Assignment task:
You are introduced to a family who has been court ordered to seek treatment following a plea bargain. You learn that the case was a recently highly publicized case in which a couple in their 40s was financially exploiting the wife's elderly mother. The couple who had been facing multiple financial difficulties following loss of employment due to downsizing had agreed to move the wife's mother into the family home to "take care of her" since her own husband had recently died six months earlier.
We learn that over the course of approximately 2 years, the elderly woman has been coerced into giving almost her entire life savings (obtained from the sale of her home and two small life insurance policies she had on her husband) to her daughter and her husband. We also learn that she has been experiencing medical neglect as several of her medications for hypertension, and arthritis were not being purchased for her.
We learn that after approximately 1 year of living with the couple, the elderly woman was confined to her room by her daughter's husband. He had threatened to "throw her out" several times if she did not hand over money "on demand" and that he has "shaken" her on at least two occasions when she became "mouthy." The elderly woman has become severely depressed and has lost several pounds and has been becoming increasingly confused over the course of about 1 month. It wasn't until the elderly woman collapsed and required treatment in the emergency room at a local hospital, where a nurse reported the elderly woman's condition to the hospital social worker. The hospital's social worker in turned contacted appropriate law-enforcement officials.
The children of the couple are humiliated because of the attention that this case has received. They tell you that their friend's parents will no longer allow their friends to come to the house because of the incident. The wife feels that she should have done "more" to advocate for her mother. The husband reports that he has been using alcohol heavily because of his unemployment and poor financial outlook.
As the marriage and family therapist, address the following (include links for reference):
Describe your approach to working with the family unit. Include how you would collaborate with medical professionals.