Three-quarters of social workers emotionally and mentally exhausted on back of Covid-19, finds survey

One-fifth of practitioners have taken time off due to stress during pandemic, finds snapshot survey by the Social Workers’ Benevolent Trust, the latest study to highlight Covid’s negative impact on profession

Image of wooden blocks spelling out 'stress' (credit: Andrey Popov / Adobe Stock)
(credit: Andrey Popov / Adobe Stock)

Three-quarters of social workers are “emotionally and mentally exhausted” after working through the pandemic, a snapshot survey by practitioner support charity the Social Workers’ Benevolent Trust has found.

The poll of 211 practitioners found 70% of those surveyed had worried about their mental health during the course of the pandemic and 20% had taken time off due to stress and 24% had sought professional help for their mental health.

Among those social workers who described themselves as emotionally and mentally exhausted, 59% said they were “just about coping” and 17% said they were struggling to cope.

Covid has also directly affected social workers; of those surveyed some 9% had tested positive for Covid during the pandemic, while 16% had lost a relative due to the virus. Of the SWBT survey respondents, two-thirds were frontline workers, 22% operational managers and 8.5% senior managers.

The survey is the latest of a number of studies highlighting the pandemic’s negative impact on social workers’ wellbeing. A Community Care survey of almost 500 practitioners in November 2020 found that 69% had seen their mental health get worse over the previous twelve months.

Declining wellbeing and an increase in negative coping strategies were found by the Health and Social Care Workforce Wellbeing and Coping during COVID-19 study, in its second survey of health and social care practitioners between November 2020 and January 2021, answered by over 1,100 social workers across the UK.

The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) used the survey results to highlight the extension to Scotland of its Professional Support Service (PSS), which provides free telephone or video-based peer support to practitioners to help them with personal and professional challenges, and is already running in England.

In Scotland, the service is being funded by a Scottish Government workforce development grant and will thereby be open to all social workers. In England, the service is for BASW members only, and it has been funded by the association itself, with additional resources provided recently by the Covid Healthcare Support Appeal, a charity set up to support health and social care workers, and their families, through the pandemic.

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6 Responses to Three-quarters of social workers emotionally and mentally exhausted on back of Covid-19, finds survey

  1. Tonimarie Benaton June 7, 2021 at 5:10 pm #

    Its a real issue we are all aware of and a plan of action needs to be developed that explores more practical options as well as the emotional toll.

    For example additional annual leave or being PAID for your TOIL- knowing you have more time or extra money can be a real benefit.
    Increased use of paid or unpaid sabbaticals without fear of losing your post could be a real game changer for some and secondments to other areas of the professional can really re-boost emotional well-being. there needs to be a real and honest conversation about the workplace environment, working from home and flexible hours.

  2. ray ward June 8, 2021 at 7:48 am #

    It did for me, I’m taking a 3 month sabbatical, the job was made insanely difficult, that added to worries about our own families made it unsustainable.

  3. Just another person in this world June 10, 2021 at 7:00 pm #

    I understand, but support workers are also equally as mentally and physically exhausted. Yet they hardly get a mention. They deserve just as much respect for the emotional exhaustion and physical exhaustion that they have to endure day in, day out. Should never be just about social workers or care workers. What about people who work between them?

    • Anon July 3, 2021 at 11:07 am #

      I think everyone who’s worked through the pandemic should get a mention. I do think though that social workers hardly ever a get mention and the work and time we put in and stress we deal with isn’t understood by people who aren’t in the profession. Many assume that as a result of working from home quite a bit, that’s its an easy job, but just because we aren’t 24/7 in front of people doesn’t mean it’s not stressful juggling all the paperwork, meetings, demands of service users, families, other services, deadlines, tribunals. The list goes on, we’re not physically seen as much so we’re forgotten… The nhs and carers have 100 per cent rightly got alot of praise and mentions but I think social workers tend to be forgotten and undervalued, which is hard when youve fought through a pandemic and your exhausted!

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. How can you avoid burnout in Social Work? – Parker Rose - June 11, 2021

    […] Community Care recently posted a survey which was conducted by practitioner support charity the Social Workers’ Benevolent Trust. They found that three-quarters of social workers are “emotionally and mentally exhausted” after working through the pandemic with over 70% of those surveyed stating that they had worried about their mental health during the course of the pandemic. […]

  2. Three-quarters of social workers emotionally and mentally exhausted on back of Covid-19, finds survey - Vulnerability360 - June 11, 2021

    […] One-fifth of practitioners have taken time off due to stress during pandemic, finds snapshot survey by the Social Workers’ Benevolent Trust, the latest study to highlight Covid’s negative impact on profession. Three-quarters of social workers are “emotionally and mentally exhausted” after working through the pandemic, a snapshot survey by practitioner support charity the Social Workers’ Benevolent Trust has found. The poll of 211 practitioners found 70% of those surveyed had worried about their mental health during the course of the pandemic and 20% had taken time off due to stress and 24% had sought professional help for their mental health. Among those social workers who described themselves as emotionally and mentally exhausted, 59% said they were “just about coping” and 17% said they were struggling to cope. Read more. […]