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SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS AND SELF-CARE: A MODEL ASSIGNMENT FOR TEACHING

Author(s): Sharon E. Moore, Linda K. Bledsoe, Armon R. Perry and Michael A. Robinson
Source: Journal of Social Work Education, Vol. 47, No. 3 (FALL 2011), pp. 545-553
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Council on Social Work Education
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23044470
Accessed: 16-04-2019 01:30 UTC

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SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS AND SELF-CARE: A MODEL
ASSIGNMENT FOR TEACHING

Sharon E. Moore Armon R. Perry


University of Louisville University of Louisville

Linda K. Bledsoe Michael A. Robinson


University of Louisville University of Alabama

The literature reveals scant research on self-care practices among social work
students; yet self-care is vital as students prepare to be practitioners who are not
only effective in working with all aspects of the clients' total selves, but who are
themselves healthy They are not prepared to be good practitioners unless they
have first learned to care for themselves. This article discusses a self-care assign
ment that was developed by the first author for students enrolled in a lst-year
master's-level social work foundation practice class. This assignment can serve
as a model for those who wish to teach students about the importance of self
care. Implications for social work education are also addressed.

ashford, lecroy, and lortie (2006) define social work students because of the high
well-being as "a person's emotional and psydemands placed on their time by faculty, fam
chological capacity to cope with demandsily, and employers as well as looking out for
across time, circumstance, and setting" (p. the well-being of others. Students often as
530). This definition also includes the individsume numerous roles, which sometime result
ual's physical, social, and spiritual dimenin high levels of stress. Not only are they stu
sions, all of which make up the total selfdents, but they are also parents, heads of
(Aguilar, 1997). Self-care enhances well-beinghouseholds, caregivers for aging parents, and
and involves purposeful and continuousother roles. The relationship between stress
efforts that are undertaken to ensure that all and chronic diseases such as high blood pres
dimensions of the self receive the attention sure and heart disease has been documented

that is needed to make the person fit to assist (Alexander-Snow & Johnson, 1999; Schure,
others. It is an important consideration for Christopher, & Christopher, 2008). Therefore,

Journal of Social Work Education, Vol. 47, No. 3 (Fall 2011).


©2011, Council on Social Work Education, Inc. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.5175/JSWE.2011.201000004

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JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION

ed with an almost 10% increase in illness


students should continuously pay attention to
the care of themselves to prevent compromisamong them (Rawson, Bloomer, & Kendall,
ing their well-being. 1994). Birnbaum (2008) found that because of
the age of most graduate social work students,
The Importance of Self-Care
many tend to be married and thus experience
tension due to role overload from being
There are multitudes of ways to practice self
providers and students (Kremenitzer, 2005;
care. The human body was designed for phys
Rowland, 2007; Tillman, 2003). Boud (2001)
ical activity (Akande, van Wyk, & Osagie,
describes reflection as the process of turning
2000). Students often sit for long periods of
time while driving or riding public trans
experience into learning that involves making
portation to and from class, sitting in thesense out of what has occurred in our lives.
classroom, reading texts, and completing
Being able to reflect on their experiences and
become more self-aware is central to the pro
assignments. A regular exercise program and
fessional growth and development of social
proper nutrition can often prevent the nega
tive aspects associated with inactivity and canwork students, as self-understanding and its
help to reduce stress. However, emotional andinfluence on human behavior and decision
making is at the foundation of social work
mental well-being can be promoted through
journaling, taking time for reflective thoughtpractice (Chang, Scott, & Decker, 2009).
while alone, and participating in professional Social work students who are often

exposed to stressful situations during the


counseling (Waines, 2004). Students may find
prayer and reflection, faith in God, traveling,field placements need a platform to proces
taking nature walks, listening to music orthese situations and their implications for th
playing musical instruments, jogging, or
clients they serve. Although there may b
engaging in activities with family and friendssome opportunity to process stressful even
in the field seminar course, it is unlikely tha
as ways to attend to their spirits. Further, the
social self can be cared for by engaging in sigstudents will have sufficient time to full
nificant interactions with others—for instance,
process these events due to the number of st
dents enrolled and the limited amount of time
by having dinner with friends, visiting the
sick and shut in, and participating in sportingallocated for each session. Thus, journaling
provides an alternate medium for expression
events. With a little ingenuity, students can
design a multiplicity of ways to make sure
that is not bound by the logistics of class ses
sions and accommodates more introverted
that their total self is cared for as proactive
measures are taken against burnout, breakstudents (Garmon, 2001).
down, and the development of illness. The impetus for this journal assignment
resulted from a conversation that the first
Life as a Social Work Student
author had in 2004 with a lst-year master's
levelStress
Student life can be extremely stressful. social work student who asked if there

was a way
is an important consideration for college stu to incorporate self-care into the
dents because it has been found to be associat curriculum of the program. The student indi

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SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS AND SELF-CARE

cated that, given the academic and other


aware of the issues covered by the profession
demands of student life, nowhere within through
the various research forums. The assign
social work curriculum were there formal ment was collected every fourth week through
mechanisms designed to encourage out the term.
students
to practice self-care activities. After careful
consideration of the student's request, a self Method

care assignment was developed by the first


Overview
author to be used by students who took this
particular professor's section of Foundation
The overall goal of the analyses presented
Social Work Practice. One of the course objec
here is to gain understanding of the impact o
tives for foundation practice is to enable the
stu journaling assignment on students in
graduate social work course. It should b
dents to critically understand how to make
appropriate use of self. Thus, the professor felt
noted that the student journal assignment wa
that Foundation Practice I would be a logical
designed as a learning experience and was n
first course to introduce students to self-care. originally intended for the purpose of da
collection for analyses and publication. How
The Journal Assignment
ever, after reviewing these assignments ove
Students kept a biweekly self-care journal in time, the first author realized the potenti
which they chronicled the actions they took to value for professional social work education
keep their emotional, physical, psychological, regarding self-care and burnout prevention
social, and spiritual selves healthy during the Prior to analysis, the original student journal
semester. In their journals they discussed (1) were copied and all names and any other p
the activity(ies) that they undertook and why; sible identifying information were remove
(2) any specific issue(s) that the activity(ies) by a staff member.
was/were meant to address; and (3) how the
Analytic Approach
activity(ies) contributed to their spiritual,
mental, emotional, social, and physical well In order to understand the impact of this type
being. Each biweekly entry was no more than of assignment on social workers in training,
three typed pages and was to include at least qualitative analyses were applied to the con
three references from social work journals to tent of the journals. A qualitative approach to
support their statements. Students were the analyses was appropriate because we
required to support their self-care activities were in the initial exploratory phase of in
via use of professional literature, which quiry. Moreover, an in-depth understanding
included social work journal articles, in an of the topic was needed, and it was important
effort to discuss their activities using to capture the perspective of the students
evidence-based research, to acclimate stu (Padgett, 1998). The primary method of analy
dents to both the profession's literature and
sis was examination of the journal entries for
the individuals who were making scholarly
emergence of prominent themes and patterns
contributions to it, and finally to becomeof information. During the first phase of the

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JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION

analyses, researchers were attentive to the our qualitative content analyses w


from
details provided by students in regardand
to the
across these broader categories. One co
type of activities chosen to address self-care,
argue that some activities, such as play
student reactions to these activities, andgames
types on the computer or watching televi
of resources students used. In the secondare
phase
not directed at self-care but are sim
of the analyses, the same author extracted
way to avoid unpleasant tasks (e.g., com
emergent themes. Finally, in the third phase,
ing the
a class assignment). Rather than evalua
other authors examined the results of thehow effective the reported activities we
analy
ses against the contents of journals and then
improving students' self-care from an out
provided comments. A number of strategies
perspective, we accepted the journal wr
statements regarding the various activi
were implemented to assure rigor: (a) analytic
triangulation with the goal of intercoder Our analysis was also guided by stud
confir
mation of emergent themes, (b) peer debriefing
choices of category for reported activities
to reduce possible bias, and (c) creationexample,
of an if students indicated that vis
audit trail that consisted of the retentionwith
of the
neighbors was helpful to them in term
mental self-care rather than social self-care
data in raw form, analyses notes, and documen
tation of data analyses decisions. made the decision to accept their statem
about which domain was affected by the a
Sample
ity. Table 1 provides a summary of the
The sample consisted of existing data in thecommonly reported helpful self-care activ
form of all available (N=22) student journalsby assignment category.
completed since 2004. As such, the sample was
Mental and Emotional Self-Care
strictly a convenience sample, and it was not
possible to attempt to create a representativeStatements in the mental and emotional self
sample by gender, age, and so forth. Anycare categories were combined for analyses
names or other identifying information were based on journal content, statements by some
removed and were not included in the analystudents that mental self-care "overlaps with
ses. This study was reviewed and approved by emotional care," and the fact that other stu
the university's Institutional Review Board. dents combined these two areas when record

ing in their journals. Most students were clear


Results
about decisions and intentional actions, using
The following broad categories for phrases
students'
such as "I decided to research ways to
journal entries were inherent in the structure
reduce stress," "I decided to revamp my entire
of the assignment: spiritual, mental, emotion
schedule," and "I chose to spend time alone."
al, social, and physical well-being. These five
Students engaged in a large number of diverse
categories emerged from a review of activities
the litera to address self-care in this area.

ture on self-care (Aguilar, 1997; AshfordAet


number
al., of students chose to reduce the
2006). The themes presented below level
emerged
of their activities for a period of time and

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SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS AND SELF-CARE 549

TABLE 1. Summary of Most Frequently Reported Helpful Self-Care Activities


by Assignment Category

Spiritual

Daily devotional, prayer, Bible study (13)a


Attended church service (11)
with friends

with family
with out-of-town family
at a new church

Listened to gospel/church music (4)


Conversations with friends, family, coworkers (4)
Physical activities—yoga, walking, working in yard (4)
Read inspirational books (2)
Mental/Emotional

Took time off (10)


All or part of the day off—no school work
Watched TV

Did favorite things


Took a nap
Week's vacation

Conversations with close friends (6)


Implemented time management and organizational methods (6)
Used agenda
Revamped daily routine
Developed schedule for work, school work, classes
Wrote down all assignments and completed as many as possible before due date
Made visual timetable of all tasks

Set aside time to be alone each day (4)


Activities with their children (42)
Stressful work situations resolved (2)
Listened to music (2)
Spent more time outside (2)
Spent time with neighbors (2)
Completed major school assignment (2)
Continued

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JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION

to spend some time alone each day by watch


ed to journal about their emotions. One stu
ing television, reading books for pleasure,dent stated that the best way for her to deal
watching a movie at home, listening to music,with negative emotions was to write about
them, and she made an effort to write each
gardening, or napping. Most of the students
reported working, and several students took aday. Another student reported daily journal

ing about "what bothered her and how it


half or whole day off from work, citing the
need to make time for themselves and to made her feel inside."

regroup. Some of the journals documented


Physical Self-Care
efforts to spend more time with friends and
family. Communications with important oth
The major themes that emerged here were
ers emerged as a common theme when increased exercise, increased activity, healthi
addressing emotional/mental self-care. Forer eating, and consulting with a physician or
example, one student wrote about having adentist as needed. Although many students
"very deep conversation with boyfriend." noted the challenge of finding time for exer
Consultation with friends for advice was the
cise within their already complicated sched
most frequently cited resource on how to hanules, most students reported some time for
dle communication in various relationshipsphysical activity and also reported the effect
(i.e., with fiancee, at work, with family, and
of these activities. Generally, students fell into
with friends). Perhaps inspired by this self
one of two categories—very regular exercisers
care assignment, a number of students decid
or occasional exercisers. Regular exercisers

TABLE 1. (Cont.)

Physical

Exercised (21)
Walked

Activity with children


Lifted weights

Went to gym, swam, ran, stretched, kick boxing, yoga, biked


Ate healthier (7)

Social

Spent time with family (19)


Spent time with friends (17)

Spent time with family and friends on Easter (3)


Visited neighbors (2)
Social activities with fellow students (2)

Note. Only those activities that were reported at least twice are included here.
aNumbers in parentheses indicate number of journal entries with this content.

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SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS AND SELF-CARE 551

tionals (including prayer and reading the


engaged in activities such as the following:
Bible), reading
used weights at the YMCA, added weights to a book on spirituality and spir
cardio workout and found that it reduced itual journaling, yoga and quiet walks without
any music (i.e., use of iPod). A recurring theme
boredom and "helped me focus on caring for
myself," "worked out 3 times in past 2 weeksfound in the journals was that of making direct
connections between spiritual self-care and the
and feels great," and walked daily and "[felt]
practice of social work. For example, one stu
that physical care should also be listed under
dent described "thinking about how spiritual
mental care" because of its impact. Occasional
exercisers were more likely to report playingity will affect social work practice."
with their children and other activities outside
Discussion
the gym or a traditional workout activity, such
as the following: took a friend's young daughThe categories for the self-care activities w
ter to the park, worked in the yard and thenderived from a review of the literature. A
felt "more powerful," and chose to attendnumber
a of informative themes emerged from
this analysis. Stress reduction emerged as an
yoga class because it was a novel experience.
important goal, and regardless of the self-care
Social Self-Care
area (e.g., physical, mental), students consis
tentlyfor
As to be expected, the main resources reported reduction in stress and
social self-care were family members andability to focus on school work and
improved
clients. In fact, some students actually ex
friends, as students reported wide-ranging
social activities. Social activitiespanded
reported
their journaling efforts beyond that of
the required
included the following: meeting friends for assignment, thus indicating their
perception
dinner, having dinner with coworkers, spend of the usefulness of the assign
ment.
ing time with family and friends on Several students decided to expand
Easter,
their
and telephoning family and friends who journaling
live either by keeping a daily jour
nal aboutof
at some distance. Many positive effects their emotions or as a part of their
spiritual
increased social contact were reported. Stupractice. In conclusion, the incorpo
ration
dents recorded that they experienced of a self-care journal assignment into
a reduc
graduate-level
tion in stress as a result of socializing. One stu practice courses has demon
strated
dent summed up what many others much promise in terms of assisting
also stat
students
ed about socializing, "Did not worry aboutto learn and implement self-care
school, work, etc." techniques that they reported as effective in
the areas of emotional, physical, mental,
Spiritual Self-Care
social, and spiritual well-being.
For very many of these students, their chil
Implications for Social Work
dren and their faith seemed to be at the center
Education
of their lives. Many different activities as well
as spiritual goals were described in the jourThose involved with the education of social
nals and included the following: daily devowork students, and interested in training

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JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION

those students for career longevity, should


of mothers addicted to illegal substances w
examine the phenomenon of burnout and the
prostitute their children to pay drug debt
various contributing factors and encourage
and, as such, the intensity and severity o
students to develop a strong sense of self
client problems encountered by social wor
awareness (Zellmer, 2004). According to the
students can at times seem overwhelming
National Association of Social Workers North This professional stress coupled with th
Carolina Chapter (2007), students serve as the responsibilities of student life and the acti
lifeblood of the social work profession and are ties of daily living that they encounter make
the next generation of practitioners. As such, the need for the inclusion of self-care in socia

social work students should be taught to take work curriculum all the more crucial. The
the necessary precautions to protect them researchers hope that others will replicate this
selves from burnout, stress, and all of the out model or develop their own self-care assign
comes that arise from a lack of self-care. More ments that will encourage students to attend
over, the Council on Social Work Education to their own needs, in a purposeful and holis
can indicate their commitment to future social tic way, so as to render themselves ready to
workers by making student self-care a part of meet the myriad requests and challenges of
the mission statement.
those they are being prepared to assist.

Limitations References

Although this analysis provides a number of


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the sample is a small convenience sample and
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Akande, A., van Wyk, C., & Osagie, J
graduate students in social work. As always
(2000). Importance of exercise and nu
with self-reported data, lack of accuracy or
tion in the prevention of illness and t
even dishonesty is a potential threat to the
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Alexander-Snow, M., & Johnson, B. J. (1999).
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Perspectives from faculty of color. In J.
ties they had planned based on their research
Menges & Associates (Eds.), Faculty in
for the assignment. Also, there were reports
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Jossey Bass.
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Ashford, J., LeCroy, C. W., & Lortie, K. L.
(2006). Human behavior in the social envi
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SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS AND SELF-CARE

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Rawson, H. E., Bloomer, K., & Kendall, A.
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Accepted: 11/10

Sharon E. Moore is professor, Linda K. Bledsoe is associate research professor, and Armon R.
Perry is assistant professor at the University of Louisville. Michael A. Robinson is assistant pro
fessor at the University of Alabama.

Address correspondence to Sharon E. Moore, Raymond A. Kent School of Social Work, University of
Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292; e-mail: semoor02@louisville.edu.

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