What are the characteristics of the individuals in this case study? Carla is a fifty-four-year-old woman, born in a small mining town. Carla was raised by her aunt as her parents died when she was very young. Her aunt had a learning disability and was unable to read, so therefore Carla battled all throughout her schooling years, as a result of being raised in such an environment, Carla struggled throughout her schooling years. Having a limited education affected Carla’s ability to get a well-paying job. Carla married at a young age and had two children, but separated from her husband after the birth of their second child. Initially her husband worked in the mining industry in town, so he was able to help financially in the raising of their children. After the separation from her husband, Carla found work around town in grocery and also retail. …show more content…
She found working very adaptable when the children were young, as her neighbours helped out with the minding of the children. When their youngest child was only five, her husband’s work ceased as the mine closed down. Subsequently, he was unable to find constant employment as other businesses turned over quickly and more and more people where leaving town. Carla’s husband found a casual job but sustained a head injury whilst at work. He did not report it, as he was concerned about his job and also felt self-conscious about what had happened. Furthermore, he did not go to his local doctor for a check-up as he didn’t feel poorly at the time. Following his injury at work, soon after he became forgetful and later developed depression. Despite being divorced, Carla helped out by caring for him in times of crisis. When her children grew up they both moved to the city to initially look for employment. Carla’s son struggled with education, however, despite the learning disabilities he faced as a child he managed to complete year 12. Carla’s daughter is not working and is living with her boyfriend. He is currently attending school, but is thinking about quitting. They are expecting a baby, but she has just been informed that she has gestational diabetes. Due to being unwell with her illness and fatigued during pregnancy, she is wanting Carla to move to the city also. Carla would like to be closer but financially this is not possible as she can only afford to visit once a month due to the cost of transport. Carla is eating toast for her evening meals, just to save money for these monthly visits. What are the social determinants of health that are evident in the case study? There are many social determinants of health for Carla and her family. Carla is caring for her ex-husband who suffers with depression due to an injury he sustained whilst at work. Her husband did not report this incident nor went to the doctor for a check-up, as he felt fine in himself and was quite embarrassed. Whilst caring for her ex-husband, she would have to cope with some of these common symptoms related to depression. These are just a few; withdrawing from people, unable to concentrate, irritability, frustration, tired all the time, sleep apnoea and also loss or change in appetite. As cited on the World Health Organisation website, it also shows there are many more symptoms of depression that Carla could possible face. These mentioned symptoms above could lead into her own health issues. Carla would be feeing quite emotional whilst dealing with these symptoms, thus affecting her mental and emotional health. Having to care for him all the time would affect her social health, as she would not have time for social activities, such as spending time with friends. As a result of lack of education, Carla does not have a very high-paying job.
She currently volunteers at the RSPCA and is making a small amount of money by cleaning. Having a low socio-economic status would negatively affect Carla and her family’s health in many ways. Australian Bureau of Statistics states “There is a substantial body of evidence that people of lower socio-economic status have worse health than others” Two National Health Surveys, in 1989/90 and 1995, confirmed that those in more disadvantaged areas scored more negatively than others on several health indicators (ABS) For example, Carla would be unable to purchase groceries to prepare nutritious meals for herself and her family. Also, having little money would affect Carla’s access to health services and resources. Having limited finances could also affect Carla’s mental and emotional health, as she may be stressed about her financial problems which may lead to various mental health issues. Another result of Carla’s limited education may be that she has little knowledge about health, which would negatively influence the health of both her and her
family. Carla has also lost many of her long life friends as they left town after the closure of the mine. Carla would be feeling quite alone and lost which would impact on her social side of health. The feeling of having no one to talk to and no one there for support, during the hard time she is now facing. For example, by Carla not having people around her, to be able to support her, this may affect her mental and emotional health. Carla’s daughter was diagnosed with Gestational diabetes during pregnancy, which is managed by monitoring blood glucose levels, eating healthy and undertaking a regular physical activity. Diabetes Australia shows how these things are important, to reduce the risk of complications during pregnancy or after the birth of a baby. As she is tired all the time, not being able to participate in regular physical activity could become a risk to herself or her baby. A contributing factor that may have led to this diagnosis is due to her mother’s low socioeconomic status. As she did not eat healthily as a child, and Carla did not have the health knowledge to know to teach her children the importance of exercise and how to sustain a healthy balanced life. Strategies of the Low Socio-economic Status An example of a strategy that is currently in place to help with the low socio-economics is Medicare, for instance. Medicare provides help, not just in local communities but Australia Wide. ‘Medicare is a federal health insurance program for individuals who are sixty-five or older, persons who have end-stage renal disease (irreversible kidney failure), and some individuals who have disabilities’. (MEDICARE, online edition, 2014). Medicare is an upstream determinant that occur at the macro level, which include worldwide services and government strategies in addition to policies. Medicare provides access to health resources designed for individuals in Australia, that abstain a low household revenue. Medicare assists people to help with the costs of medical and hospital services. ‘Australians generally have good health. Australia is consistently ranked in the top 10 of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations in many areas, including life expectancy and mortality rates’ Australian Medical Association (AMS) This is why education of the health system is imperative, to allow societies to have easy access to this information when dealing with health problems. Medicare provides and enables your health practitioner to choose to bulk bill you for the service you receive or may also issue you with a patient account. When a doctor chooses to use bulk billing, this means that he accepts the Medicare benefit as full payment for the services he has just provided. If your doctor provides you with an account, this is when he/she charges you directly but you can claim this back through Medicare. After visiting a medical practitioner, you may require medication to assist in recovering from your health matter/s. Medicare also has a pharmaceuticals benefit scheme, that assists people who have a low socio-economic status to receive the medication they require at a lower rate. So this allows people who have a low socioeconomic status to access health services and resources that they would otherwise be unable to afford. Having these resources available improves their health as they have more knowledge and understandings about what is offered through the government. They are also more likely to visit the doctor more frequently, and take the medications prescribed by their doctor due to the accessible pharmaceutical benefit scheme.
The social determinants of health play an important role regarding the lifestyle and health status of populations, therefore influence on their health (Dahlgren & Whitehead, 1991). In this case, analysing South Australia there are clear indications that the residents from Playford are living in poor conditions which determine their poor health outcomes than the Adelaide Hills which people are placed in a better health
Since the Mill’s closing the community has gone downhill with unemployment and crime skyrocketing. Carla should speak with Reverend Smith to possibly create programs to reduce the crime such as, after school programs as well as crime watch in community, and more police to assure safety for residents. The matter of lack of care and living alone could be solved by bringing a caretaker into the home of Carla if she’s open to the concept. Carla would benefit from carrying on with her relationship with sister, and improving on one with Loretta, Reverend, and especially
Sandra Lombardino is a recently retired school teacher facing a multitude of crisis’ regarding her personal life and growth. Sandra has a strong desire to vacation and enjoy her retirement via travel and volunteering, however there are barriers that will not allow those things to occur. Sandra is unhappily married to Benedito, an offensive and abusive long-time alcoholic. The couple shares four children, all of which are estranged because of Benedito’s abusive behavior. Though Sandra is overweight and has arthritis, Benedito is the only thing holding her back from achieving her retirement dreams. Sandra has thought about leaving Benedito on many occasions but realizes that he will be entitled to half of her money
When nothing is going right in life, what do you do? Do you just quit and hope for the best or do you pick yourself up and work even harder to succeed? Iliana Roman, a single mother of three children and an owner of a hair salon, kindles the message that individuals who face adversity can still persevere in life. According to Roman’s memoir “First Job”, it is never too late to turn your life around. At seventeen years, old Roman unexpectedly became pregnant. This event led to Roman’s life changing completely causing her to drop out of high school. She was nearly to the point of no return, she simply could not hold down a proper job, and the only way to support herself and her child is working three to four odd jobs every week. Roman presents her message of persevering in life by incorporating hyperbole, repetition, and pathos.
The social workers in both videos gathered information regarding each of the client’s issues. Another common denominator in both videos is that both of the social workers repeated what the client had said in their own words to allow the client to feel heard and understood. In the first video, social worker Karen asked direct questions relating to Mike’s alcohol addiction while also addressing how the addiction impacts his relationships including his marriage. Karen also addressed inconsistencies with the client doing so appropriately and quickly. It appears that in the first video, Karen focuses on the reality of the issue at hand to assist the client with establishing and accepting
Social work exists inextricably within the presence of ethics and values. Human rights and other values central to social work call for highly idealistic praxis, defining contemporary best practice. Yet, social workers operating in Australian health face dilemmas of meeting at times, untenable ideals within the constraints of exceedingly regulated organisations. Policies, past and present, impact practice and often undermine the principles contingent to social work (Ife, 2008,pp.8). Regardless, social workers are compelled to uphold the ethics and values of their profession. Balance must be struck between competing factors, a task that is not entirely achievable in certain contexts (Dominelli, 2012). In this assignment, review of rural health and the level of autonomy it affords professionals will take place. Emphasis will be given to the controversial area of indigenous health. I aim to demonstrate that the reality of social work practice in Australian health is vastly different from the moral platform from which it is envisioned, whilst also acknowledging that this platform is indispensible to the integrity of contemporary practice in difficult circumstances.
It is of paramount consideration that social workers are conscious of, aware and sensitive to the cultural demands of their clientele. This is because culture is a pivotal factor upon which a great deal of conduct, norms, social connections and mindsets of clients revolve. For social workers there is need to understand and appreciate how cultural traditions influence relationships with a diverse panorama of client needs and demands. This literature review seeks to create a foundation regarding the facts stated above through filtering and analysis of relevant and interesting research studies and works by previous authors. This review of literature focuses on how social workers develop or maintain cultural competence following graduation from Masters of Social Work Program. It aimed at providing answers for further research regarding how social workers maintain cultural competence post graduation. In addition, this literature review seeks to consider that social workers are not enhancing their cultural awareness post graduation as mandated by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) code of ethics.
In Canada, 1 in 7 people suffer from poverty, this is translated to about 4.8 million people (Just the Facts, 2015). When living in poverty, people are faced with hardships that make it challenging for them to live a proper, healthy life. Living in poverty does correlate with the fact that these families will suffer from a low income. Families that have a low income are more likely to suffer from poor physical and mental health because they are unable to support themselves when it comes to nutrition and cleanly living conditions. Fresh, nutritious, organic foods typically cost much more than freezer and fast foods, charities that help these families do not provide enough fresh foods to maintain a healthy diet, unsanitary living conditions
My experiences have shown me that I should deny part of who I am and I want to fight against this. I believe that in order to practice social work and to adhere to the code of ethics of social work, I need to be genuine and authentic. I believe that incorporating an Aboriginal approach to social work into my holistic, anti-oppressive practice is one way of accomplishing this.
The essay will be looking at , poverty, employment and unemployment, poor diets as determinants of health in this context amongst other factors such as housing, mental health, social support network, education, culture, individual behaviours, genetics, gender because they have the best documented evidence on research in health inequalities in Britain available in the Black Report (DHSS 1980; Townsend, Davidson and Whitehead, 1992), Acheson Report (Acheson 1998), and FairSociety, HealthyLives Report, and other academic sources.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been the first nations, which represented the whole Australian population, for centuries. However, the continuous European colonization has severely affected these peoples and, over the decades, their unique values and cultures, which enriched the life of Australian nation and communities, were not respected and discriminated by numerous restrictive policies. As a result, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have turned into the voiceless minority of the Australian population. Fortunately, in recent years, these issues became the concern of the Australian government, promoting a slight improvement in the well being of native Australians. Nowadays, there are numerous social work
...ght feel stressed. They might have to live in unsanitary or overcrowded living conditions. So they are more likely to get illnesess and diseases. They are likely to live in polluted areas. They have an increased risk of dying young. They may feel excluded from the society because of their social class. An individual’s lower social class, gender can affect their job opporunites. Some sports or activities are seen as appropriate for either male or female. A child’s gender can affect the types of toy that given to play with or sports they play at school. The individuals with low income or lower social class are likely to have poor diet and unhealthy life style as they are not able to buy good quality food like others. They are also likely to get so many diseases and illness from that such as diarrhea, obesity, cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure and cholesterol.
According to Sherwood (2001) ‘96% of Buddhist organisations are actively involved in education and social welfare activities.’ There are many social welfare activities that Buddhists contributes in Australia by which are based around nine categories: education of the adult public, education of children, working with the sick in hospitals and hospice, working with the sick and dying in the community and in palliative care, visiting prisons, working with drug addicts, fundraising for the poor and needy (in Australia and overseas), speaking up for human right and against oppression, and compassionate activities on behalf of non-human sentient beings.
Case work is not only the basic practice in professional Social Work but rather, a common practice followed by all. The traditional definition defines case work as “a method of helping individuals through a one-on-on relationship’’. Every individual trained or untrained indulges in case work. The difference is made by theoretical understanding and professional ethics, practices involved in professional case work. Mary Richmond in 1915 explains casework as “the art of doing different things for and with different people by cooperating with them to achieve at one and the same time their own and society' betterment.” Social Case Work can also be defined as “an art in which knowledge of the science of human relations and skill in relationship are used to mobilize capacities in the individual and resources in the community appropriate for better adjustment between the client and all or any part of his total environment”.
On July 7th I had an interview opportunity with the Oasis Shelter in Owensboro, Kentucky. This was one of the numerous opportunities that I placed on my possible field interest to receive an internship at. I met with the director of the Oasis shelter in Henderson, Kentucky that afternoon for the interview. The interview went well, and I informed the director that I was a Sociology undergrad student looking to expand my knowledge with domestic violence. Towards the end of the interview, the director informed me “we do not accept many Master of Social Work students because MSW’s are know it all. The student thinks they know more than individuals in the social work field with five or more years of knowledge.” I received the directors contact