Yoga and mindfulness program: the effects on compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction in social workers

Author:
GREGORY Amber
Journal article citation:
Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work, 34(4), 2015, pp.372-393.
Publisher:
Taylor and Francis
Place of publication:
Philadelphia, USA

This article is reporting the effectiveness of a yoga and mindfulness programme to decrease compassion fatigue and to increase compassion satisfaction in currently employed social workers by using a quasi-experimental design. Additionally, the qualitative arm of this study evaluated the social workers’ perception of their professional relationship with their clients. Eleven social workers participated in the study, with six in the control group and five in the experiment group. Quantitative results were gained by utilising the ProQOL Version 5 that measures the levels of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. These results suggest that participation in a brief yoga and mindfulness programme may halt the decrease of compassion satisfaction. The qualitative results provide a rich insight into the perceptions of the professional relationship that the social workers have with clients that they identified as being difficult to work with. These results suggest that participation in a yoga and mindfulness programme will improve these perceptions. (Edited publisher abstract)

Subject terms:
stress, social workers, wellbeing, complementary therapies, professional role, social worker-service user relationships, mindfulness;
Content type:
research
Location(s):
United States
Link:
Journal home page
ISSN online:
1542 6440
ISSN print:
1542 6432

Key to icons

  • Free resource Free resource
  • Journal article Journal article
  • Book Book
  • Digital media Digital media
  • Journal Journal

Give us your feedback

Social Care Online continues to be developed in response to user feedback.

Contact us with your comments and for any problems using the website.

Sign up/login for more

Register/login to access resource links, advanced search and email alerts