Assignment
Case Study
Karen is a 70-year-old, white woman who was been referred to you at the clinic where you are working as a full-time social worker by her family physician. She began treatment with you when her husband Harold died two months ago. Initially, she expressed feelings of grief and explained to you that it was so strange for her because they had been married for 45 years and she could not imagine life without Harold. She reports being anxious since his death, but recently she has expressed some feelings of fear about living life alone. Karen has 2 children (a son named Paul and a daughter named Laura) both of whom live in California and are raising families of their own. She describes her relationship with both her son and daughter as very strong but talks about not wanting to burden them with her feelings of grief and anxiety. Karen has 4 young grandchildren and expresses joy when talking about them but says she wishes they lived closer to her.
Karen is a retired teacher that has continued to volunteer in the school system, post-retirement. She has been teaching reading to children in elementary school that has fallen behind. Karen describes her volunteer work as very gratifying but has not returned to it since her husband died. She has a wide group of friends who are constantly calling her to ask her to go out for lunch, dinner, and the theatre. Karen always had an active social life both with her group of friends and with her husband and other couples. Since Harold died, Karen has become extremely isolated. She finds herself drinking wine at night to help her to fall asleep. Some nights she finishes ¾ of a bottle, which she states is "not being like me at all".
Karen, for the past few weeks, has started to focus on drinking wine at night to help her to fall asleep for her future and being alone for the rest of her life. This week she told you in a session that she has begun to think about whether her life is worth living. She also shared with today you that she has been "thinking about joining her husband".
Task
A. What warning signs are present in the case example?
B. What risk factors are present in the case example?
C. What protective factors are present in the case example?
D. What else would you want to know to help you determine the client's current level of risk? Be specific.
E. What level of risk do you believe the client represents? Justify your answer.
F. In what ways may your personal values/beliefs/expectations impact your assessment of this client?
G. In what ways may social, environmental, and structural factors (power, privilege, difference, oppression) impact your assessment of this client?
H. How would you work to engage this client in treatment?
I. What evidence-informed/based practice(s) would you suggest to the client as the best approach to treatment? Would you refer the client for evaluation for medication?
J. What specific treatment strategies from the practice approach(es) would you utilize? Discuss your choices.