Exploring social work practice in regional and remote Australia in the field of trauma

The profession of social work encompasses a wide scope of practices and employment organisations in Australia and internationally. Social workers are mostly situated in the human service sector, not-for-profit agencies and government funded organisations. In Australia, employment agencies and organisations tend to focus on specific fields of practice available to clients or targeted population groups. Social work practitioners are required to maintain a depth and breadth of knowledge when providing services and interventions to individuals and communities. This work is often complex and multilayered. There has been sparse qualitative research conducted in Australia that explores the lived experiences of social workers who practice in regional and remote locations, specifically focusing on trauma settings, therefore this is the focus of the research.

Social workers will experience a continuum of professional satisfaction and fatigue throughout the duration of their career. It is a highly demanding professional vocation with different fields of practice influencing the professional experiences and longevity of practitioners. Trauma and crisis settings create additional challenges compared to other settings.

The purpose the research was to explore the lived experiences of regional and remote Australian social workers who work in trauma settings with people who have been exposed to interpersonal trauma. The conceptual framework for this qualitative research included a hermeneutic phenomenological paradigm informed by a post-positivist approach, critical theory, and ecological perspective. Participants were sought via an Expression of Interest from social work practice networks in regional Australia. Twelve social workers participated in semi-structured interviews. A thematic analysis enabled the interpretation of the participants’ life world accounts and identified the themes that fostered and/or hindered social workers working in trauma settings and living in regional and remote Australia.

The social worker participants discussed that often there are complex layers related to their personal and professional lives that are enmeshed when living and working in the same geographical locations. They described unique skills that are required to practice in trauma settings in the community and offered strategies for employment organisations and practitioners. This creates instances which both foster and hinder their lived experiences. The themes that fostered the social workers in their life world included local networks, self-care strategies, alignment of the social work code of ethics and their personal values and upholding a passion for the regional and remote community. The themes that hindered the participants included limited training opportunities, the requirement to uphold generalised and specialist knowledge, and the challenging experiences of living and working in the same community.

The participants offered recommendations for their social work peers, and recruitment and retention strategies for trauma settings. This included professional training which focuses on the considerations and skills required when working in trauma settings in regional and remote locations. The study presents unique insights into the lived experiences of the participants and makes recommendations that will contribute positively to supporting social worker retention in trauma settings in regional and remote Australia.