Social Work Skills and Methods - Essay Example

Social Work Skills and Methods Scenario 2: Bridget O’Rourke In this case Bridget has to suffer from two sides. On the one hand she is not able to take fullest control of her alcohol misuse, and on the other hand she is forced to lead a lonely life away from her kids and other family. Till now she was being taken care of by the team of health workers and the key worker/s, who were not only providing her a company but they were also making her feel happy. But now onward, when Bridget O’Rourke shifts to her new flat, she will have to handle it all by herself, which is making her worried. Therefore in order to make a support plan, it is very important they we must first identify her major concerns. For this purpose the steps will be as follows; Step-1: Some of the erstwhile support staff will accompany Bridget to her new home and if possible try spending couple of hours or a day together with her in her new home. This will not only make her comfortable in the new environment, but will also assure her about the availability of easy help when she requires it in future. Step-2: While revisiting Bridget on the third day, an effort would be made to take note of her experience in the new surroundings, some of the problems that she faced or what made her happy in the new environment. It is worthwhile here to mention that these elaborations must be elicited from her in an informal manner, without letting her be conscious about the feedback. Step-3: Once the feedback is sought from Bridget, we need to chalk out a support plan to make her comfortable in the new surroundings. The support plan in this case must take into account the history of Bridget, her preferences etc. Bridget has suffered quite a lot in the past and she has many more years ahead for her. Therefore, the support plan must take a long term perspective of the issues with her. While reservations have been expressed about her coming to terms with the alcoholic abuse problem, the fact that she is being allowed to move back to her flat is an indication enough of her becoming a reformed citizen. Key aspects for her support plan are; Taking into account here healthcare requirements and periodic checkups. She must be informed about such back up plan, so that she feels confident about the support. Often people make use of alcoholic to get rid of tension, isolation and depressing tendencies. A schedule of activities like routine exercises, visit to market, phone call to the social worker, visit to the hostel etc. must be planned out for Bridget. This will keep her busy enough to take recourse to liquor. Purpose of such a schedule is to make sure that Bridget doesn’t come across circumstances like mood swings, involving periods of excessive euphoria or bouts of intense depression. Efforts must also be planned out to locate the whereabouts of her two kids, so that she gets to lead a normal life in times to come. Allowing her the custody of kids will not only help her in coming over the depressive tendencies, but it will also help the kids in gaining the love and affection of their mother. Making such a plan is very important because a social worker or a health worker cannot be attached with Bridget for years in a row and at the same time, she must not be made dependent upon the social worker. Research has found out that if someone starts feeling that he or she has become a burden on someone else or on the society, it leads to suicidal tendencies. John Krystal, Biological Psychiatry editor states that, “Genetic and environmental factors may interact to produce specific and long-lasting modifications in brain circuits” (BBC, 2008). Citing a research involving analysis of 10 people having had serious depressive disorder and having committed suicide and 10 others died of other sudden ailments, the BBC report indicates that the DNA in the people having suicidal tendencies had been chemically modified by a process termed as methylation, a regulating cell development process. Bridget being a female, the support plan requires taking into account female specific factors too into account. For example in the olden days female depression and mood swings was also linked to the menopause, but as we advance into the modern century, treatments like hormone replacement therapy (HRT) provides some assistance in putting off such tendencies. It will be very difficult to ascertain this from the existing details about the case, but due consideration to this fact will also help in making life simpler for Bridget. Words of ‘sympathy’ will certainly not help Bridget in becoming a normal person, as it will keep reminding her about her past. Instructions must be drawn out to guide people around her on this aspect. Empathic attitude instead will help her in leading a normal life. Bridget is still in her early thirties, which is not too late for gaining an entry into the corporate world. Efforts should also be initiated to see that a reformed, non-alcoholic Bridget is able to find a decent job in the surrounding areas. Well, it also needs to be emphasised that Bridget won’t be able to take too much of pressure in the immediate near future. Therefore, the job must not be too taxing for her. Working with school children or some PR desk job might just be more suitable for her. From the above discussion it is amply clear that; We have started working on the case by first having an understanding of the case with the help of health workers and the case file. Subsequently we’d approach here at her new flat and try to collect more details about her new residence, her apprehensions and her requirements. Subsequently, we will try to prepare a support plan, which in turn will be a long term plan, so that Bridget is able to lead a normal life as soon as possible in coming months/years. We have opted for this approach because, Bridget is certainly far better both in terms of health and spirits. Therefore, we need to treat her like a normal human being and respect her privacy and preferences. The support plan is being prepared to mould her into the new lifestyle, without an active support from the health worker/s Having deeper understanding about the relevant theories from our text books certainly helps us in our endeavour to become better social workers, but routinely going through the newspapers and some other periodicals also helps us in knowing about the latest research findings in the field. Good education as such, helps in enriching the knowledge and broadening the horizon of an individual. Therefore a degree in Social Work from a reputed Institution not only helps in learning the techniques of dealing with adverse circumstances. Goals of our intervention in the case are to make Ms. Bridget feel at home in her new environment and prepare her for a healthy and peaceful life ahead, so that she become a independent self, taking good care of all her social needs. In addition the endeavour for the social worker will be to have an opportunity to satiate her urge for doing something constructive for the society. The desired goals would be attempted by first preparing a well thought out support plan and subsequently implementing it, with active support and participation of Bridget. The process of evaluation holds key about the successful implementation of the support plan. Well, evaluation in this case will not be an easy task, because it has the subjective involvement of human beings. Monitoring the progress of the support plan, routine health check-up and how Bridget is responding is responding to the support plan will make things easier for assessment. Maintaining highest standards of ethical behaviour not only help in gaining the confidence of people at large, but it also helps in establishing the credibility of a social worker in the society. As social work basically involves dealing with fellow human beings on a range of social issues, a clean image and higher credibility makes the social worker more useful for the society. Anti-Discriminative Practices (ADP) and Anti-Oppressive Practices (AOP) have become integral parts of a civil society. UK in particular comprises of a society with people from different race, religion, nationalities etc. But a social worker must treat them all as equal while providing her/his services. The media has become very vigilant these days and slight aberration in maintaining ethical standards not only results in bad name for the individual and the organisation concerned, but it also results in undesired publicity for the nations credentials. Some of the advantages which accrue to the social worker if s/he is able to maintain highest standards of practice include; Acceptance amongst the people as a social worker and Recognition from government agencies and other related organizations as a social worker. Scenario 5: Shanti Amin This is a very challenging case involving senior citizens in need of help. In this case Shanti Amin at the age of 78 years requires assistance from others around for leading a healthy and comfortable life. But the irony is, there’s no one around to support him, instead his wife is totally dependent on him. Shanti is also performing the daily household chores so that he can live another day with his ailing wife Nilam. Besides suffering from severe arthritis Nilam is also suffering from alzheimers and diabetes, which makes further worsens her condition. After going through the case it is quite clear that while Nilam is living a borrowed life, Shanti Amin is not able to lead a peaceful life because of the ill health of his wife. Though, they are being looked after by the day care workers, but the kind of attention and care required at this age is simply not around for this aged couple. Coming from a different country, different religion, and social background must be making them all the more alien amongst fellow day care members. This particular case therefore requires careful handling. To begin with the social worker will have to first make inroads into the hearts of the aged couple as a dependable ally, because it will be very difficult for them to believe someone unknown to them. Both the elders must be feeling insecure when someone unknown tries to go near them. Therefore, in this case, the social worker will have to adopt a more formal approach in reaching out to Shanti and Nilam. The following steps will be required to be taken in this case; Step-1: We need to get in touch with the day care centre, and after presenting our credentials to them we will have to forward a request to introduce us to Shanti and Nilam. This will make things much easier for both the parties. While we will be able to gain a friendly entry, the aged couple will feel comfortable while talking to us. Step-2: We need to find out what exactly in wrong with Shanti these days and why he appears so disturbed. Well, this is not easy to solicit from Shanti as he has not been very much forthcoming in telling about the reasons for unkempt hair and bruises on his face. Nonetheless, it is worth emphasising here that old age people feel comfortable in the company of someone who can patiently listen to their talks and stories. Therefore in this case also we need to devote maximum amount of time to make Shanti comfortable and forthcoming enough. Going by the circumstances, it is certainly no secret that Shanti is troubled because, in the absence of anybody in their household, he has to do the shopping, cooking cleaning, and taking personal care of his wife. Moreover, both of them are from India and their mother tongue is different from English, makes things all the more complicated. Things would have been better with little bit of knowledge about Gujarati language on the part of the social worker. But, to overcome this, the social worker will have to do little more hard work to gain the confidence of the couple. Step-3: After having established our credentials with Shanti and Nilam, we need to figure out their basic requirements and how to make them stress free. It would be an ideal proposition if we are in a position to arrange for someone who can help out the senior citizens in carrying out their routine household jobs. It would indeed be an arduous task as it involves many things to put someone in service of Shanti and Nilam, but things would be better if the couple gets a helping hand even for a day or two in the beginning, because that would provide them a reprieve from the exhausting routine. Social work is a noble profession of fulfilling the social needs of those segments of the society who are otherwise infirm or underprivileged to have them. Step-4: Once the Amin couple feel somewhat comfortable in the company of social workers, providing medical aid to Nilam should be the next priority. Nilam is suffering from chronic diseases; therefore, it will not be correct to think that she can be cured of her health related issues. But making her comfortable with her own self so that she is in a position to take care of herself will be a big achievement. In the beginning inviting doctors to her place would be better to seek first opinion. Subsequently, efforts be made to take her to nearby hospital. Three things must be taken into account while admitting her to the hospital; The financial condition of the aged couple may not be good enough to afford the hospital expanses. Therefore, efforts must also be initiated in parallel to seek a suitable grant from government or other non-governmental organisations. While making arrangements for such help it will have to be ascertained that the code of ethics is adhered to in letter and spirit i.e. due respect should be displayed for the dignity of the aged couple. Secondly, Shanti may not be in a position to become a full time attendant for his wife in the hospital. Therefore, this option should be exercised only if someone from the social service is available for this task. Thirdly, both individuals being old one’s, it needs to be weighed by the social worker about the desirability of lodging them separately or making some healthcare available at their residence. In this old age, both partners would certainly want to spend as many days together as they can. Step-4: If both of them still hold foreign passports, it would be a prerequisite to inform their federal and state governments, about the steps being initiated for their healthcare. Of course this step would be required to be taken with the help of British Government. In addition, messages are also to be passed across to their daughter living in USA. Quite often such steps prove to be of legal significance besides being of practical help. The extent of empathetic feelings is determined by the knowledge of one’s own thoughts and the factors affecting the individual’s feelings. This process, called a meta-cognitive process, is normally reflected in a number of our daily routines and activities. This case is actually one of those challenging cases which call for utmost professionalism and devotion on the part of the social work team. It is said that the UK population in general, is ageing at a very high rate. In 2003, the number of 50+ people is one in three. This figure is projected to increase to two-fifth by 20311. Therefore making adequate provisions for this segment is of prime importance. The social work organisations too need to take into account the importance of such projections as anybody attached with older people will also have to be ready for their requirements. Daloz (1986) describes the characteristics of support and challenge and the ways in which they might combine to foster learning. He describes support as an affirming activity. When a teacher supports a learner, the teacher lets the learner know that the learner is cared about. In this case as well, when a social worker supports the old age couple the couple surely feels being cared for, while it proves to be a learning experience for the social worker also. From the above discussion it is clear that; We will be approaching the case as stated in the above mentioned steps. This approach is chosen because the individuals are of old age and belong to a different social and cultural background. Therefore, it will take some time even for a social worker to know something about them. The language barrier also will prove to be an impediment to some extent. While the increasing emphasis on ‘Grey market’ has been a subject of curiosity in market parlance, it certainly gives us an idea about the increasing number of old age people across the country. Hence we need to have proper medical care facilities. As for the theoretical impetus for working, a social worker needs to be aware that compassion for anothers suffering and love for the feelings of people under their care leads to immense happiness. Good interpersonal communication skills; respect for the ethical standards; and working in physically demanding and often stressful conditions are some of the requirements to work our way into the social working field. Prime goal of our intervention is to make life simpler and happier for Shanti and Nilam. The manner in which attempts would be made has been elaborated in above mentioned steps. Smiles on the faces of Shanti and Nilam would be the key indicator of having succeeded in my goal. Both of them see in each other a reliable partner, therefore it will be an endeavour to allow them maximum of their time in each other’s company, which will not only help them in speedy recovery from their ailments but help the social worker also in successful support plan implementation. We need to take care that both the senior citizens belong to different social and cultural background and this should in no way be any handicap for their better treatment. References: 1. Age Concern (n.d.). The Grey Market. Available online at http://www.ageconcern.org.uk/AgeConcern/the-grey-market.asp (Jan 26, 2010) 2. BASW (2010). British Association of Social Workers. Available online at http://www.basw.co.uk/ (Jan 26, 2010) 3. BBC (2008). ‘Suicide linked to brain changes’. Available online at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7689522.stm (Jan 25, 2010) Read More