The resiliency model of case management refers to

Discussion: Instruments Measuring Resiliency

Social workers strive to make informed decisions about the interventions they implement. These decisions should be driven by what the research data say. As a result, social workers have been called to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions they implement. A common way to evaluate interventions is to use a single-subject design. This involves monitoring an outcome for an intervention implemented for one client. After a social worker works with the client to determine the outcome to be measured, the following steps to the evaluation might look like this:

· Administer the instrument before the intervention is implemented

· Implement the intervention

· Administer the same instrument, after a specified time period

· Monitor to determine if there have been any changes in the outcome

The Discussion posts below use the lens of resiliency theory when reflecting on a case from fieldwork, and then consider how to measure the effectiveness of a possible intervention.

To prepare, read this article listed in the Learning Resources:

· Smith-Osborne, A., & Whitehill Bolton K. (2013). Assessing resilience: A review of measures across the life course. Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, 10(2), 111–126. doi:10.1080/15433714.2011.597305

Turner, F. J. (Ed.). (2017). Social work treatment: Interlocking theoretical approaches (6th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

· Chapter 7: Social Work Theory and Practice for Crisis, Disaster, and Trauma (pp. 117–130)

· Chapter 29: Resiliency Theory and Social Work Practice (pp. 441–451)

Smith-Osborne, A. (2007). Life span and resiliency theory: A critical review. Advances in Social Work, 8(1), 152–168. Retrieved from https://advancesinsocialwork.iupui.edu/index.php/advancesinsocialwork/article/view/138

Smith-Osborne, A., & Whitehill Bolton K. (2013). Assessing resilience: A review of measures across the life course. Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, 10(2), 111–126. doi:10.1080/15433714.2011.597305

Document: Theory Into Practice: Four Social Work Case Studies (PDF)

Optional Resources

Bradshaw, B. G., Richardson, G. E., & Kulkarni, K. (2007). Thriving with diabetes—An introduction to the resiliency approach for diabetes educators. Diabetes Educator, 33(4), 643–649. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145721707303808

Dombo, E. A., & Ahearn, F. L. (2017). The aftermath of humanitarian crises: A model for addressing social work interventions with individuals, groups, and communities. Illness, Crisis, & Loss, 25(2), 107–126. https://doi.org/10.1177/1054137315606830

Post:

Discuss how you would use the data collected by your colleague to guide the next step in the planned change process or to inform future work with clients.

· Include at least 1 reference and citation in the response to each discussion post below.

The following are the posts from Colleagues

SJC

RE: Discussion - Week 5

COLLAPSE

Top of Form

For this assignment I will reflect on my first case in my undergrad field work. I was working with a 14-year-old, we’ll call her Sarah. She was a “sex worker”, I put that in quotes because that’s how she referred to herself as a caseworker I know she is a trafficking victim, who was also addicted to meth. I worked with her when CPS was trying to reunite her with her mother. However, sarah kept running away from shelters and placements because she didn’t like the rules and knew she could make enough money to support her habit and not have to listen to anyone’s rules. Sarah was extremely intelligent, and although she stated she wanted to be a “normal girl”, she struggles with fitting back into that mold. Sarah has been to many placements and her mother has struggled with addiction for years. Her mother introduced Sarah to drugs and began sex trafficking her at 9 for drugs.

Sarah has issues trusting adults to help her because of this she has become what she would call independent and has placed herself in immense danger numerous times.

Interventions to promote resiliency…

When working with Sarah we utilized comprehensive case management, always using strength-based perspective. Sarah received a behavioral mentor, who worked with her on feelings identification, coping strategies and understanding the choices she was making and the effect they could have. Sarah also participated in outpatient adolescent drug treatment; she would say she was not an addict just liked using however kept putting herself in harmful situations in order to use. This we addressed in counseling. I specifically worked as her case manager. We would have team meeting every other week with Sarah, her therapist, behavioral mentor, CPS and her mother would at times participate. CPS’s goal was family reunification so when we felt she was ready we also started family therapy. When working with Sarah all interventions were geared towards resiliency, confidence, sobriety and safety. Sarah was incredibly capable. When she was sober focusing on building up her resiliency was extremely important. Sarahhas overcome a lot in her life and resilience theory is "intended as a guide for social work practitioners working with individual having faced adversity" (Smith-Osborne & Whitehill, 2013, pg. 112).

Evaluating intervention…

When evaluating Sarah's interventions, I would use Resiliency Scale for Children and Adolescents (RSCA) that focuses on sense of mastery, sense of relatedness and emotional reactivity (Prince-Embury & Courville, 2008; Smith-Osborne & Whitehill, 2013, pg. 118). The sense of mastery consists of “three content areas: optimism, self-efficacy, and adaptability”; sense of relatedness focuses on the person’s comfort and trust in other; while emotional reactivity relates to “sensitivity/threshold for and intensity of reaction, length of recovery time and impairment while upset” (Smith-Osborne & Whitehill, 2013, pg 118). If you had asked Sarah at the beginning of working with us in WRAPAROUND, she would have stated she was high on sense of mastery, low on sense of relatedness and low on emotional reactivity. However, if we put in context to safely be self-efficient, I think she would have agreed that all these categories started out on the lower end. At the end of working with Sarah I would agree that she showed a lot of progress in all these areas. There was still more work to be done in emotional reactivity… but she’s a teenage girl.

Why RSCA…

I chose RSCA because of the age group it focused on, 9 to 18. I also chose it because the sample size in Sarah’s age group was the largest with 224 adolescents. The RSCA had the largest overall sample size, which I think allows for more research and variables to arise.

References

Prince-Embury, S., & Courville, T. (2008). Comparison of one-, two-, and three-factor models of

personal resiliency using the Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents. Canadian Journal

of School Psychology, 23

Smith-Osborne, A., & Whitehill Bolton, K. (2013). Assessing Resilience: A Review of Measures

across the Life Course. Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, 10(2), 111-126.

https://doi.org/10.1080/15433714.2011.597305

LD

RE: Discussion - Week 5

COLLAPSE

Top of Form

Identify a case where it would have been beneficial to employ resiliency theory.

The client is a 22-year-old female with a history of substance abuse. The client has a history of sexual abuse, childhood trauma, and multiple relapses. The presenting problem is her ability to adapt to a sober lifestyle in her home after leaving a sober living environment.

Describe an intervention you would implement to promote resiliency.

Solution-focused interventions focus on identifying goals and finding solutions. Solution-focused interventions emphasize the solution more than the presenting problem. The client and social worker work together to create change. In relation to resiliency theory, one adversity the client faces are the ability to adapt. A solution-focused intervention can promote coping skills for the client to utilize once she returns to her home environment.

Identify an instrument to evaluate how effective the intervention is in increasing the client’s level of resiliency.

At the agency I intern at, outpatient classes must be completed three times a week. The frequency of these visits with the client allow the opportunity to apply the Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA) instrument to evaluate the resiliency of the client. The RSA measures the client’s perception of self and the future, family union, and social resources (Smith-Osborne & Whitehill Bolton, 2013). The RSA has been validated as effective in determining resiliency and weekly evaluations can be performed at no cost.

Reference

Smith-Osborne, A., & Whitehill Bolton, K. (2013). Assessing resilience: A review of measures across the life course. Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, 10(2), 111-126 doi:1080/154337714.2011.597305