Critical Reflective Practice with Older People the Experience and Skills of the Practitioners - Term Paper Example

Critical reflective practice with older people the experience and skills of the practitioners Introduction Working with older persons is often associated with low esteem, medical experience and responsive ability to cope with the negative attitudes. Therefore, as a social worker, one should be prepared to come into terms with issues of social challenges and their contribution towards working with the aging society. Besides, dealing with threats and challenges that are encountered by people who work with older members of the society, there should be a consideration of a more positive opinion that entails participants involved working towards a transformative undertaking of critical reflection process. My attachment to an elderly client in her home made me realize that some critical reflection must involve deeper assumptions of social norms and practices such as feminism or social construction thus leading into very complicated dilemmas (Askeland and Fook 2007). Power imbalance The concept of working with an old person is slightly difficult especially because of their capacity to embrace power balance. Having been attached to taking care of elderly patient suffering from dementia disease, the issue of power balance was one of the most withstanding disparities that existed. First, being older in age, she was pre-convinced that, as a young person, I may have had less experience to give the best services. Secondly, she believed in traditional health practices and did not relent to any form of medical radicalization. However, I was convinced that part of the challenge of a social worker is not only to draw a pool of professionals into taking care of the aged people, but also to have only those who are interested into taking care of an older generation of the society (Fredman, Anderson and Stott 2010). Self-identity Most old members of the society often feel that their health conditions are posing a serious threat to their senses of identity. Besides, some would even think that the healthcare conditions are worsening their state of identity. In accordance to the case above, the elderly woman felt it has been so hard to maintain her state of health independence. While coming into terms with her health condition, if it were not for her age, she could have still been involved in active duties. She felt deprived of her dignity to carry out certain tasks that she used to do in her early age. Instead of having positive acceptance, she found it hard to believe that the need for conforming to the acts of modernity such as networking is not necessary because she has minimal reward to gain by linking to a bigger number of the population (Richardson and Barusch 2010). Communication As a caregiver, I received several challenges while attached to the elderly woman in this case. However, guided by the principle of social work, which recognizes good information as the foundation of excelling to care giving, I resorted to accepting the challenges and moved on. Having been diagnosed of dementia, the woman has had emotions and feelings to communicate as if she used to in her early ages, the disease could always derail her from staging a reliable speech. Therefore, as a social worker it was my mandate to cope with her situation and be constantly mindful about her frailty situation. I took the time in trying to get her understand that I am passionate about her way of speech, and it is my responsibility to ensure that I get what she conveys even if it meant implementing the use of demonstrations (McDonald 2010). Karl max theory of maxims In all aspects of social practice, it is critical to note that they way a social worker relates to a person under his care correspond to the rate of recovery. In essence, social aspects such as feminist are crucial in guiding the relations between the social worker and the patient. Empowerment of elderly women makes them feel that they are still valued as important members of the society. Therefore, it demonstrates to them that their contribution to the society during their early stages are still of vital recognition. Based on Karl max theory of maxims, identity is developed by harmonizing relationships and the level of production. As such, the way an elderly person talks about experience clearly indicate that her identity is far recognized just like that of male counterparts. According to feminism theories, it is important for people to understand that traditional values should not be used to deprive their value or moral standards (Weeks 2011). Ethical principle Ethical practice forms the principle conduct of social work that social workers must follow as this ensures an effectiveness in all areas of social work and reliability on a part of the practitioners. Some of the social moral conducts include the following Every social worker must demonstrate the highest level of competency in his duties. This conduct instills discipline within this field as it ensures that a social worker is not engaged in inhuman activities that do not correspond to human dignity. Besides, a social worker must have integrity. The practice requires moderation with realization of boundaries between personal and professional interests. A practitioner should have a proper guideline on what constitutes social work as a professional practice (Reamer 2013). Social worker should not delegate responsibilities to people who are not working toward the will of the patient. Moreover, they need to be informed that they are responsible for any activity that are perceived against professional ethics or considered as avenues to instigate violence .Social workers should have a cordial relationship with other members within the same filed or outside as this would ensure mutual coexistence and exchange of ideas, which is considered healthy for the working environment. However, precious caution should be taken to ensure that there is a special guideline against issued that might undermine the delivery of services (Moxley and Finch 2003). Analysis of social work as a transformational process The duty of a social worker attracts strict attention among the participants and members of the society. With respect to this, a number of transformational processes have been achieved with the practitioners trying to proclaim a better aspect of this profession. As such, to improve program delivery by caregivers to the patients, proper guideline characterized by ethical code of conduct should be followed to ensure that the right transformational care services are provided (Garvin, Gutiérrez and Galinsky 2004). Conclusion Taking care of an elderly person as a social worker often calls for much concern because of their age especially to those who undergo some disorder such as dementia. This paper has addressed how power imbalance, communication and self-identity determine how an elderly person responds to a caregiver. Therefore, each and every caregiver should take adequate measures while dealing with patients as this enhances the relationship between the two. Besides, it the responsibility of the caregiver to ensure the patient is satisfied despite all the conditions. Bibliography: Askeland, G and Fook, J. 2007.Challenges of Critical Reflection: ‘Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained’ .Social Work Education. Jan Fook, the University of Southampton, UK; 2007, pp. 114. Fredman, G., Anderson, E and Stott, J. 2010. Being with older people: a systemic approach. London: Karnac Books. Garvin,C. Gutiérrez, L and Galinsky,M.2004. Handbook of social work with groups. New York : Guilford Press. McDonald, A. 2010. Social work with older people. Cambridge; Malden, MA : Polity. Moxley, D and Finch, J. 2003. Sourcebook of rehabilitation and mental health practice. New York, N.Y.: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Pub. Reamer, F. 2013. Social work values and ethics. New York: Columbia University Press. Richardson, V and Barusch, A. 2010. Gerontological Practice for the Twenty-first Century: A Social Work Perspective. New York: Columbia University Press. Weeks, K. 2011. The problem with work: feminism, Marxism, antiwork politics, and post work imaginaries. Durham: Duke University Press. Read More