The Role and Tasks of a Social Worker With Elderly People
This essay will critically analyse theories and skills needed while working in the group with older adults. The role of a social worker in relation to older people with dementia will be discussed. The intervention and resources available and the effectiveness of perceived work will be described, within the service user’s community and considering the communication difficulties that could be faced and how to address them.
According to Adams, the role of a social worker was meant to bring about positive change in the lives of individuals, families, and communities (2010). It is said to be a career that strengthens, empowers, and promotes the well-being of vulnerable adults in cultural change, social change and problem solving. Social work is a widely diverse sector with many service users and require Social workers be educated and trained to work in key specialties such as children and families, young offenders, learning disabilities and elderly people to ensure they have sufficient expertise and skills, such as Working with dementia patients. Dementia is described as a progressive cognitive condition resulting in it becoming increasingly difficult for an individual to maintain their level of independence (Lymbery, 2008, p.28).
The Professional Skills System is a nine-domain framework that describes how a qualified social worker can practise (BASW, 2018). It is intended to provide an understanding of the task of social workers at multiple levels and around the practice. As a social worker working with an elderly individual with dementia, it is crucial for a social worker to have the skills, abilities, and beliefs to respond appropriately to their wants and requirements (Marshall, 1990). This indicates that the support of a social worker might be needed when a person is unable to cope with daily independence physically or mentally (Adams, 2010, p.156). The goal is to provide practical and emotional support and recognise resources that may be needed by service users and their families.
It is the responsibility of social workers to protect vulnerable groups from harm, aggression, and neglect. Many current legislations about the safety of adults were enforced by the Care Act (2004). This gives practitioners a legal duty to protect adults from violence and neglect to have the right to live in security (Skillsforcare, 2014). For all service users, in this case being Doris, and her family and other social workersprofessionals, communication plays a particularly important role in the practise of social work. Social workers need to be able to apply their communication skills to various situations, as it is important in assessing, planning, and coordinating a case to suggest the best intervention fir the service user (Adams, 2010, pp. 141-146).
Verbal, non-verbal, and written elements are included in communication skills. Especially when working with service users with dementia, due to the fact that dementia can have an effect on a individuals verbal abilities, It is crucial that a social work has the skills to understand non-verbal communication as the service user struggle with verbally expression. In such circumstances, for a trust to be formed between the service user and the practitioner it is important that a social worker is aware on how to be deal with it in a sensitive manor, using their empathy skills and being respectful as the service user could be knowledgeable of their growing vulnerability (Maclean and Harrison, 2015).
Part of the role as a social worker may include the need to act as an advocate to represent the service user by ensuring that their voice is heard to express their opinions, expectations or wishes. In social work practise, the word empowerment has turned out to be the most significant definition. This means giving choice and authority to service users in their lives. (Maclean and Harrison, 2015, p.33).
Maclean and Harrison highlighted the very significance of empowering people and stated how it can be achieved by encouraging independence where practicable, using a systemic person-centred approach to improve self-esteem and overall quality of life of service users (2015, pp. 33-36). It is important to realise that as a social worker, it extremely helpful to knowledge of variety of theories to understand why a person can behave in certain ways. Using theories that are specific descriptions and are accompanied by the scientific method's proof.
They use theories which are general explanations that are supported by evidence obtained through the scientific method. To point out as a social worker having the knowledge of a range of theories may be of benefit to comprehend why a person may be behaving in a certain way. It is essential to know that the use of theories should simplify the complex practise to service users and their families and can apply directly to their actual incident (Maclean and Harrison, 2015, pp. 9-11). One of the most used theory to explain working with elderly people for example is, Eric Erikson’s (1950, cited in Maclean and Harrison, 2015, p. 97) developmental theory which argued that there are eight stages in human development. Stage eight (integrity vs despair) explicitly mainly focusing on older adults, stating that at this stage of their life, they may reflect on past life and feel a sense of satisfaction or disappointment, which may affect the emotionalpsychological being in later life. This is particularly useful to consider as a social worker when working with older adults at a specific stage in their life to understand how they may be feeling. Henceforth, the importance of social workers needs to be familiar with many theories of aging, especially those that explain and authenticate diversity in the experiences of older adults (Maclean and Harrison, 2015).
