Wass, Rachel and Eccles, Fiona (2014) Compassion and burnout in community mental health work. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.
Abstract
This doctoral thesis has three main sections: a systematic literature review, an empirical research paper and a critical appraisal. The literature review considers the factors associated with burnout in community mental health staff. Having synthesised the results of 28 papers, eight domains were identified that were associated with burnout. These included socio-demographics, work demographics, job stress and demand, support and supervision, individual characteristics, team context, client characteristics and role perception. Poor methodological rigour restricts the conclusions drawn from the reviewed papers, however a number of organisational factors were found to be of importance. The empirical paper considers the process behind the loss and maintenance of compassion in community mental health staff. Having interviewed 11 participants and utilised a grounded theory informed methodology, four core categories were identified; adopting a compassionate stance towards others, the uphill struggle, accessing a reflective space and working within a threatening system. The findings of this paper highlight the importance of reflective practice for mental health professionals and the influence of wider systemic factors. Lastly, the critical appraisal offers an extension of the study findings and reflections about conducting research in the field of compassion, as well as considering a number of decisions that were made with regard to the project.