New Self-Care Resource for Health and Social Care Professionals

SPARK^² is a free, evidence-informed self-care tool designed for professionals working in health, social care, and community services. Developed at University College Cork by Kenneth Burns, Conor O’Mahony, and Elaine O’Callaghan, the tool supports practitioners to reflect on ten key areas of their personal and professional lives — from sleep and physical health to supervision, technology use, and emotional wellbeing.

The tool is designed to help prevent burnout, secondary trauma, and moral injury. Rather than prescribing a one-size-fits-all approach, SPARK^² uses reflective prompts to help professionals assess what is working, what needs attention, and what changes are within their control. Importantly, the tool also acknowledges that self-care has limits: when the problem lies in the workplace — unsustainable workloads, inadequate resources, or poor management — individual strategies alone are not the answer.

Version 2 (2026) includes updated content on digital wellbeing, supervision quality, moral injury, and a structured self-care planning section. It is available to download free of charge under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-NC-ND) at:

https://www.ucc.ie/en/ideachildrights/resources/

Permission is granted to copy and distribute the tool for non-commercial use.

For more on this story contact:

k.burns@ucc.ie