Help me, help them : social workers’ self-evaluation on how prepared they consider themselves to work effectively with clients having suicidal ideation

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate how prepared, trained, and supported, social workers feel, to effectively help service-users who are suffering from suicidal ideation. To answer this research question, the researcher focused on using a qualitative approach as the research strategy, as the focus will be on the descriptive aspect of social work. The research participants consisted of seven social workers who are based in different social work settings across Malta and Gozo. The instrumentation used to gather data was through in-depth semi-structured interviews which provided the flexibility needed to gather as much vital information as possible. The transcripts were then analysed using the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) method to extract the information relevant to the study. During the interviews, the social workers acknowledged the need to remain calm and contained when dealing with a service-user who has suicidal ideations, to stop the situation from escalating. However internally they were bursting with negative emotions such as stress and panic, both during the situation, and in the aftermath where they were overridden with self-doubt and guilt. All seven social workers stated in varying degrees of confidence that they felt prepared to help service-users with suicidal ideations. However, their similarities stopped there, as some different factors were mentioned as ways which helped them prepare themselves for such situations. Agencies were encouraged to take a more proactive role when it came to supporting social workers. All of the social workers highlighted the importance of emotional support, and also the need for a policy in place to guide them during such situations. Many of them also mentioned the necessity of agency sponsored training to continue perfecting their practice, while bemoaning the lack of training available on suicide and suicidal ideation. In addition to more input from the agencies, they also asked for more inclusion of the topic before graduating as well. They felt that specific knowledge on suicide and suicidal knowledge could have been very useful, as well as training on how to contain their emotions, and how to use their personal baggage to grow emotionally; for them to be prepared before being sent to work with service-users. Therefore, even though the social workers interviewed do feel prepared to help service-users with suicidal ideation effectively; they feel that ultimately they are not given enough support in general.