Practicing What We Preach

Text Messaging Intervention to Encourage Social Workers to Take

Time For Themselves

Parameters of InterventionText Message: Control Group

I am the most important person in my life. I should take

at least 15 minutes to do something for myself.

Text Message: Experimental Group

I am the most important person in my life. It’s okay to take at least 15 minutes to do

something for myself.

What I Measured1. If they took the time to do something

for themselves.Responded Yes or No

2. How long they spent doing something for themselves each day.

Give me the amount of time in minutes

Operationalize “Doing something for themselves”They had to do something where they were only giving to themselves. So although going out a date would make them happy, they would still be expending energy and attention on someone else.

MethodI sent them the text message twice a day.

Results: Comparing MeasuresYes or No

Between Group ComparisonBlue/Series 1- Control Group

Red/Series 2- Experimental Group

Between Group ComparisonBlue/Series 1- Control Group

Red/Series 2- Experimental Group

How Many Minutes

Qualitative Results

It made me more conscious that I

don’t take enough time for myself

It was good motivation

With all of the roles I have, I really need to make sure I have time for myself instead of just living each day

doing regular duties.

It was nice getting an affirming text

message everyday.

I really liked having a reminder. It kinda forced me to do something for myself. I

wish I could get those always.

Sometimes it came at a time of day when I was super busy

at work and it didn’t stay fresh on my mind. However, I

did take time this week to consciously, which is

something I don’t usually do.

It’s good to focus on the fact that you’re doing something

for self-care purposes, not just because you enjoy it. As social workers , we know we should do it and we coach our clients about its importance. But we

forget to practice it.

It really made me think about taking

better care of myself.

Conclusions• Social workers need to be reminded to take time for

themselves. • It is important to encourage them to do something active for

themselves (i.e. more than laying on the couch) and something that would only benefit them. – In the beginning, many of them told me they went out with friends

or played with their children. I had to specify that things like that didn’t count because they weren’t just giving to themselves.

• It is easy for social workers to do something for someone else but not for themselves.

• It may be necessary to give social workers permission versus just telling them they should. They know they should but don’t take time for self-care.

• This intervention may be something that agencies and organizations can do to improve the mental health of their social workers.