Avoiding Burnout: The Mindfulness Solution In the profession of Social Work, burnout and stress are almost inevitable. The article and study, “Building resilience in social workers: An exploratory study on the impacts of a mindfulness-based intervention” by Rachael Crowder and Alexandra Sears, looks at ways social workers can combat stress and burnout. The researchers used mindfulness-based interventions as a possible way to reduce the social workers physical stress, emotional stress, and burnout.
Literature Review By viewing other literature that focuses on a similar topic, it can be seen that other studies have been done to aid social workers in stress-management and reduction. There is also little research that has been done on resilience …show more content…
8). They used both qualitative and quantitative methods when measuring the variables of the study. There were 2 interviews conducted with the participants, one in the beginning and the other at the end of the study. Along with the interviews, the researchers used a Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Self Compassion Scale (SCS), Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL), Experiences Questionnaire (EQ), and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) to collect and measure the data. The participants for the study were volunteers that responded to a poster that was sent to the members of the Alberta College of Social work via email. From there, 14 social workers in Canada were selected to be part of the sample population. Of those 14 participants, 3 were males, 11 were females, and their ages ranged from 32 to 58 years old. In addition, the study does not appear to have any ethical problems that are of …show more content…
For instance, the authors, Crowder and Sears, noted that the “small, non-representative convenience sample…increases the risk of sampling error and precludes generalization” (2017, p. 18). Another limitation was that the participants were already aware of the motives of the study and that they may already have had an interest in the topic of mindfulness. The fact that the facilitator of the intervention and the researcher of the study was the same woman, it may have created a sense of comfort and familiarity with the participants which may have impacted the data that was collected. In order to reduce some of the limitations present in the study, researchers can conduct a blind study where participants are not aware of the motives and that the study has a larger sample population. They can also use various measures ‘that do not rely on the self-reporting and/or tools that measure other constructs predictive of resilience” (Crowder & Sears, 2017, p.19). On the other hand, the study gave many of the participants more hope when they are faced with difficulty and stress. It also improved the overall physical mental health of the participants in the
Literature Review By viewing other literature that focuses on a similar topic, it can be seen that other studies have been done to aid social workers in stress-management and reduction. There is also little research that has been done on resilience …show more content…
8). They used both qualitative and quantitative methods when measuring the variables of the study. There were 2 interviews conducted with the participants, one in the beginning and the other at the end of the study. Along with the interviews, the researchers used a Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Self Compassion Scale (SCS), Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL), Experiences Questionnaire (EQ), and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) to collect and measure the data. The participants for the study were volunteers that responded to a poster that was sent to the members of the Alberta College of Social work via email. From there, 14 social workers in Canada were selected to be part of the sample population. Of those 14 participants, 3 were males, 11 were females, and their ages ranged from 32 to 58 years old. In addition, the study does not appear to have any ethical problems that are of …show more content…
For instance, the authors, Crowder and Sears, noted that the “small, non-representative convenience sample…increases the risk of sampling error and precludes generalization” (2017, p. 18). Another limitation was that the participants were already aware of the motives of the study and that they may already have had an interest in the topic of mindfulness. The fact that the facilitator of the intervention and the researcher of the study was the same woman, it may have created a sense of comfort and familiarity with the participants which may have impacted the data that was collected. In order to reduce some of the limitations present in the study, researchers can conduct a blind study where participants are not aware of the motives and that the study has a larger sample population. They can also use various measures ‘that do not rely on the self-reporting and/or tools that measure other constructs predictive of resilience” (Crowder & Sears, 2017, p.19). On the other hand, the study gave many of the participants more hope when they are faced with difficulty and stress. It also improved the overall physical mental health of the participants in the