Understanding of work stress among Hong Kong social workers in elderly, children and youth services

Abstract

With changing social trends, demographic, economic and political upheavals, social workers in Hong Kong are faced with more challenges than ever before, resulting in a double pressure of increasing service diversity and caseload. The workloads, demands and shifts in work priorities are frequent, and social workers often experience high levels of stress and distress. While social workers provide services and support to solve various social problems and to people in need, their personal welfare is largely overlooked. Without proper adjustment and support, the demanding nature of their work can be detrimental to their work-related well-being and health, and the high stress environment can result in an inability to counsel cases effectively. In order to effectively promote the well-being of social workers, a deeper understanding of the factors that contribute to the accumulation of work-related stress among social workers and the resulting impact is needed. The study aims to find out how social workers cope with their work stress. By using in-depth interviews, it is to find out what the working condition of social work service actually is and what their sources of stress are, and to understand the ways in which they can reduce their stress and achieve a balance between work and life among research participants.