Assessment In Social Work

Social workers often take on the task of assessing people and situations to implement interventions that can assist in enhancing an individual’s wellbeing and this can potentially change the outcome of their situation. Conducting an assessment consist of engaging through the active process of observation and collecting data (the client’s input) (McInnis-Dettrich, 2014). Therefore, a practitioner does not dismiss the importance of observing the client in a natural environment. The writer has learned that assessment begins when you speak with a client and when you first lay eyes on them for example, observing their behavior in the waiting room or when they first enter your office. Often social workers gain pertinent information by making correlations

In the past, social workers have focused more on dysfunctional patterns as opposed to strengths (Krist-Ashman & Hull, 2015). As a result, the practitioner can miss vital information. If an assessment focuses primarily on inadequacies and deficits, the social worker fails to identify the positive characteristics, motivations, intelligence, abilities and resources that can be used to enhance the individual’s overall wellbeing (Krist-Ashman & Hull, 2015). Recognizing a client’s strengths stimulates hope, growth and resiliency. Therefore, practitioners must focus equally on strengths and challenges because this helps the social worker as well as the client to build a therapeutic alliance by setting realistic expectations (McInnis-Dettrich, 2014). Nurturing the client’s strengths empowers them to take control or maintain control of their lives. Ultimately, focusing on deficits or strengths can lead to self-fulling prophecies (Krist-Ashman & Hull,

Several barriers exist, for example, some practitioners feel as if they have limited experience in this area, many feel older adults are depressed and lonely, and it may be a challenge to work with them. However, over the last 30 years the field has made significant progress and more social workers are taking an interest in working with this population. The writer enjoyed this assignment because she was challenged to reflect on her views regarding older adults. It was easy for her to dismiss their existence and what they have to offer because they function differently from the writer. This situation opened the writer’s eyes because she never took the time to assess this population’s strengths. If the individual in the store were someone she knew, she would have behaved differently. The writer recognizes this man may be someone’s cousin, father, granddad, friend and husband. Therefore, he should be treated with dignity and respect and not minimized because he moves a little slower than others. This reflection is a reminder that she to assess and evaluate her biases regarding older adults because they are just as significant as any other