CASE STUDY.
Ali is a 56 year old woman of white British heritage. She has been married to Gaz for 27 years .they live together in a small terraced house on the edge of the city that they rent from a private landlord. They have no children and no-one else lives in the house with them.
Ali has struggled with depression for years and when things are bad, she prefers not to go out of the house.
Gaz is a 57 year old man of black British heritage and is devoted to Ali.He tries his best to help her .He is happy enough to do chores around the house but he finds it very hard to physically lift or support Ali in or out of bed or in the bathroom.
Neither Ali or Gaz work or neither have had any regular, paid employment for a long time .Their income in entirely through the benefits system and they have no significant savings .They see no real prospect of getting work in the future so they don’t make any attempt to look for jobs .Ali says she is too unwell to work, Gaz says Ali needs him at home .Anyway, they both say, who would employ us now?.
Quietly though, they both have been starting to worry about the future .In particular ,Gaz is worried that he will find it harder and harder to help Ali as he gets older. That scares him.Ali is very scared that her deteriorating health might be a sign of terminal illness and she is afraid to seek medical help.
Angie has noticed a change in Ali. Angie’s daughter is a qualified social worker working in another part of the country and she has talked with her about Ali and Gaz .She has been telling Ali to contact the council because, according to Angie’s daughter, they will be able to help.
Last night, Ali woke Gaz to help her to the toilet but Ali slipped when he was trying to help her. She fell and Gaz wasn’t strong enough to lift her from the floor .In the hours before the dawn, their fears overwhelmed them and they agreed they had to look for help.
TASK 1.
Why is it important for social workers to have an informed awareness of poverty and social exclusion? 2000Words.
This assignment requires to explore the role of social work in relation to poverty and social exclusion in detail.
Most service users of social work are poor and /or socially excluded. Inevitably this task will require you to reflect on what contemporary social work is for. Themes like social exclusion and inclusion, the meaning of social justice and care and control in social work, anti-oppressive practice and inter-professional working should feature in your work. A recognition of risk of poverty for certain social divisions ( i.e. People with disabilities, children and older people, carers, etc) should be made. The HCPC, SOP should be considered. Think about a significant issue in contemporary society. You can arrive at any view as long as you can justify it using appropriate academic writing. However you should certainly reach some clear conclusion.
This assignment is challenging because you really have to think very hard about a very significant issue in contemporary society. Read relevant work in the required readings and by Batemen (in Davies (ed) 2007 Blackwell Companion to Social work (3rd edn). Thompson ,N (2009) Understanding social work (3rd edn) or similar books. You can arrive at any view as long as you can justify it using appropriate academic writing. However you should certainly reach some clear conclusions
Assessment criteria (Task 1 and 2)
* Demonstrate knowledge and a critical understanding of the relationship between poverty, social policy and contemporary social work.
* Show an ability to integrate and apply social work knowledge, skills and values.
* Demonstrate skills in managing problem- solving, gathering information, analysis and synthesis and communication.
LEARNING OUTCOME.
*Demonstrate a critical understanding of the concepts of poverty, social exclusion and social inclusion to the users of social services and of policy responses.
* Demonstrate an understanding of the knowledge, skills and values required for a poverty aware approach to social work practice.
*Show a critical understanding of the inter relationship between cash and care .
TASK 2.
Analyse and evaluate the impact of poverty on the lives of the service users in relation to the prescribed CASE STUDY and identify the basis for and aims of any possible social work intervention.( 1000 WORDS)
You need to show how and why an understanding of poverty and social exclusion is relevant to social worker in this case. You should think about the impact of social exclusion, the choices available to this family and the degree to which the state will support their needs .Look at their situation in relation to their legal rights but also from the value base of social work.
Your analysis should include contents that show;
*Your understanding of the concept of relative poverty and social exclusion.
*An awareness of the factors that increase the risks of poverty, including age, employment status, household type, ethnicity, etc..
*An understanding of advocacy in social work and the implication for anti-oppressive social work practice.
*You do not have to describe what the social work process is or what the outcome of the case might be. You do have to answer the question, can social work help this family?
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