How Effective Are Professional Social Workers in Chinese Communities?

Purpose: This study aims to reveal the mediating effect of social workers in improving residents’ well-being index. Methods: A total of 643 questionnaires were collected and the mediating effect was verified by SPSS PROCESS macro. Results: Community activities have a significant impact on residents’ sense of happiness. Social workers play a mediating role in some activities, but their overall explanatory power is limited and the perception of the mechanism is insufficient. It is necessary to enhance the quality of social workers’ intervention and institutional support and improve their professional functions and public recognition in the generation of residents’ happiness. Discussion: The mediating role of social workers varies in different types of community activities, with a relatively weak overall effect. Residents rely more on the experiences brought by the activities themselves to gain happiness, highlighting the issue of the perceivability and mechanism embedding of social work professional functions in practice.