THIS STUDY LOOKED AT
While meaningful, the work of the child welfare professional is emotionally taxing and can lead to
How Spiritual Support at Work Can Prevent Burnout and Improve Well-being in Child Welfare Workers BURNOUT, COMPASSION FATIGUE, EMOTIONAL EXHAUSTION.
This study explored how organizational spiritual support might protect against those outcomes and improve well-being.
KEY QUESTION
We
Can make a difference for professionals in child welfare? LIFE SATISFACTION
organizational spiritual support
1 Doesworkingatafaith-basedorganization help?
2 Doesperceivedorganizationalsupportfor spiritualpracticesmatter?
3 Doestheabilitytoactuallyengageinspiritual practicespredictwell-being?
CHILD WELFARE PROFESSIONALS representing COUNTRIES, INCLUDING: NINETEEN
How Spiritual Support at Work Can Prevent Burnout
and Improve Well-being in Child Welfare Workers
STUDY FINDINGS
“FAITH-BASED”
Simply working at a organization was not a strong predictor of well-being or lower burnout.
When employees felt their organization genuinely valued and supported spiritual practices, they reported
LOWER Burnout for spiritual practices did matter. SUPPORT
HIGHER
Life Satisfaction
SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
Ability to engage in was key.
The strongest predictor of well-being was whether employees felt they could actually practice spirituality at work Those who could
WERE MORE RESILIENT
EXPERIENCED MORE COMPASSION SATISFACTION
REPORTED LESS BURNOUT
Having support structures was not enough. Staff need realistic access to practices and permission to use them
KEY TAKEAWAYS
at work improves well-being more than a faith-based label alone
Spiritual Support
The ability to engage in spiritual practices drives . Support needs to be accessible, voluntary, and sensitive to each employee’s context and faith.
resilience and job satisfaction space, time, and encouragement
Offering for spiritual practices can boost staff resilience, meaning, and satisfaction.
A holistic approach to staff care, including spiritual, emotional, and organizational, is those working in high-stress care roles.
essential to sustaining