Oktogonen - ett långsiktigt styrverktyg
The purpose of our study is to examine whether stress among social workers is present, and ifso, what strategies they and their supervisors use to manage work-related stress. The study isbased on a qualitative method. The data consist of interviews, with six social workers andthree supervisors. The study?s theoretical framework is based on KASAM, SOC-sense ofcoherence by Antonovsky, demand- control- support model by Karasek & Theorell, stresstheory by Hans Selye and coping strategies by Lazarus. The result of our study indicates thatstress is present among social workers. The common stress symptoms are gastritis, difficultyconcentrating and sleeping problems. The main factors that cause work- related stress arefound to be workload, work environment, involuntary break, and responsibility. The studyshows that stress is not constant and it is manageable thanks to coping strategies that thesocial workers and their supervisors use. Coping strategies that contribute to the reduction ofstress are a supportive chief, social support, reasonable requests, clear leadership andfunctioning family. Social support and support from their supervisors is the most frequentlymentioned copying strategies. Our result indicates that creating a supportive workenvironment is very important for the well-being of social workers.Our result indicates that creating a supportive environment is very important for the wellbeingof social worker.