Challenges experienced by social workers after handling traumatic cases in Maseru district hospitals, Lesotho

Abstract

There is an increase in trauma cases in Lesotho and globally, and this leaves social workers with a lot of work to help survivors of the traumatic events to cope. The main objective of the study was to explore the challenges experienced by social workers after handling traumatic cases in Maseru district hospitals, Lesotho and data was collected in the first two weeks of May. In spite of the high increase of traumatic cases, that expose social workers to different kinds of traumatic material, there is lack of literature, both in Lesotho and globally. This study took a qualitative and phenomenological research design to interview ten social workers from Maseru district hospitals and their affiliating clinics in the first two weeks of May 2021. Participants were selected using purposive and snowballing techniques, while data was collected using unstructured interviews and each interview lasted for forty to sixty minutes and was analyzed using content analysis. The study found out that majority of social workers experience challenges after handling traumatic cases, these challenges include anxiety, tiredness, loss of concentration, insomnia, irritation and stability, low mood, low self-esteem, avoidance, poor service delivery, lack of support, re-experiencing of traumatic events and affected interpersonal relationships. However, the study also found few social workers stated that they receive support from supervisors, they do not experience the client’ traumatic events, and their self-esteem is not affected. The study recommendations include escalation of awareness of the challenges experienced by social workers, the other recommendation to agencies and supervisors is to frame and develop professional network forum with different professionals and volunteers who can help each other.