SOCW 6530 WK 3 Peer responses
Respond to the blog posts of three colleagues in one or more of the following ways:
Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
Make a suggestion to your colleague’s post.
MUST RESPOND TO EACH ONE SEPARATELY CITE EVERYTHING AND FULL REFERENCES
PEER 1: Candise Mitchell
It is easy to look at someone and base judgement on the perception they display to the world. However, judgement is not an assessment. An assessment is conducted by intermixing their outer display with their opinions, thoughts, background, and current lifestyle. Therefore, it is beneficial to use the humanistic approach when engaging with others. Social work is a profession strongly anchored in Western humanistic values emphasizing the worth, autonomy, and right to self-determination of the clients (Savaya & Gardner, 2012). Social workers should practice using humanistic assessment skills to provide non-judgmental observations that help those who come into our services. This has been demonstrated within my field placement at Grace Abounds Counseling. Client referrals do not give a clear picture regarding the needs of those who come into the organization. Often therapist (interns) conduct assessment intakes that ask questions as far as the grandparent’s mental health history. This is not to be invasive but rather demonstrates the use of the humanistic approach by creating dialogue to identifying connecting factors towards the client’s physical or mental health as well as gives them a chance to reflect on their individual need more as well. People are often unaware of the values that underlie and guide their behaviors and using the humanistic approach in conversation is key to an effective and informed assessment (Savaya & Gardner, 2012).
REFERENCE
Savaya, R., & Gardner, F. (2012). Critical reflection to identify gaps between espoused theory and theory-in-use. Social Work, 57(2), 145–154.
PEER 2: David Jones
An explanation of how you have addressed assessment or how you might address assessment during your field education experience
When beginning the field experience, it is important to assess the client and their needs. The needs of the client are multidimensional and can be identified through a need’s assessment. A need assessment is a “is a systematic process for determining and addressing needs, or “gaps” between current conditions and desired conditions or “wants” (Bulanda & Jalloh, 2017, p. 385). Next the client’s history and records should be reviewed. Understanding the client’s history and their currents needs is the best way to provide them with effective assistance. The assessment process beings with understanding the client’s path to service. This means understanding how the client ended up at the agency including their social and mental health problems.
During the field instruction, the assessment continues. Observation is a good assessment tool. An interview is another effective tool is assessing the client’s strengths and resources (Birkenmaier & Berg-Weger, 2018). Level of risk to the client should also be assessed. Some clients are in more dangerous situations than others. Understanding their level of risk will help develop the most appropriate intervention. The social worker applies knowledge and theory to assist the client in developing an appropriate plan (Birkenmaier & Berg-Weger, 2018). When conducting the assessment, it is also important to understand the ethical implications. Through the field experience, I can gain sound social work assessment practice.
REFERENCES
Birkenmaier, J., & Berg-Weger, M. (2018). The practicum companion for social work:
Integrating class and fieldwork (4th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
Bulanda, J. & Jalloh, S. (2017). A needs assessment for school social workers in Sierra Leone.
International Social Work, 62(1), 385
PEER 3: Omoyinka Orekoya
An explanation of how you have addressed assessment or how you might address assessment during your field education experience
Assessment involves the gathering of information about the problem in order that decisions will be reached for the solution or intervention at any level of practice. It involves identifying a client, assessing the client in a situation from micro, mezzo, and macro, citing information about the clients’ problems and needs, identifying the clients’ strengths (Kirst-Ashman, & Hull, 2018, p.43). Assessments in generalist practice focus on the understanding of many aspects of a problem (Kirst-Ashman, & Hull, 2018, p.45).
While identifying the clients, as a social worker, I will also note the circumstances surrounding the clients like the family, the environment, friends, and peers at school or work, the religious body, and the community the client interacts with. In a nutshell, I will view the clients as a person in the environment (Kirst-Ashman, & Hull, 2018, ). According to Birkenmaier, & Berg-Weger, (2018), working with individuals and families involves a focus on interactions between individuals and families and their environments. Therefore, interning students who engage with individuals and families will develop competencies in assessment and this entails the ability to effectively communicate with the clients using strategies that include asking, clarifying questions, reflecting, validating, paraphrasing summarizing framing, and interpreting what the client says during the assessment, and the appropriate use of open, and close-ended questions (p.118)
After establishing the client system, I will continue with the assessments of concerns about the clients’ situation which includes the ability to find relevant issues linked to the client’s problems and also emphasizing strength. With the information I have gathered, I would begin to plan the appropriate intervention by making a necessary judgment about the information I have gathered and be sure that after each level, problems are defined and strengths identified.
I will assess the client also through the aspect of diversity which would determine the placements in the designated group and the aspect of confidentiality will also be considered while assessing the clients, and a consideration of social work ethics, and values (Kirst-Ashman, & Hull, 2018, p.45).
In my field practice, The Biopsychosocial of every client is paramount in assessment and this is necessary to understand the combination of factors that may be affecting the clients. Other assessments. to determine the level of alcohol and drug addiction follows, being a residential facility for the treatment of clients with substance use disorder. I also try to remove the frustrations clients have during assessment when the same questions are asked in different ways. Some of the questions in the assessment tools are repetitive. Some clients get frustrated and are not willing to cooperate during the assessment. To curb this problem, I group similar questions together, and if the client gives an answer to one of the questions, the same answer will be applied to similar questions; rather than asking the question all over again. This has helped to improve assessment and clients’ participation.
Reference
Birkenmaier, J., & Berg-Weger, M. (2018). The practicum companion for social work: Integrating class and fieldwork (4th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
Chapter 6, “Social Work Practice in the Field: Working with Individuals and Families” (pp. 117-154)
Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hull, G. H., Jr. (2018). Understanding generalist practice (8th ed.)Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Laureate Education (Producer). (2013a). Assessment [Audio file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.ed
