Social work for the elderly. Case work method in support of elderly patients with oncological diseases

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 61-83
Author(s):  
Sabina Pawlas-Czyż

Professional support for elderly people requires preparation to provide assistance in the face of a health loss, including oncological diseases, the risk of which increases especially at this stage of human development. A social worker asked to help a person who is struggling with an oncological disease needs to have a broad psychological, sociological and pedagogical knowledge. Working by applying the individual case method, a social worker focuses their support actions on a direct impact on the person and their social environment. Generally speaking, the purpose of the case work method is to strengthen the individual, raising their energy and internal abilities through a consciously directed process of individual work with the person, and (if the situation requires it) to extend the support by organising additional help from the specialised institutions , appropriate for solving a given problem. The theoretical background for the effective implementation of the case work method at the stage of diagnosis, then preparation of an assistance plan and implementation of planned intervention activities in the area of assistance to the elderly patients with an oncological disease, may be the concept of A. Maslow. It turns out that the usefulness of this theoretical concept has been repeatedly verified in practice, in processes of identifying the needs of seniors and planning interventions by social workers when dealing with the extremely difficult experience of an oncological disease in late adulthood. The advantage of the theoretical background discussed is that it indicates specific areas of biopsychosocial functioning, which requires concentration and diagnostic sensitivity of social workers in contact with a senior person that goes beyond the standard assessment of the client needs. The aim of this article is to bring closer the theoretical basis for diagnostic and intervention actions that can be undertaken by a social worker providing support to the seniors submitted to oncological treatment.

Author(s):  
Donald W. Winnicott

In this talk delivered to social workers, Winnicott brings his understanding of professional psychiatry, with its attempts to treat severe mental illness using a more humane approach, together with his belief in dynamic psychology—the emotional development of the individual derived from the study of psychoanalysis—into a closer connection with one another. He charts a brief outline of psychoanalysis and interprets the psychoses through it. He sees the importance of early environmental factors in mental illness and the possible effects of this on maturation. He comments on depression both normal and psychotic in type, on his theories of personalization, of feeling real, and, through early dependence, the gradual growth of the functioning self. He also gives an empathic view of the role of the social worker in the difficult work of treating acute mental ill health.


Author(s):  
Sandhya Limaye

Children with disabilities have a variety of needs that require the expertise of several individuals. Multidisciplinary teams include professionals such as teachers, psychologists, social workers, physiotherapists, and resource teachers, who provide support services that help children with disabilities in inclusive educational environments. These teams often include social workers, but in India the role of the social worker is often overlooked and social workers have to struggle to prove their value. Historically, very few social worker education programs have offered specializations or training in inclusive education, and most social workers who worked with children with disabilities in inclusive settings learn the requisite knowledge, attitudes, and skills on the job. Many used the traditional model of social work rehabilitation, which focuses on the individual without relating to social and environmental contexts. The Center for Disability Studies and Action at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, India, designed a full-time master’s program in Social Work in Disability Studies and Action, which trains social work professionals to work holistically with people with disabilities, including children with disabilities in inclusive educational settings. The master’s program combines the professional skills and knowledge components for social workers with the core values of inclusive education.


Author(s):  
Vitalii Zaika ◽  
Alla Heta ◽  
Yevheniia Vyshar

The article highlights the topical issue of communicative potential of future social workers in their professional activities. Modern requirements for a social worker require ablity to interact with various groups of clients: children, adolescents, youth, the elderly or people with special needs, deviant or delinquent behavior, addicted to psychoactive substances, victims of violence, war, natural disasters. disasters, prisoners, etc. Social workers must be able to communicate effectively with representatives of various target groups in the social sphere, in order to provide social services. They are become skilled for conflict-free communication, self-control, capable to empathize, to listen and prove point of view. All these professional competencies can be reflected as the communicative potential of a social worker. For the purpose of empirical research of communicative potential psychodiagnostic methods were applied: Diagnosis of the need for communication (U.Orlov), Can you listen? (E.Rogov), Study of the level of communicative control (M.Schneider), Identification of communicative and organizational skills (B.Fedoryshyn), Determining the behavioral style in a conflict situation (K.Thomas). Based on psychodiagnostic methods, it was found that future social workers have high indicators of communication needs, listening skills, level of communication control, level of communication skills and the predominance of average level of organizational skills. Among the styles of behavior in a conflict situation, the dominant are cooperation and compromise, which indicates a desire to meet the needs of the communication partner. The data indicate a high level of development of the communicative potential of future social workers and their readiness for professional activity in the chosen field.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 50-57
Author(s):  
Lenka Lachytová ◽  
Peter Kalanin

The aim of the empirical study is to identify the symptoms and the preventive measuresof social workers' burnout, according to correlations of age, level of education, professionalexperience, length and the site of occupation.Design study. The study was carried out (from February to May 2016) on 49 respondents, socialworkers, by deliberate choice of typology: former colleagues currently working in NGOs of Košiceand Prešov regions, with who we had participated in various projects providing general-utilityservices. The Inventory of Burnout Symptom by T. and J. Tošner was used for processing thecollected data. The completion of this study is the correct implementation of innovative advancedtechnologies forming a part of the culture of the organization with clearly named functions andduties of the individual members of the working team


2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 309-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Margarida Naves ◽  
Julia Maria Costa-Cruz

SUMMARY Little is known about the frequency of intestinal parasites in the elderly due to a lack of attention given to the occurrence of these infections among older adults. This study compares the frequency of Strongyloides stercoralis and other enteroparasites between elderly living in nursing homes (n = 100) and those noninstitutionalized (n = 100) from Uberlândia, state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, associated with data of epidemiological and socio-demographic conditions. Through coproparasitological examination of both groups, enteroparasites were detected in 15 of 200 individuals examined (7.5%; CI: 5.1- 9.9). S. stercoralis was the most frequent parasite 10/200 (5%; CI: 4.2-5.8), being significantly higher in males and in individuals with autonomy for daily living activities. There were no statistical differences in the prevalence of parasites between the two groups compared. In conclusion, S. stercoralis infection was highly prevalent in elderly patients and it does not depend on whether the individual was institutionalized or not.


Author(s):  
Abolghasem Khodadi

At-risk groups are the elderly, the disabled, and women. Some of the reasons for the victimization of at-risk groups are due to their own characteristics. These include financial and emotional dependence, physical, mental and psychological weakness, inability to control and manage property and assets. Other causes of vulnerability and harassment are related to their relatives, social workers and nurses, such as costly care for the elderly and disabled, the inability of their relatives and social worker to care them. This article seeks to provide support for groups at risk of victimization. This article tries to provide health, financial and insurance services to improve the unfavorable situation of these people. With these strategies, the risk of victimization of vulnerable people is reduced.


2020 ◽  
pp. medethics-2020-106573
Author(s):  
Patrick Burch ◽  
Soren Holm

Pre-diabetes is a risk factor for the development of diabetes, not a disease in its own right. The prevalence increases with age and reaches nearly 50% of those aged over 75 years in the USA. While lifestyle modification and treatment are likely to benefit those with many years of life ahead of them, they are unlikely to benefit patients with a limited life expectancy. Despite this, some very elderly patients in the UK and elsewhere are being labelled as pre-diabetic. While ideal practice would be to carefully consider the impact of any potentially abnormal blood test before it is taken, this is not always possible in routine practice. In this paper, we discuss a pragmatic, ethical approach for clinicians managing pre-diabetic blood tests in very elderly patients. We argue that a ‘see-saw’ model of paternalism should be used in deciding which patients to inform that they can be labelled as pre-diabetic. Those patients that may benefit from the label should be informed, and those that will not, should not. Where the benefits/drawbacks are unclear, the result and its potential significance should be discussed in depth with the individual patient. We do not advocate withholding information from any patient. Instead we suggest clinicians use individual patient circumstances to contextualise the relevance of pre-diabetes to the patient and consider the benefits and drawbacks before informing them. This approach has the potential to be used for other pre-conditions and risk factors in addition to pre-diabetes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (189) ◽  
pp. 198-203
Author(s):  
Bogdan Opalchuk ◽  

The article analyzes the approaches of scientists to the process of socialization of personality and leisure, and clarifies the role and importance of leisure in the process of socialization. Peculiarities of personality socialization in the conditions of pedagogical cultural and leisure activity are determined. Leisure science is described as an institution of socialization of personality. The professional socialization of future social workers in higher education institutions with the help of effective free time distribution and cultural and leisure activities is considered. The types of activity of free time manifestation in the process of professional socialization of future social workers in the conditions of higher education institution are outlined. Attempts are being made to increase the effectiveness of social and educational work in the field of leisure to ensure the continuous impact of leisure on the socialization of the individual. The task of the social worker to help the person to feel successful in fulfilling the chosen social role, to help to acquire the meaningful side of the activity, to acquire skills and skills, is defined. The pedagogical foundations of leisure science are oriented on the social development of the individual, the methods of expedient use of free time are optimized, which optimize the social determination of socialization and formation of the individual. The regularities of complex and multifaceted leisure, leisure process as an institute of socialization of personality are revealed, in which the individual is given an active role, which is defined by scientists as one of the institutes of education and development of personality in his free time. Explained conditions that allow the choice of different social roles, which allow you to move freely from one activity to another, ensuring true activity, independence of the individual, changing his attitude to the outside world, coordinating his position with the positions of others. The essence of personality socialization in the leisure sphere is revealed as the process of entering the personality into the system of social relations, the result of the development of the personality as a universal subject of activity through its multilevel interaction with society on the basis of the formation of social-typical qualities, which are internal regulators of activity and behavior. An attempt was made to achieve the effectiveness of the process of personality socialization in terms of pedagogical leisure by creating pedagogical conditions that would include interrelated components: socio-cultural environment; organization of cultural and leisure process; the readiness of the social worker as a subject of social and pedagogical activity.


Human Affairs ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucie Kozlová ◽  
Martina Hrušková

AbstractThis paper looks at the possibilities of using biographical research in social work focusing on the elderly. Social work with the elderly uses or should use biographical data to create individual plans for clients or for the purpose of sensory activation. Narrative interviews are a form of interaction between a senior client and a social worker. The social worker supports the senior’s narrative so they can view their life for themselves and explain its meaning from their own perspective. The use of sensory activation in social work is only possible when the individual’s identity is supported by a sufficient amount of environmental stimuli, which can be achieved only by acquiring and analyzing data on the life events of the individual. The paper contains examples of the use of biographical data in social work with the elderly, which is essential for further structuring their lives.


2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-26
Author(s):  
R VIDALPEREZ ◽  
E ABUASSI ◽  
M PARAMODEVEGA ◽  
P VELOSO ◽  
A VARELAROMAN ◽  
...  

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