Title
Compassion fatigue: Considerations for working with the elderly
Abbreviated Journal Title
J. Gerontol. Soc. Work
Keywords
burnout; social work burnout; elderly and burnout; compassion fatigue; secondary traumatic stress disorder; JOB-SATISFACTION; SOCIAL-WORKERS; BURNOUT; PSYCHIATRY; SERVICES; STRESS; Geriatrics & Gerontology; Social Work
Abstract
Compassion fatigue is characterized by physical and psychological exhaustion resulting from excessive professional demands that drain available personal resources. While all helping professionals are vulnerable to compassion fatigue, the authors believe that social workers working with the elderly have unique stresses that make them a high-risk group for compassion fatigue. Increased frustration over limited financial, social and medical services for the elderly, exposure to the developmental challenges inherent during the older years and the worker's countertransferential issues are discussed as contributors to compassion fatigue. Other factors that reinforce this type of burnout for professionals working with this population and recommendations for avoiding or decreasing compassion fatigue are presented.
Journal Title
Journal of Gerontological Social Work
Volume
32
Issue/Number
1
Publication Date
1-1-1999
Document Type
Article
Language
English
First Page
43
Last Page
62
WOS Identifier
ISSN
0163-4372
Recommended Citation
"Compassion fatigue: Considerations for working with the elderly" (1999). Faculty Bibliography 1990s. 2712.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/facultybib1990/2712
Comments
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