Concept of Accountability in the Social Work - Case Study Example

1. Introduction In the last two decades, outlook towards disability and people with disability has undergone a dramatic transformation. Social modelof disability has encompassed proactive participation in meeting the challenges of disability. The concept has moved beyond the constraints of the medical terminology and incorporates a socially relevant stance keeping their all round welfare as the main objective in all their policies and plans. Laverack (2007) asserts that social model of disability has shifted the focus from individual’s medical conditions to social structures, institutions, environments and attitudes. It advocates a support system that empowers the people with disability with informed choice so that they can opt for best possible care that meets their individual requirement. These are critical imperatives that are greatly facilitated by the intervention of social workers who become major linkages for the people with disability to access the facilities. 2. Assessment of the appropriateness of the role towards the case Healthcare providers like nurse, physicians and their assistants, social service professionals assess client’s life in detail for correct diagnosis, line of treatment, type of intervention etc. for best service delivery. Appropriate linkages are provided to the client to meet his/her assessed need. Social workers for advocacy are common linkages that help recipients to help personalize their care. Advocacy for the case would be discussed. 3. Case study The client X was a refugee who was bed ridden after a car accident in which her lower part of body had got paralyzed. She was from different ethnic group and neither spoke nor understood English. The client wished for direct payments as she was dissatisfied with the current level of services as provided by the council and social work department. She had identified one of her friend as her personal assistant. 4. Advocacy for case study As a social work student, currently on placement at a local council, I have advocated on behalf of client X. As I am dealing with the direct payment and personal budget, her case comes under my purview and, therefore, I have volunteered to advocate her case. Advocacy is a vital concept in social work. It promotes understanding for the requisite physical and emotional support, intrinsic to the welfare of the disabled person. As advocate, it was hugely important for me to empower my client with relevant information regarding direct payment and for employing a personal assistant of her choice. Hence, my work as advocate/facilitator involved myriad functions conforming under the strict guidelines and processes of legislative acts and government procedures. 4.1 Direct payment Facility of direct payment is made after the case is assessed for its merit by the social care professional panel as setup by the NHS and the council. After assessment, the panel decides on the amount of direct payment and allots the fund for the same. This is followed by the legal agreement that is signed by the party after which the payment is credited to the bank account of the person. In this case, two major difficulties needed to be overcome. Firstly, as a refugee, my client did not have a bank account. I, therefore, volunteered for her and issued a letter for the bank so that her husband could open an account in the local bank. The second issue was that of legal document or agreement that needed to be translated in the language of the client. Though the council initially dithered as it was quite expensive, but finally the translation was done. The client X was able to read the document and understand the various clauses for employing her personal assistant. The translation was vital for client X as it helped in her communication and facilitated empowered decision to finalize the agreement. This helped pave way for the direct payment to be credited to her husband’s account. 4.2 Process of employment of personal assistant Though my client had earmarked her friend as her personal assistant, my duty involved assessing her capabilities, having a CRB check, employee insurance, risk assessment, accountancy, pay slips, NI contribution, holidays for PA and sick pay documents etc. These were major issues within employment laws and needed to be addressed to promote best practices. CRB check ensures employee’s credibility is checked thoroughly by Criminal Records Bureau, especially which involves vulnerable adults. Despite my client’s personal recommendations, I made her understand the importance of CRB check for any future downfall. It was important part of safe recruitment practice which I ensured was followed with full specifications as per the recruitment policy. The other details of employment regarding pay, holidays, duties, sick pay, insurance etc. were discussed with the candidate and agreement made. This helped to create a more professional environment that necessitated proper accountability of action by the employee and, therefore, improved services and satisfaction for the client X. The accountability in the actions strives to meet the challenges with more sincerity and efficiency. It promotes a work culture which is focused and highly result oriented. Indeed, when people know that their decisions and actions are under scrutiny, they are more cautious and make concerted efforts to include the interests of the individual in all their decisions, resulting in higher productive outcome of services delivered. 5. Analysis of the practice in relation to theory Brandon (2001) strongly asserts that advocacy is central to social work. He believed that social work needs to be done from the heart and not as a duty to be performed and forgotten. It is respecting people and their needs based on compassion rather than pity. Thus, sensitive approach and empathy with the people with disability significantly enhances the delivery of services. The work of the social workers is, therefore, considered to be ideal, honest and laudable. Interestingly, in the olden times, accountability was not considered a vital issue as people got involved into the social work voluntarily because they genuinely wanted to make a difference in the lives of the people. But in the current times, social work has emerged as leading professional field that necessitates accountability in their actions. As a social worker, I am aware that Codes of Practice (GSCC, 2010) promote best practices for empowering people with disability with information and mechanisms to facilitate access to them. The guidelines and codes ensure that quality services to people with disability are ethically delivered to their satisfaction. It enhances the social accountability of the individuals and agencies, especially social worker. World Bank (2005) has broadly defined it as an approach toward building accountability that relies on civic engagement. In short, it is ordinary citizens and/or civil society organizations that participate directly or indirectly in exacting accountability. Thus, social workers become accountable to the public for the way they execute their duties as well as to the specific group of people for whom they are advocating. 6. Legal paradigm and constituents of social work that were used in the case study Legislations and laws in the area of health and related field are important means of policy formulation and development of guidelines for efficient and safe healthcare deliverables. The Equality and Human Rights commission (EHRC, 2009) promotes vision of social care and support based on equality and human rights. It acknowledges that people’s empowerment must be based on their abilities and their views on what they need which should be accessible cutting across the barrier of colour, race, culture, language and nationality. The UK government has promulgated various legislative initiatives to meet the challenges in the field of health and social care. HM Government (2010) insists that change has become imminent and personalization and choice agenda have become intrinsic part of effective healthcare delivery. Health and Social Care Act 2008 has incorporated vital measures to strengthen its health and social care within and outside the precinct of NHS (DH, 2007). It is highly relevant to the people with disability and carers. Disability Discrimination Act (DDA, 1995) promotes ‘rights of access to goods, facilities, services and premises’ which has been amended to include the equal opportunity for disabled people. Most importantly, it affirms that effective advocacy can transform the lives of persons with disabilities by enabling them to express their wishes and aspirations and make real choices (NHS, 2003). All these legal paradigms were important benchmarks that were incorporated in the advocacy of the case. 7. Conclusion Concept of accountability is an extremely important factor in the social work mainly because they work for the vulnerable segment of the society that genuinely needs help. The empowerment of the vulnerable segment of the society becomes critical as it helps them to make decisions based on informed choices. Singh & Parmesh (2003) argue that poor people are most reliant on government services and least equipped to hold government officials to account. As such, they have the most to gain from social accountability initiatives. This was also a major reason that as refugee and as an ethnic minority, my client should be able to receive the best care as entitled under human rights act as well as government law. Moreover, being of different ethnicity, there was huge scope of discrimination and other types of oppressive practices. As advocate, I was not only ethically considerate but also ensured that discriminatory practices based on racial and cultural differences, languages and nationality was not brought within the delivery of the personalized services as desired by the client. (words: 1549) References Brandon, D. & Brandon, T. (2001). Advocacy in Social Work, Birmingham: Venture Press. Department of Health. (2007). New Cross-Government Strategy for Supporting Learners with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities, [Online], Available http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Policyandguidance/Healthandsocialcaretopics/Learningdisabilities/DH_075693 [Accessed 4 June, 2012]. Disability Discrimination Act 1995. [Online], Available http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/disabledpeople/rightsandobligations/disabilityrights/dg_4001068 [Accessed 4 June, 2012]. Equality and Human Rights Commission. (2009). From Safety Net to Springboard, [Online], Available http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/key-projects/care-and-support/report-fromsafety-net-to-springboard/General [Accessed 7 June, 2012]. HM Government. (2010). The Coalition: Our programme for government, London: HM Government. Laverack, G. (2007). Health promotion practice: building empowered communities. Maidenhead: Open University Press. National Health Services. (2003). Valuing People: More choice and control for people with learning disabilities. Chapter 4. HMSO, [Online], Available http://www.library.nhs.uk/learningdisabilities/SearchResults.aspx?catID=1131 [Accessed 4 June, 2012]. Singh, J. & Parmesh, S. (2003). Making Services Work for the Poor: The Role of Participatory Public Expenditure Management. World Bank, Social Development Note No. 81. Social Care Council. (2010). Code of Practices for Employers of Social Care Workers, London: GSCC. World Bank. (2005). Report on ‘The Effectiveness of World Bank Support for Community-Based and -Driven Development’, [Online], Available http://www.worldbank.org/ieg/cbdcdd/ [Accessed 4 June, 2012]. Read More