Self-Care Practice and Retention: Narratives of Social Workers in China
Despite the growing importance of self-care in the retention of social workers, its practice has been rarely studied. This study investigated the self-care strategies utilized by social workers to enhance retention in China. This study comprised individual in-depth interviews with 49 experienced soc...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2023-09-01
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| Series: | SAGE Open |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231197318 |
| _version_ | 1827818336777404416 |
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| author | Yangyong Zhang |
| author_facet | Yangyong Zhang |
| author_sort | Yangyong Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite the growing importance of self-care in the retention of social workers, its practice has been rarely studied. This study investigated the self-care strategies utilized by social workers to enhance retention in China. This study comprised individual in-depth interviews with 49 experienced social workers and three focus group discussions. Findings showed that five categories of personal self-care strategies and six categories of professional self-care strategies were identified. Emphases on self-care practice differed at three distinct career stages, frontline social workers, project officers or managers, and organizational managers. Self-care practice was revealed as indispensable for social workers’ retention in China, identifying distinct Chinese characteristics and highlighting the global nature of the ecological perspective of self-care. The study discusses the implications for social workers, educators, social services organizations, government, and the public. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T00:46:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b6684c675e0e47448d8a807e33f40bf2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2158-2440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T00:46:21Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | SAGE Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-b6684c675e0e47448d8a807e33f40bf22023-09-14T17:33:22ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open2158-24402023-09-011310.1177/21582440231197318Self-Care Practice and Retention: Narratives of Social Workers in ChinaYangyong Zhang0Xiamen University, Fujian, ChinaDespite the growing importance of self-care in the retention of social workers, its practice has been rarely studied. This study investigated the self-care strategies utilized by social workers to enhance retention in China. This study comprised individual in-depth interviews with 49 experienced social workers and three focus group discussions. Findings showed that five categories of personal self-care strategies and six categories of professional self-care strategies were identified. Emphases on self-care practice differed at three distinct career stages, frontline social workers, project officers or managers, and organizational managers. Self-care practice was revealed as indispensable for social workers’ retention in China, identifying distinct Chinese characteristics and highlighting the global nature of the ecological perspective of self-care. The study discusses the implications for social workers, educators, social services organizations, government, and the public.https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231197318 |
| spellingShingle | Yangyong Zhang Self-Care Practice and Retention: Narratives of Social Workers in China SAGE Open |
| title | Self-Care Practice and Retention: Narratives of Social Workers in China |
| title_full | Self-Care Practice and Retention: Narratives of Social Workers in China |
| title_fullStr | Self-Care Practice and Retention: Narratives of Social Workers in China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Self-Care Practice and Retention: Narratives of Social Workers in China |
| title_short | Self-Care Practice and Retention: Narratives of Social Workers in China |
| title_sort | self care practice and retention narratives of social workers in china |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231197318 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yangyongzhang selfcarepracticeandretentionnarrativesofsocialworkersinchina |