Burnout in gerontological social work

Abstract

Although burnout in various fields of social work has been explored in some depth, there is a dearth of research on the gerontological social worker's experience with burnout. This article reports a national survey of burnout among 1,196 social workers who work with elderly people and who belong to either the National Association of Social Workers or the Gerontological Society of America. The extent to which these social workers experience the three components of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment) is reported. The significant client, organizational, and personal factors associated with burnout among gerontological social workers are identified, and implications for social work practice are discussed.