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AA SOCW 60 week 4 response to students

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        Client empowerment

   In the book, “ Sessions: Case Histories,  by Sarah-Beth Plummer, Sara Makris and Sally Margaret Brocksen(2014), the case study of the Cortez family is highlighted. This case study illuminates the story of Paula Cortez, a 43-year-old Colombian immigrant who faces a myriad of challenges. Apart from facing the stigma of her HIV status and a bipolar disorder, she is a divorcee who loses her son’s custody. She is therefore predisposed to psychological and emotional distress. The psychiatrist played a role in diagnosing and treating Paula’s bipolar condition. However, the professional fails to establish open communication with her regarding the side effects of the drugs. The other medical professionals who have handled her fragile health also fail in follow up hence her inability to follow dosage instructions (Plummer, Makris, Brocksen, 2014). The first social worker, who took over Paula’s case after their meeting in the outpatient comprehensive care clinic, shows good faith by helping her. The social worker must have worked to establish a productive personalized approach with Paula that she could reveal her pregnancy and sexual relationship. However, the social worker seems to have overlooked Paula’s collaboration by forcing Paula to be admitted in the psychiatric unit of the hospital. Although the social worker was justified since, Paul did not pass the suicidal assessment and was a risk to herself and the unborn baby.

            Both the psychiatrist and social worker aim to alleviate Paula’s suffering related to her mental and physical health. This shows that they support Paula in her journey to empowerment, which translates to a quicker healing process. The psychiatrist has access to a platform that connects to social work hence the established relationship between Paula and the social worker. This shows that both promote continuous care and advocacy, which predetermine the success of client empowerment. However, the professionals involved threaten Paula’s empowerment. For instance, when the social worker places Paula under involuntary admission when she fails to pass the suicide assessment and threatens her life and that of her unborn child.  Despite being done in good faith, it causes Paula to feel out of control of her life. As for the psychiatrist, he or she fails to follow up if Paula is taking her drugs, which are actually causing harmful side effects. This negligence thus leads to escalating of Paula’s poor health status. Their actions serve to further socially isolate Paula who feels that she has lost control over her life and this can undermine her self-esteem and self-reliance (Plummer, Makris, Brocksen, 2014). Despite Paula’s unfortunate condition, she shows a determination to embrace life and its challenges. For instance, Paula understands the effect that psychiatric drugs do to her body. Thus, she can be encouraged to openly communicate with her physician who has an obligation to improve her condition. Since she also accepts her bipolar condition, she can be encouraged to seek social support especially with those with the same condition.   She also has an inclination of forming social relationships such as with the father of her unborn child. She can therefore be encouraged to establish healthy relationships including those romantic in nature.  It is also worth to note that Paula’s overall situation could be influenced by her gender. Although Robbins et al. (2012) points out that gender is observed as being an indefinite phenomenon rather than a separate entity.

References

Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., Brocksen S. (Eds.). (2014). Sessions: Case histories. Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader].

Robbins, S. P., Chatterjee, P., &Canda, E. R. (2012). Contemporary human behavior theory: A critical perspective for social work (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Allyn & Bacon.

1. Answer in APA format this question with separate references:

RE: Discussion - Week 4

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What social work skills would you use?

Return to this Discussion to read the responses to your initial post. Note what you have learned and/or any insights you gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.

2. Janelle Milburn

RE: Discussion - Week 4

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SOCW 6063

Week 4

Discussion 2

Peer Response 1

Hi!

     In reading your post I agree that empowerment for Paula would have been affected but she was decompensating according to her suicide assessment. (The Cortez Family, pp. 23-24). I think at that point the outpatient clinicians responsible for her care thought essential that she be hospitalized to stabilize her condition and thus would enable her to come to the point where she be empowered to make her own decisions in a responsible manner.

   According to Barbara Solomon, “…before individuals can begin to develop and increase skills to gain power and control power over their lives, they must first identify the direct and indirect power blocks that contribute to the problems they are facing.” (Plummer, Chatterjee, & Canda, p.111). I think that in Paula’s case she needed hospitalization in order to identify those personal conditions that were blocking her ability to be empowered.

I also consider that in Paula’s case there was a lack of boundaries that were not in place in the client -case-manager relationship. While I agree there were complex medical issues involved I do think that the case-manager was doing all the work and the client was not.

References

Plummer, S., Chatterjee, P., & Canda, E. R. (2006). Theories of Empowerment. In Contemporary Human Behavior Therapy: A Critical Perspective for Social Work (Second ed., pp. 92-125). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

The Cortez Family (Plummer, S-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. M., Eds.). In Sessions: Case Histories (First ed.). Retrieved September 22, 2017, from https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/#/books/978-1-62458-012-3/cfi/6/32!/4/28@0:79.5

Answer in APA format paper with separate references

Note what you have learned and/or any insights you gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.

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