Exploring the self-care practices of social workers in China under the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The self-care practices of social workers have garnered increasing attention in the literature, yet little is known about the case of China. To explore the self-care practices of Chinese social workers under the COVID-19 pandemic, this study uses the Self-Care Practice Scale (SCPS) to measure the self-care practices of social workers (N = 1066) in Fujian Province, China. The results indicate that Chinese social workers engage in moderate amounts of self-care practices under the COVID-19 pandemic. Significant group differences exist in social workers' self-care practices by marital status, parenting status, age, health satisfaction, years of practicing social work, average hours of work per day, resignation intention, job satisfaction, number of received supervision services in a year, and self-care education. Significant predictors of self-care include marital status, monthly salary, service status, average hours of work per day, number of received supervision services in a year, school self-care education, job satisfaction, and health satisfaction. This study has practical implications for self-care education and practice, including workplace health promotion and the development of self-care practice policies.