |
| url | https://aseansocialwork.com/index.php/asw/article/view/44 |
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