Analyse impacts of sociological factors on clients in community services

CHC52015 Diploma of Community Services

Student Guide – CHCDEV002 Analyse impacts of sociological factors on clients in

community work and services | Page 1 of 23

V1.0: January 2022, Approved: QAC

International College of Tasmania Pty Ltd trading as: TasCollege

RTO Code: 45352 | CRICOS Code: 03683K

CHCDEV002

ANALYSE IMPACTS OF SOCIOLOGICAL

FACTORS ON CLIENTS IN

COMMUNITY WORK AND SERVICES

student guide

CHC52015 Diploma of Community Services

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community work and services | Page 2 of 23

V1.0: January 2022, Approved: QAC

International College of Tasmania Pty Ltd trading as: TasCollege

RTO Code: 45352 | CRICOS Code: 03683K

Contents

Overview 3

Content 4

Learning outcomes 6

Identify social and cultural issues 7

Analysing and monitoring impacts of social and cultural factors 15

Review and assessment 22

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community work and services | Page 3 of 23

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Overview

The Student Guide should be used in conjunction with the recommended

reading and any further course notes or activities given by the

trainer/assessor.

Topics Content

Topic 1: Identify social and cultural

issues

 Social and cultural institutions

 Effects and consequences of

inequality

 Stratifications and stereotypes

Topic 2: Analysing and monitoring

impacts of social and cultural

factors

 Inform, clarify and decide

 Monitor, review and revise

Unit review and assessment tasks

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Content

The Student Guide includes:

 topics for the unit

 activities

 links to websites containing relevant information (if the links are broken,

copy and paste into a web browser).

Activi t ies

The trainer/assessor will provide a simulated work environment therefore,

the activities provided in the Student Guide:

 reflect real life work tasks

 are performed to industry safety requirements as relevant

 use authentic workplace documentation

 require you to work with others as part of a team

 require you to plan and prioritise competing work tasks

 involve the use of standard, workplace equipment such as computers

and software

 take into consideration workplace constraints such as time and

budgets

 will either be self-directed or carried out as part of group or team work

 require you to read through the activity carefully and ask the

trainer/assessor for guidance if needed

 will have time allocated for completing the activity, along with time for

class discussion and feedback

Some activities may require you to submit work to the trainer/assessor for

feedback. Where this is the case it will be indicated at the bottom of the

activity.

Video cl ips

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 If presented in class, take part in any class discussions, providing

feedback and contributing to debate and arguments.

 If directed to watch the video as part of self-study, or independently in

class, take notes so contributions to any future class discussions can be

made.

Roleplays

The trainer/assessor will direct class roleplays.

When undertaking these activities ensure that you understand the purpose

of the roleplay and take part as if you are in a professional situation to

provide your fellow classmates with a true-to-life experience. Roleplays rely

on your ability to act in a manner that imitates real-life situations and can

provide you with depth of understanding and practical skills.

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Learning outcomes

By the end of this unit, students will have the skills and knowledge required

to function independently and to plan and undertake community work

and associated services.

The unit describes the application of knowledge of the broad social and

cultural context in which work is planned and implemented in the

community services industry.

This unit applies to workers who seek to better understand their client

groups and issues that impact on the lives of their clients and hence on

their delivery of services.

The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth

and State/Territory legislation, Australian/New Zealand standards and

industry codes of practice.

Outcomes include:

 identifying social and cultural issues impacting on clients in Australian

society

 analysing impacts of social and cultural factors on clients

 monitoring impacts of social and cultural factors on community work

and services provided to clients.

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Image by Nikhita S on Unsplash

Identify social and cultural issues

This guide provides information on the impacts of inequality and socio-

cultural factors that affect clients as individuals, communities, and family

groups. This guide also sets out practical work experience activities to be

performed within a community services context.

Social and cultural inst i tut ions

An institution is an established structure that operates under a set of rules.

There are various social and cultural institutions that provide services in

Australia. Examples of institutions include:

 aged care system

 education system

 family

 health system

 labour market

 legal system

 media

 political systems

 religious systems

 work.

A person’s fit within society and the social problems that they encounter

may determine their level of access to various institutions. While an

institution usually aims to provide services or benefits to individuals,

communities and families, inequality can mean that people may not be

1

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eligible to access the services these institutions provide. This is usually due to

poor economic factors for an individual, which can have downward

spiralling consequences on various elements of a person’s life.

Activ i ty

Pick three of the major social and cultural institutions in Australia

from the list above. Then, in the table below, list them, including

their function and the impact they may have on a client as an

individual, as part of a community, and in their family. The first two

rows have been completed as an example.

Your trainer will facilitate a discussion on the outcomes.

Institution Function Impact on

individual

Impact on

community

Impact on

family

Aged

care

system

Provides

support to

persons usually

over the age

of 65 who

cannot

support

themselves

independently.

Care may be

in the home or

at an aged

care facility.

Provides

individuals

with the

care they

need to

maintain

their health

and safety.

A positive

presence in

the

community

with those

who require

assistance

having

access to it.

Lessens the

burden on

family

members

who may

struggle to

provide the

services

needed for

the elderly.

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Health

system

Delivers health

care services

to people

who are sick

or injured,

impaired or

requiring

rehabilitation.

Also provides

preventative

health

measures

such as

check-ups,

scans and

vaccines.

Provides

critical

health

services

enabling

individuals

to live

healthier

and longer

lives.

Contain,

lessen and

prevent

spread of

illness and

disease

from

individuals

into the

community.

Provide

valuable

support for

family

members

when

required.

This includes

birthing

services.

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community work and services | Page 10 of 23

V1.0: January 2022, Approved: QAC

International College of Tasmania Pty Ltd trading as: TasCollege

RTO Code: 45352 | CRICOS Code: 03683K

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community work and services | Page 11 of 23

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Effects and consequences of inequali ty

The Cambridge Dictionary defines

inequality as,

‘the unfair situation in society when

some people have

more opportunities, money, etc. than

other people’.

There are various social effects and

consequences of inequality that may

affect a client depending on the

conditions and experiences they receive.

These effects and consequences can

impact individuals in their daily lives, their

fit within the community and their role in

their family. Some examples of these

effects and consequences are as follows.

 diminished quality of life

 family breakdown

 homelessness

 impact of unemployment on society

 loss of social contact

 paid and unpaid work

 racism

 social isolation

 social, personal and health outcomes of unemployment

 sustainability

 unemployment.

Often, one of the above effects and consequences of inequality will lead

to multiple of those effects to eventuate. For example, a person who

experiences racism may in extreme cases start to socially isolate, which

Image by Jan Baborak on Unsplash

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community work and services | Page 12 of 23

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may lead to unemployment, which may lead to a family breakdown and

homelessness, etc. This is an extreme example, but it demonstrates the far-

reaching effects that inequality may have, and how it can impact a

person’s role in society through their personal life, the community and their

family life.

Read

Read the following article on the effects that long-term

unemployment may have on a client. Take notes for future

reference. Your trainer will facilitate a discussion on the outcomes.

https://www.onlinemswprograms.com/resources/social-issues/long-

term-unemployment/

Watch

Watch the video below on what causes wellness. The video talks

about how meaning and purpose can contribute to wellbeing. It

touches on many of the concepts that have been explored

above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEh3JG74C6s (16:40)

Take notes for future reference.

Your trainer will facilitate a discussion.

Strat i f ications and stereotypes

As a society, different stratifications (or the way in which people are

classified into groups) have come to be. These stratifications result in

stereotypes.

The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘stratification’ as, ‘the arrangement or

classification of something into different groups” and ‘stereotype’ as, “a

widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type

of person or thing.’

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Activ i ty

Brainstorm stereotypes and the positive and negative connotations

that go with them.

Do you think these connotations are fair?

Stereotyping can have a significant impact on the way a person is viewed

by others, and eventually the way they view themselves. Such stereotyping

may have long term negative impacts on a client.

Some of the impacts stereotyping may have on people include:

 increased aggression

 hostility

 lack of self-control

 trouble making decisions, particularly ones that are good for them

 over-eating

 poor performance

 increased stress.

Read

Read the following article on the impacts of stereotyping. Take

notes for future reference. Your trainer will facilitate a discussion on

the outcomes.

https://psychcentral.com/news/2018/08/11/long-term-effects-of-

stereotyping/16675.html.

Age stratification is a problem that will likely be experienced by all of us.

Different ages bring different life stages and also different views from

society about a person. In particular, if a person’s age doesn’t fit their life

stage from a societal point of view, negative connotations can be placed

on the individual. Some examples of when this may occur include young

mothers being negatively judged, immaturity in adolescents being

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community work and services | Page 14 of 23

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punished at school, and the elderly being treated as if they don’t

understand.

Some of the stereotypes relating to age

include:

 the terrible two’s

 teenagers

 young marrieds

 retirees

 older people

 Vietnam Vets

 generation X, Y or Z

 baby boomers.

Activ i ty

Consider your own age-stereotype. What are the positive and

negative connotations associated with your stereotype? Do you

believe you are representative of these connotations? Do you think

these connotations are fair?

Image by Matt Collamer on Unsplash

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Analysing and monitoring impacts of social and cultural factors

Inform, clar i fy and decide

When dealing with clients, it is helpful to understand their backgrounds and

the social and cultural institutions that apply to them.

When providing care to clients, it is important to clarify their current health

and wellbeing and identify any environmental and socio-cultural factors

that may be impacting them, their community or family group. Identifying

these factors can help you to understand the client’s behaviours and

performance and may assist in determining their needs.

Some examples of factors related to general health and wellbeing may

include:

 housing:

o boarding house

o high rise

o homeless

o inner city

o own home

o public housing

o rental property

o residential care

o rural

o urban

 population density

 employment factors

 work structures

 geographical location

 social isolation

 overcrowding and poor

conditions

 access to health and

community services.

Once you have an understanding of any environmental and socio-cultural

factors impacting a client, you can work to investigate potential solutions

2

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for health promotion initiatives that may assist them. Some examples of

health promotion initiatives include:

 anti-smoking and quit campaign

 back safety

 breast cancer screening

 diabetes education and support

 drug abuse counselling

 falls prevention strategies

 healthy ageing information

 Indigenous health information

 leisure and health opportunities

 mental health campaigns

 nutrition, eat well, and obesity programs

 physical activity programs

 safe driving courses.

As well as exploring any health promotion initiatives, you will be able to

identify any further work that is required to be undertaken, such as

recommending that particular services be provided to the client.

Before making any decisions or recommending any services, it is important

that you are aware of any factors that may influence your power to do so.

For example, community services workers must act in line with government

policy. Government policy provides decisions in certain areas, including:

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It is important to research any specific policy decisions and how they might

impact on your work. This information will help you to identify whether it is

appropriate to recommend a particular service to a client or not. You will

want to ensure that you keep abreast of this information so you are best

placed to make informed decisions on services to be provided.

Read

Read the article below on the impact of political, economic, socio-

cultural, environmental and other external influences. Take notes

on relevant parts that you can use to help you make informed

decisions or recommendations for clients.

https://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-

textbook/organisation-management/5b-understanding-

ofs/assessing-impact-external-influences

Your trainer will facilitate a discussion.

Activ i ty

Review the scenarios below relating to three separate clients.

When reviewing each scenario you will be required to:

housing

distribution of health and community services

safe work practices

work health and safety

funding of different sectors such as mental health, disability, home

and community services, etc.

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 consider relevant socio-cultural information and any

stratifications that may exist and how this information may

impact each client

 research relevant services available in the areas that the clients

live

 advise, refer and provide clients with access to at least 2

services based on the information gathered

Type up notes for one of your findings and recommendations for

future reference. These notes will be added to in the next activity.

CLIENT 1: VARA

Vara is a 40-year-old Fijian-Indian woman who has moved to

Melbourne from Fiji. Her education is basic and she works in a small

business from home.

Vara often feels socially isolated. She cannot drive and spends

most of her time at home with her Australian husband, young

daughter and two teenage step-children. Her step-children are not

very supportive of her and have little tolerance for her cultural

differences.

Vara has been feeling increasingly lonely and is starting to feel

depressed due to her social and family situation.

CLIENT 2: ABUA

Abua is an 18-year-old Nigerian man who has moved to Australia

from Nigeria. He lives in a wealthy area of Canberra with his

parents and is in his final year of school and loves to play soccer.

Abua has moved schools many times due to his parents’ jobs as

Diplomats but finds change hard and is struggling with settling in at

school both socially and academically. Abua’s parents know that

he is smart and expect a lot of Abua in terms of his academic

performance.

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Abua is becoming anxious about his schooling situation and is

desperate to find a way to fit in with his peers.

CLIENT 3: AMY

Amy is a 30-year-old Australian mother of 3 young children living in

Sydney. Amy is unemployed and has no work experience which

she attributes to her minor cognitive delays and a moderate

hearing impairment. She lives in public housing and her children

have been diagnosed with ADHD.

Amy often feels socially isolated with her husband working away

from home for long hours most days. Amy has started smoking as

an outlet to deal with the pressure she feels from her home life but

knows this is a bad example for her children and would like

strategies to deal with her problems in healthier ways.

Activ i ty

Based on the scenarios above relating to Vara, Abua and Amy,

consider that the above clients have responded to your

recommendations as follows:

 Vara has positively adopted your first recommendation only

and feels that the other recommendation/s did not suit her

 Abua has positively adopted all of your recommendations

 Amy has attempted to adopt your second recommendation

with mixed results and would like further assistance where

possible with all recommendations

Based on the above results, review the effectiveness of your

recommendations. What are the likely impacts that each client will

see? How effective were your recommendations?

Consider any cultural and social factors that may have led to these

results and how you may be able to revise your recommendations

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to provide increased or alternate support to improve results where

applicable.

Type up your answers and revised recommendations into the notes

from previous activity and submit to your trainer for review and

feedback.

Monitor, review and revise

Once you have advised, referred and provided access to clients for

services, you will need to monitor and review the impact of the work you

have undertaken.

To monitor the success of a particular service, you will need to determine

what the success measures are. These may include client participation in

programs, client happiness, and improvement in factors such as healthy

eating, cessation of smoking, increased social activity, etc. Your measures

should include both short term and long-term outcomes.

Monitoring is a continuous process that allows you to gather feedback on

your recommendation and strategies or programs which have been

implemented, and assess them against the goals for your client. Monitoring

allows you to intervene when a particular approach is not working and

assess the reasons why. Monitoring ensures you are actively reviewing the

recommended strategies that have been put in place, and critically

assessing them for success.

Where a program or strategy appears to not be working out for the client,

adjustments should be made. This includes reviewing the current situation

for the client, and the goals that have been set, against the current

program or strategy, and determining what needs to change. In some

cases, there will be barriers that need to be overcome before a client may

be willing to engage in a program or strategy. This may mean a stepped

approach before the ultimate solution can be implemented.

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Monitoring will allow for success to be measured throughout the life of your

dealings with the client, and ensures that any programs or strategies

implemented fit the current needs of the client.

Read

Read the ‘Monitoring framework for the health, housing and

community service sectors’ guide at the link below. Speak to you

work experience manager to determine if there are any further

policies or procedures that may assist you.

http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/pdfs/mfs_booklet_041005.pdf

Then, following on from the ‘Practical experience’ activity from

Topic 2:

 monitor and review the effectiveness of your work and/or

services provided to clients

 if required, revise work and/or services provided to clients to

enhance client outcomes and better address their social and

cultural issues.

This should be done in consultation with your work experience

manager. Do not act out of the scope of your role.

Activ i ty

Considering the clients above, Vara, Abua and Amy, come up with

a plan as to how each should be monitored to ensure that you are

supporting them in their best interests for success. In your plan, be

sure to include the following as a minimum:

 current client situation

 goals

 recommended programs or strategies

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 the way in which you will measure success

 timeframes for review.

You may like to research a template or create your own. Type your

plan in a document and submit to your trainer for review and

feedback.

Your plan will be submitted to your trainer for review and feedback.

Review and assessment

The content of this unit has now been covered.

Review and completion

Allocate time for students to complete any outstanding activities, reading,

role plays, meetings, presentations or further tasks that require observation

or submission to the trainer/assessor.

The trainer/assessor should allow time to review any topics or activities

undertaken by students to consolidate their learning.

Discuss the assessment tasks

Take time to discuss each task in detail if required and ensure that the

students understand the assessment procedures, submission instructions

and deadlines.

Students should use these sessions to work on their assessment tasks, with

support from the trainer/assessor where relevant. Reasonable adjustment

should be made where appropriate.

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Support

The trainer/assessor should provide as much support as is appropriate for

students while they undertake their assessment tasks. The trainer/assessor

may have to timetable meetings or role plays that require observation for

assessment, therefore it is important to ensure this has been considered into

the lesson planning.

Housekeeping

Provide some time at the end of the last session for housekeeping such as

administrational duties, student feedback and farewells.