Well, that’s another year started and with the predictability of a well-worn tradition we are getting the adverts for our summer holidays appearing in all our usual media alongside those irresistible offers to join our local gym, start a class, and start the year as we mean to live it, with fitness and vigour – and of course sobriety, for Dry January.

In the UK January driven not least by New Year resolutions, is typically the month in which most people chose to take out a gym membership – yet the initial surge usually means that at least half of the new intake will have quit within the first six months, and of the remaining only 6% will attend more than once a week.

Now the gym sector has done a lot of work on why so many drop out including unmet expectations, waning motivation and a growing lack of time – all of which should be insights for other sectors, but what interests me in this week’s blog is the health and wellbeing of the greatest asset social care employers and organisations possess and that is its workforce. In the coming weeks and months this space will no doubt reflect on what I personally consider to be the most challenging period for social care in Scotland that I have ever known, but at the heart of all those considerations will be the health and wellbeing of the over 200,000 Scots who work in social care organisations to say nothing of the tens of thousands of unpaid carers.

In what follows I want to suggest that despite or perhaps more because of all the challenges facing social care frontline workers and managers that attending to self-care and personal wellbeing has never been more important for those who work or deliver paid or unpaid care and support.

But it would be massively disingenuous and hypocritical not to couch and premise that discussion on the reality which is that we have to recognise that one of the primary factors behind exhaustion, burnout, fatigue and mental ill health in social care and in unpaid care is because of the total and utter failure of successive governments and society at large to properly compensate people for the critical role of care and support which they deliver whether as professional workers or unpaid carers.

We now have a plethora of recent research showing just how critical pay is to the mental wellbeing of staff in social care.

For instance, a survey of over 5,000 social care workers last year in Wales revealed that while many feel valued in their roles, the main reason for job dissatisfaction and the primary contributor to people leaving the sector is inadequacy around pay.  I could add to the Welsh study others by the Universities of Surrey or the Manchester Metropolitan and several others where the link between job satisfaction, self-value and pay and reward are inextricable.

These research studies collectively underscore the truth that inadequate pay in the social care sector detrimentally affects worker well-being, job satisfaction, and retention. More than that they show that there is a direct and negative impact on the quality of the care and support experienced by the supported person, when staff are inadequately paid.  Addressing compensation issues is therefore essential for improving the mental health of social care workers and ensuring the delivery of high-quality care services.

So please do not read this blog and its focus on wellbeing as suggesting that if we only look after our own wellbeing as individuals that we are more able to ignore the lack of proper fiscal reward – nothing could be further from the truth. We must continue to expend all our energies in 2025 in campaigning for proper pay and reward for frontline social care workers in Scotland – and as I have often said to highlight just how inadequate the Scottish Living Wage is as a level for such aspirations to settle at.

So why a focus on self-care you might ask?

Well, there are many reasons why in January people begin to focus on their own self-care, and we should not lose the opportunity on building on these realities for the benefit of individual workers and carers. I have already referred to the cultural influence of resolutions, and then there is the psychological impact of starting a new year and wanting to plan to do things differently. But there are other motivating factors which should lead organisations and employers to build on personal influences to focus on self-care in this month.

These include the fact that people reflect a lot on their own choices and life during the holidays and often people are more likely to re-assess their personal and psychological health when they have had a break. If it is evident to them that there is little scope for wellbeing and self-care/development or indeed motivation in an organisation, then they are much more likely to look elsewhere for such a focus. It is also true that in a social media influenced era with influencers and commentators, that January has become even more so the ‘re-set’ month with clear programmes of targeted goals and challenges which once again organisations can tap into. But of course, whatever the motivation and reasoning what all such activities require is a supportive and affirmative environment and community which a good provider and employer can offer albeit that it is much harder for unpaid carers to access – though even that provides care organisations with an opportunity to nurture and build community.

The campaign for just pay can sit alongside the prioritising of self-care and wellbeing for carers and workers and assist not only personal health but also enhance the experience of those who are being supported. Again, there are numerous studies which show how engaging in regular self-care practices can lead to improved job satisfaction, better mental health, and enhanced resilience against work-related challenges.

Whilst acknowledging that achieving self-care for Scotland’s social care workforce in the context of poor funding and low pay requires creativity, collaboration, and systemic change, it can nevertheless be achieved. There are potential practical and sustainable approaches that organisations and leaders can adopt to support staff well-being.

For instance, the creation of Peer Support Networks perhaps within a care home or amongst community homecare teams help workers to share experiences, offer emotional support, and reduce feelings of isolation. It might work by allocating 30 minutes per week for reflective practice or group check-ins.

Introducing flexible working arrangements – which are already evidenced strongly across Scotland’s social care sector are a further support to self-care and wellbeing. Introducing flexible rotas or job-sharing options allow some staff to achieve better work-life balance, thus reducing stress and enabling people to achieve personal as well as professional responsibilities.

More recently I have come across many more employers who have introduced and developed Mental Health First Aid training into their organisations which has led to a core group of staff being trained to provide immediate peer support for those experiencing stress, anxiety, or burnout. Others have created Well-being Champions within teams to advocate for and coordinate self-care activities. Again, this promotes a culture of self-care and raises awareness about mental health resources. Champions can organise activities such as yoga, mindfulness sessions, or walking groups during breaks.

Further examples of organisational support for self-care and personal wellbeing include those organisations that have introduced low-cost perks and recognition schemes all of which helps to boost morale and makes staff feel valued despite financial limitations. Employers who work with partner organisations to offer reductions in areas such as reduced access to reflexology, meditation, yoga or more directed psychological and talking therapies; or discounted schemes for food and products – all are illustrating initiatives designed to make staff feel that their health and wellbeing is critical and central.

Investing in self-care, even in the face of funding constraints, is about fostering a culture where social care staff and those who are unpaid carers feel supported, valued, and empowered. By focusing on low-cost, high-impact strategies, organisations can help sustain the workforce, improve retention, and enhance the quality of care provided across Scotland. This approach also strengthens the call for systemic funding reforms to create a more sustainable sector for the future.

Unlike those who join the gym in January and forget how to access it within six months I earnestly hope that the focus on staff wellbeing and self-care which many organisations begin to explore this month becomes embedded as evidence of quality care and compassion.

Whatever techniques or tools, models or methods are used – self care is fundamental to the delivery and nurturing of all care and support; it is a lifelong process which nurtures of living and loving as much as our working and achieving, and yet as the Anglo-Irish poet David Whyte reminds us – it is not always easy:

Self Portrait

It doesn’t interest me if there is one God
Or many gods.
I want to know if you belong — or feel abandoned;
If you know despair
Or can see it in others.
I want to know
If you are prepared to live in the world
With its harsh need to change you;
If you can look back with firm eyes
Saying “this is where I stand.”
I want to know if you know how to melt
Into that fierce heat of living
Falling toward the center of your longing.
I want to know if you are willing
To live day by day
With the consequence of love
And the bitter unwanted passion
Of your sure defeat.
I have been told
In that fierce embrace
Even the gods
Speak of God.

David Whyte

Self Portrait: A Poem by David Whyte | High Road Artist

Donald Macaskill

Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash