“I need to take care of myself”: a qualitative study on coping strategies, support and health promotion for social workers serving refugees and homeless individuals

BACKGROUND: Social workers provide support for various groups of clients, such as refugees and homeless people. Refugees and homeless individuals represent particularly vulnerable groups in precarious living conditions. Therefore, social workers serving these clients are likely to be confronted with extensive job demands. The aim of this study was to investigate the coping strategies of social workers serving refugees and homeless individuals and to explore their support sources and health promotion offers at work as well as their respective needs. METHODS: 26 semi-structured qualitative interviews were carried out with social workers in Berlin and Hamburg and analysed according to Mayring’s qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: The respondents reported various coping strategies to deal with their job demands which involved both problem-oriented (e.g. time management, setting boundaries, seeking support in conflict situations) and emotion-focused approaches (e.g. self-care, distance from work, leisure activities). In addition, they emphasised various sources of workplace (social) support, e.g. provided by team members, supervisors, and other institutions. However, unmet needs for support were also formulated by the workers, e.g. in terms of individual supervision and regular exchange. Furthermore, several employees did not know about any health promotion offers at their workplace and expressed a desire for structural and behavioural health promotion measures. CONCLUSIONS: In view of the diverse needs of the workers, the results can provide a basis to design needs-based health promotion interventions for staff in social work.