Whether Children Take Care of Old People or Not free essay sample

This is a paradox that some old people are forced to live in an old-aged home because they are abandoned by their children , besides , some choose to live in a home with their peer group. Together with this phenomenon , a controversial issue is that who should actually take the responsibility for paying these services. In the first place, some people strongly argue that children should be responsible for paying care services their parents when they live in Old- aged home. Obviously, One of the most significant virtues of people is that we ought to take the duty to show the gratitude and thankfulness for parent’s upbringing when we are mature enough. Undoubtedly , our parents have dedicated and sacrificed their all lives for next generation and brought a better life for us by working in toil and moil . In return , it is important to deserve to be paid back in appropriate manner. We will write a custom essay sample on Whether Children Take Care of Old People or Not or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page On the other hand, some other people believe that governments has to pay for this care service. It is also suitable that government should support the old people if they do not have any children to take care of them or do not have salary for their living expenses , government should take responsibility for funding them. Furthermore , getting older is an inevitable fact in human life and not excepting anyone we will get older in the future , family and government had better to have a good preparation for convalescence. This is also a common issue of society but anyone’s business , therefore, paying for this care services is an undeniable responsibility of government. In conclusion , I would rather insist that this kind of the social responsibilities should be reasonably implemented by the government of any country. More importantly, authorities and politic makers can take actions for a long term initiative , hopefully this reasonable solution will work in the near future.

Radial or Femoral essay

Radial or Femoral essay Introduction Transradial and transfemoral approaches are two different types of techniques that are used to perform diagnostic percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and coronary angiography (CA). Transradial approach is currently being used as the most effective alternative approach for cardiac catheterization to transfemoral approach. This is because of the several benefits it has for the patients over transfemoral approach. This paper provides the advantages and the benefits of transradial approach over transfemoral approach in creating care value for PCI and CA patients. Chuntao W Ed. (2011). The Transradial Approach is Associated with Lower Risk of Adverse Outcome Following Percutaneous Coronary Intervention. A Single-Center Experience , 1-9. In this article, the authors are aimed at testing the hypothesis that the transradial approach is more linked to the lower risks of bad results in accordance to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) more than transfemoral approach (Chuntao W Ed, 2011). It also analyses whether the approval of transradial approach can lead to improved quality management of PCI in a single center practice (Chuntao W Ed, 2011). ). The researchers identified and reviewed 625 transfemoral and 462 transradial cases that were treated at their center from January 2007 to March 2009. During the treatment of risks associated with hospital mortality, vascular complications and bleeding, the researchers tried to examine the major differences that exist between transfemoral and transradial approaches (Chuntao W Ed, 2011). ). From the research analysis, the researchers established that exposure to bleeding was very much lower in the transradial patients than transfemoral group with the following percentag es, 2.60 percent and 6.08 percent respectively (Chuntao W Ed, 2011). Transradial patients also have lower risks of vascular complications (0 percent) than transfemoral patients (1.44 percent). The mortality rate observed in the hospital indicated that, it was lower for transradial approach (0.87 percent) than transfemoral approach (2.24 percent). Some-day discharges were less common in transfemoral patients than transradial patients (2.2% versus 14.2%) Chuntao W Ed, 2011). From the research results, the researchers established that risk of vascular complications and bleeding were lower for transradial approach and therefore its adoption may lead to improved quality care for PCI. In support of their findings, other scientific studies have also established that patients who receive PCI via radial arteries were less at risk of developing vascular complications and bleeding when compared to patients who receive it through femoral arteries (Chuntao W Ed, 2011). In addition, transrad ial approach was also established to be associated with lower risk of mortality than transfemoral approach. Researchers therefore agree that, radial approach should be adopted for improving quality of care to PCI patients in a specified center of practice Chuntao W Ed, 2011). Sandy M. (2010). Procedure Provides Comfort and Convenience, Reduces Complications of Cardiac Intervention. Radial Artery Catheterization makes a Comeback , 1. This article is about a coronary disease patient, Floyd, who suspected himself of being attacked by heart attack after performing a strenuous activity. He immediately called his doctor on Friday afternoon who instructed him to head straight to the emergency room (Sandy, 2010). Following his two past cardiac catheterization procedures, he was very afraid to undergo it again due to pain he experienced. But after being examined, the doctor established that he suffered no heart attack, but catheterization was still required to diagnose the cause of the chest pain and to treat it if possible. Something that interested Floyd most is that a new technique that would minimize discomfort was going to be used during catheterization process (Sandy, 2010). The method that was used in catheterization process is radial approach. This approach is becoming a very popular treatment technique that is used to treat blocked arteries. This is because of the improved tools, medicine and devices used. Acco rding to the article, patients requiring catheterization need to be diagnosed through radial approach (Sandy, 2010). This is because, through radial artery, the doctors can handle bleeding more appropriately and patients can thereafter, walk and eat. But with the femoral artery, patients leave the theater rooms with a sheath in the femoral artery (Sandy, 2010). After this process patients can not resume their duties because they have to stay in the hospital beds for up to ten hours while bleeding is being controlled depending on the degree of anticoagulants received. With the radial approach, the doctor assured Floyd he was to get back home on the following day and resume work only after three days of rest. Radial approach is more effective and comfortable for treating blocked arteries as compared to femoral approach since it is less complicated, comfortable and bleeding can easily be controlled after the process (Sandy, 2010). With the advent of radial approach, Floyd doctor believ es that patients with cardiac intervention will leave the hospital beds the same day after being treated. Schussler J. M. (2011). Effectiveness and Safety of Transradial Artery Access for Cardiac Catheterization. 1. This article suggests that transradial approach is slowly become more popular in coronary angioplasty and angiography than transfemoral approach (Schussler, 2011). This approach has several benefits to the patients such as reduced discomfort, reduced bleeding and low costs. Diagnosis of coronary angioplasty and angiography are usually characterized by several risks including excessive bleeding, stroke and death. Despite of the increased use of ad hoc angioplasty and blood thinners, exposure to these risks has remained stable. This is because the procedures involved in transfemoral technique are complex since they involve femoral access (Schussler, 2011). In order to take care of this situation, transradial technique was described in late 1980s and it is currently being considered as the best alternative to replace traditional femoral technique. In transradial approach, the risks of damaging the limbs are minimal since there is enough supply of blood from ulnar artery to palmar arch (Schussler, 2011). In transfemoral technique, coronary angioplasty and angiography are performed after drugs that reduce arterial thrombosis and spasm are administered. One of the advantages of transradial technique is that in this process, certain types of specially shaped catheters are used, and they enable the doctors to access both right and left coronary angiograms including venticulogram without switching different catheters (Schussler, 2011). One of the major benefits of transradial approach over transfemoral approach is the reduction in the number of complications that results after the diagnosis. Another benefit of transradial technique is the patient satisfaction. The patients are able to get back home on the same day of treatment and resume working three days after unlike transfemoral technique that required the patients to stay in the hospital beds for more than ten days depending in the complications they receive after the process (Schussler, 2011). Conclusion Both transradial and transfemoral approaches are for diagnostic percutaneous coronary intervention and for coronary angiography. Transfemoral approach, however, is results into several problems after it is performed. The acknowledgement of transradial approach provided an effective basis over which these problems can be solved. Radial approach has thus been established as the best alternative approach diagnostic PCI and CA. It has several benefits to the patients which include low cost of treatment, reduced bleeding , less time spent ihn the hospital beds and they are able to resume their jobs only three days after treatment, and this is supported by all the three articles summarized above.

The U.S. Environmental Movement

The U.S. Environmental Movement When did the U.S. environmental movement begin? Its hard to say for sure. Nobody held an organizing meeting and drew up a charter, so there is no absolute definitive answer to the question of when the environmental movement really began in the United States. Here are some important dates, in reverse chronological order: Earth Day April 22, 1970, the date of the first Earth Day celebration in the United States, is often cited as the start of the modern environmental movement. On that day, 20 million Americans filled parks and took to the streets in a nationwide teach-in and protest about critical environmental issues facing the United States and the world. It is probably around that time that environmental issues also truly became political issues. Silent Spring Many other people associate the beginning of the environmental movement with the 1962 publication of Rachel Carsons groundbreaking book, Silent Spring, which spelled out the dangers of the pesticide DDT. The book awakened many people in the United States and elsewhere to the potential environmental and health hazards of using powerful chemicals in agriculture and led to a ban on DDT. Up until that point, we understood that our activities could be harmful to the environment, but Rachel Carsons work suddenly made it clear to many of us that we were also harming our bodies in the process. Earlier, Olaus and Margeret Murie were early pioneers of conservation, using the burgeoning science of ecology to encourage the protection of public lands where functioning ecosystems could be preserved. Aldo Leopold, a forester who later laid the foundations of wildlife management, continued focusing ecological science on the quest for a more harmonious relationship with nature.   A First Environmental Crisis An important environmental concept, the idea that active engagement by people is necessary to protect the environment, probably first reached the general public at the very beginning of the 20th century. During the period 1900-1910, wildlife populations in North America were at an all-time low. Populations of beaver, white-tailed deer, Canada geese, wild turkey, and many duck species were almost extinct from market hunting and loss of habitat. These declines were obvious to the public, which largely lived in rural areas at the time. As a result, new conservation laws were enacted (for example, the Lacey Act), and the very first National Wildlife Refuge was created.  Ã‚   Still, others might point to May 28, 1892, as the day when the U.S. environmental movement began. That is the date of the first meeting of the Sierra Club, which was founded by noted preservationist John Muir and is generally acknowledged as the first environmental group in the United States. Muir and other early members of the Sierra Club were largely responsible for preserving the Yosemite Valley in California and persuading the federal government to establish Yosemite National Park. No matter what first sparked the U.S. environmental movement or when it actually began, its safe to say that environmentalism has become a powerful force in American culture and politics. Ongoing efforts to understand more clearly how we can use natural resources without depleting them, and enjoy natural beauty without destroying it, is inspiring many of us to take a more sustainable approach to the way we live and to tread a little more lightly on the planet. Edited by Frederic Beaudry.

M Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

M - Personal Statement Example That is why a major in communications would be such a valuable asset to me. I know that this is a field that is burgeoning, and that it will be in great demand in years to come. This degree will help me achieve my career goals as a master communicator, both in person and via social media. I really enjoy interacting with people and the degree in communications is going to help me perfect those communication skills even more. My participation in various activities has led me to believe that I’m very interested in other peoples’ stories and their thoughts. What they say matters. Perhaps I could become involved in TV production, become a social media expert, or other types of careers where a communication degree is needed. From what I understand, my interest in communications had begun to develop when I was a very young person. I always had an interest in seeing what other people would say, do, and how they would react to certain information. I think it is this involvement in other peoples’ lives that brought me to the place where I was intrigued by how people interact themselves. This is the essence and the heart of what the communications degree at University of California means to me, and why it is so crucial that I get accepted to this program. I intend to utilize my degree in communications to better peoples’ lives through: my interest in the field; a continued participation in activities that would further my knowledge in the field of communications; and a continued involvement in communications that will shape me into the person I will be in the future. This degree in communications will make me a successful individual in life. Personal Statement #2 Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are? The most important contribution I ever made was helping my father; it m ade me proud of who I am, and I believe it demonstrates my strength of character as it relates to the person those actions have made me into who I am today. Every winter when I went back to my country, I have helped my father decide what to do in the future—in terms of making executive decisions about the family business. For example, one time my father was making the decision to open a store. After he opened a supermarket, for example, the next winter I would go back home and help him oversee the business. Whenever there was a new business to open in subsequent winters, I would return to my native country. I would help my Dad choose which location we should use for the new store. We would negotiate rental fees, and resolve issues that were pertinent to the business. Even those are relatively small elements of opening a new store, every decision contributes to the overall success of the business. This makes me extremely proud of my heritage, knowing that I am helping my fathe r to help our own people by giving them choices and opportunities within their communities to make purchases that will help their own families in some way. Being proud of oneself, after all, is not just about what others can do for you. Family pride and community heritage is about what you can do for other people. So, I realize, that in helping my father, I am not only helping himself, but also my family, our community, and last but

Software Engneering 1 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Software Engneering 1 - Case Study Example The name of the system is an online management system for a magazine publisher. The main actor in the use cases is an editor. The targeted actors for this system are an editor and an internet user who needs articles from a publishers’ online store. The system is aimed at aiding an editor to add and upload new articles into the system. In addition, it aids in provision of a bird’s eye view of the available articles in the system. It further plays significant role in ensuring that the editor can delete articles depending on necessity at hand. Thus, the use cases used are add, upload, view, find and delete. The goal for an add use case is to aid an editor in adding new published documents into the system. The Upload use case is to aid the editor load in new published documents or files from his or her computer to the online management system. The view use case will be functional to both the editor and the users (actors) over the internet. This will aid both in having a bird’s eye view of the available published documents. The find use case is aimed to aid the editor and users across the internet have a functional area where they can use to seek out for something. Finally and yet importantly is the delete use case that is to provide a function for the editor to remove a document from the systems database or display region. As seen from the above use case diagram, the processes involved in the online management system include: An editor updating the system by adding and uploading an item. In addition, a key process that is vital in the system is that an editor is provided with the functionality to remove an item from the

Evidence Based Case Study Social Work Essay

Evidence Based Case Study Social Work Essay Evidence based practice (EBP) refers to integrating professional expertise with the best available external research, and incorporating the views of service users (Beresford, 1996). Evidence based practice has received its reputation by examining the reasons why interventions are necessary (Duffy, Fisher and Munroe, 2008). Within my placement EBP was important for refining my practice so the service user was provided with appropriate support for her individual needs. I used my EBP to carry out research to determine what evidence supported or rejected the use of a specific intervention; within this case I used a counseling approach. The principle of social work intervention is to provide good practice and should be based on a decision-making framework (Preston-Shoot and Braye, 2009). This framework operates on four concepts:- The legislation that informs a decision; Social work ethics and NISCC codes of conduct; Information to ensure a well-informed decision; Knowledge drawn from research, theory, practice and other professionals. In addition to powers and duties of social workers, legislation embeds notions of partnership, respect, rights and anti-discriminatory practice, which are key elements in social work practice (Preston-Shoot and Braye, 2009). My practice learning opportunity involved working with adults with a learning disability in a day care setting. The benefits of the day centre were to provide a service for local people to access support in living with, or caring for someone, with a learning disability. Northern Ireland statistics show that in 2008 there were 9,460 people with a learning disability in contact with Trusts (www.northernireland.gov.uk). From the 9,460 people with a learning disability there were 2,574 benefiting from care management, 42% (1,086) of whom were being supported in their own homes and 35% (898) being cared for in residential homes solely for the use of people with learning disabilities (www.northernireland.gov.uk). This evidence based case study is based on Miss A, a 35 year old woman, who has a learning disability and Spina Bifida resulting in her using a wheel chair for mobility. Within the past few years Miss As family life has changed dramatically. In previous years Miss A had lived in the community with her elderly parents, who cared for her. She is one of three children and has two older brothers. Miss As mother, after being diagnosed with Dementia, was admitted to a residential care home. Her father after having been moved to residential care himself passed away in November 2008 due to his physical health. Miss A now resides in a private nursing home and attends day care three days per week. In March 2008, there were 75 residential homes in Northern Ireland solely for people with a learning disability providing 898 places (www.northernireland.gov.uk). Miss A has been previously diagnosed with MRSA; it is currently located in her toe, having been previously present in her urine. Treatments from the residential care staff have the infection under control, however the infection still remains. The recent death of her father plays a significant role in Miss As life and continues to affect her socially and emotionally. Some of the stereotypical assumptions I had before meeting Miss A were that because she had a physical and learning disability that she would be hard to communicate with, that she would have limited understanding and limited verbal skills. I have challenged this opinion and realised that Miss A is a very competent individual with good communication skills, and can express her likes and dislikes proficiently. As for her physical disability this does not affect her cognitive or cerebral functions. I had also made the assumption that as Miss A had MRSA that it could easily be cross-contracted due to a lack of knowledge and education. After researching the issue and contacting infection control within the Trust I deducted that MRSA is a problem within clinical settings but can be easily controlled with proper preventative procedures. This can be identified as a risk, but should not be a reason to oppress or discriminate Miss A. After having initially met Miss A, liaised with her social worker, accessed her case file and Tuned In to her life issues, I met with Miss A to prepare for the initial assessment and gather information into how best to support her. My role with Miss A was to provide a reassessment since the changes in her circumstances and the death of her father. My role was to determine what support she may need, and to include her wishes and feelings. Assessment: History has shown that there has always been an importance to assessment in social work, but since the 1990s there has been specific importance to a new form assessment to include risk. The National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 stresses the importance of inter-agency collaboration and a multi-disciplinary assessment process (Trevithick, 2000). The purpose of an assessment may seem evident; that is, to assess the needs of individuals who may need help and/or support. In recent history however assessment seems to mean a relationship between need and available resources (Whittington, 2007, p23) leading to a question if this is ethical or effective practice? There are many purposes of an assessment, for example to assess risk, to assess need, to act as an advocate for someone and also to implement agency and government policy (Whittington, 2007, p25-26). Coulshed and Orme (2006) explain that assessment is an ongoing process where the purpose is to understand people in relation to their environment; it is a basis for planning what needs to be done to maintain, improve or bring about change with the service users participation. The initial preparation for the assessment with Miss A included visiting her social worker and studying her case file. This enabled me to gather information to dispel any preconceptions I had about meeting this service user. The social worker passed on her knowledge of Miss A, such as medical conditions, family circumstances and finances, and also any previous problems that had occurred. I felt it was important to work in partnership with Miss As social worker so I could keep her up to date with events, and also contact her if I required advice about Miss A. The purpose of Miss As individual assessment was to gather information by interacting and communicating with Miss A and others involved in her care, this was also to gain a holistic perspective to her needs. Her assessment was guided by legislation such as, the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act (NI) 1978, which places a duty on health and social services to investigate a level of need, and also the Health and Personal Soc ial Services (NI) Order 1972 which stipulates a responsibility to provide personal social services for the promotion of social welfare for the general public (http://www.understandingindividualneeds.com). As a model of assessment I used Smales (1993) Models of Professional Care which were useful in gathering important information about Miss A. I used the procedural and questioning model to gather information into how Miss A felt about certain issues in her life, such as the bereavement of her father, contact with her other family, and other issues she felt were working or not working. I used these methods of assessment as this followed Trust guidelines. I used The Model of Professional Care to gain a holistic understanding of information. I also included the Exchange model in the assessment as I considered Miss A to be the expert of her own life. I feel the use of the Procedural model was useful in certain aspects of the assessment as it worked in collaboration with the Trusts format of assessment and worked as a form of gathering information, but feel I could have used more of an Exchange model to communicate effectively with Miss A rather than just form filling. I feel Smales method of assessment provided me with tools to help Miss A identify factors that were important for her to maintain, but also issues she would like to change. By working in partnership with her I felt we would have an open and trusting working relationship. I also focused on Person Centred Planning (PCP) in regards to the assessment with Miss A. Person Centred Planning, which evolved from the White Paper; a government policy known as Valuing People, suggested four key principles; Rights, Independence, Choice and Inclusion as a proposal of changing services (Thompson, Kilbane and Sanderson, 2008, p9). This policy also helped inform guidelines for Northern Irelands Equal Lives Policy (2005). Person Centred Planning focused on finding out what is important to and what is important for (health and safety) Miss A. I found PCP a continual process of listening and learning, by focusing on whats important to Miss A now and in the future (Thompson, Kilbane and Sanderson, 2008, p27). By using person centred tools, such as a one page profile, I gained knowledge of what was important to Miss A including her family, her boyfriend and her independence, as well as knowing what was important to keep her safe and healthy. I used a person centred approac h to make others aware of Miss As great personality characteristics as well as the help and support she would like. I feel this was fundamental to demonstrate that Miss A is a person behind her disability. I found by using this approach was an essential skill in understanding Miss A and helped me to be anti oppressive and actively support her needs One particular piece of legislation which I found to be significant in the assessment of Miss A was the Human Rights Act (1998), which identifies Miss As right to family life. Since the death of her father and the institutionalisation of her mother due to her mental health, Miss A has been experiencing disintegration of her family and has lost the support connected to it. The Human Rights Act could have a great significance as Miss A needs emotional and physical support to visit her mother and has not been receiving it; therefore her right to family life is being impeded. The assessment identified that contact with her family and friends are imperative for this right to be upheld. Therefore as a result my role was to facilitate this right, and help to support Miss A in retaining family contact. The main objectives we (Miss A and I) identified within the assessment were; That Miss A had limited support to help discuss the death of her father. That Miss A was not receiving contact with her mother or other family and would like to. From the identification of objectives Miss A and I decided to work towards solutions by preparing a work plan. Planning: After the initial assessment was carried out with Miss A we proceeded to work towards formulating a care plan and targeting her objectives. A care plan provided clear information for everyone involved with Miss A and helped work in partnership with her and the Trust. For a person centred care plan the word ‘support is used in preference to ‘care because the verb implies that support is there to help people achieve their goals and ambitions† (Thompson, Sanderson and Kilbane, 2008). â€Å"A support plan is developed by the person with help where necessary, and it describes how the person intends to be supported in order to live their own life† (Thompson, Sanderson and Kilbane, 2008). I feel the use of a support plan with Miss A, rather than a care plan is an anti-oppressive method, as it incorporates Miss As feelings and opinions into how she wishes to be supported. I used the formulation of a support plan with Miss A to record the objectives she would like to meet and used these to formulate an intervention. It was clear from the assessment and one page profile that limited contact with her mother was an issue, and that the death of her father had a significant impact on her life. I then proceeded to investigate theory of loss and grief as I had never experienced a loss of Miss As magnitude before. I found the Kubler-Ross Model and the 5 responses to grief to be particularly informative. (Goldsworthy, 2005). This theory helped inform my knowledge and in turn helped me be empathetic to Miss A. I was able to identify that Miss A can experience the 5 stages of grief and that they are not necessarily in a specific order. I felt Miss A was at two stages of grief, some days she experiences anger at her father leaving, and other times she has deep feelings of depression of losing him. I was able to use Kubler-Rosss model to identify these stages in Miss A, and also to advise her that these feelings were part of the normal process of grief. The assessment also identified that Miss A had a lack of support in discussing her feelings of grief. Research suggests that people with learning disabilities experience many of the emotions of bereavement but are limited in the opportunities they have to resolve their feelings of grief (Cathcart, 1995; Elliot, 1995; Read, 1996). There are many reasons for this and Murray et al explains that historically, professionals, parents or carers of individuals with learning disabilities believed that those in their care did not understand the concept of death and thus were unable to grieve for the loss of a loved one (McLoughlin, 1986; Elliot, 1995; Read, 1996 cited in Murray et al. 2000). Kitching (1987) and Bradford (1984) highlight that the capacity to grieve is not dependent on a persons intellectual ability, but that a person with learning disability may experience grief in the same way as a child. Therefore research shows that people with a learning disability experience grief and loss but have a limited support network to discuss it with. I used this research to formulate a plan for the intervention with Miss A and we concluded that I could be support for discussing her grief. From the assessment and care plan with Miss A, and following discussions my practice teacher, I discussed that I would use counselling skills to help support Miss A with her feelings of grief. I felt Miss A needed her emotional needs met since the feelings of the death of her father were so dominant. Miss A and I also decided that I would facilitate visits to her mother for emotional and physical support, as her mother was in the latter stages of dementia and Miss A found it hard to communicate with her. Intervention: Rationale for Counselling Intervention: After having conducted an assessment and care plan with Miss A, and building a rapport over numerous meetings, it was decided that a counselling intervention would be the most appropriate form of support for grief. My practice teacher and I felt that if Miss A had the opportunity to discuss her feelings this would help her grieve more effectively and perhaps help her cope better. The two models of counselling that are prominent in social work are the work of Carl Rogers and Gerard Egan, who base their counselling approaches from psychodynamic work around inner thoughts and feelings. Both counselling theories â€Å"reflect the social work values of accepting the individual, using skills in listening to the information that is given, and work towards a joint understanding and decision making about ways forward† (Coulshed and Orme, 2006). I focused on researching counselling theory to help me understand how I could help Miss A through her grief. Trevithick explains that within social work, humanistic approaches to counselling have been particularly influential, specifically with the work of Egan (1990) and Rogers (1961), mainly because they promote personal freedom and are consistent with anti-discriminatory practice and anti-oppressive perspectives† (Trevithick, 2000). I found that the Rogers (1961) Person Centred counselling informed me that I cou ld show unconditional positive regard for Miss A and understand that she is the expert of her own grief. I also analysed Egans (1990) Skilled Helper Model and found it to be an effective theory for an approach to counselling. I found that the structure and framework of the model and the three stages were useful as a guide to follow. I found that although this method of counselling may not be as person centred as Rogers it could be more effective in helping Miss A understand her own grief as it followed a certain framework, could empower her and could be evaluated over time. This theory helped inform my practice by helping me realise that I do not need to be a qualified counsellor to support someone; I just need to be able to actively listen, to use empathy and be reassuring knowing that Miss As agenda is paramount. I consider this in itself to be a person centred way of counselling. I decided to follow a combination of Rogerian method and Egans approach to help support Miss A as an intervention. I decided I would use the structure of Egans model to help build a logical, consistent framework to the intervention, while using the core principles of the Rogerian approach to demonstrate my skills and values, such as working with respect, empathy, genuineness and good active listening (Coulshed and Orme, 2006). Counselling Procedure: Egans Skilled Helper Model form of counselling provides a structured and solution focus basis. It is a three stage model in which each stage consists of specific skills that the helper uses to support the service user move forward (Nelson, 2007). Egans model is described as a three-stage process: identification of the service users current issue(s); identification of the service users desired situation; and the formulation of an action plan to achieve this. This process is facilitated by the â€Å"skilled helper† using the skills outlines by Egan (Nelson, 2007). The goal of using Egans model with Miss A was to help her manage her grief and better understand the â€Å"norms† associated with it, such as anger or depression according to the Kubler-Ross Model. Egan (1998) claims his model is to help people become better at helping themselves in their everyday lives. To provide Miss A with the empowerment to help herself grieve. The use of Egans Skilled Helper Model was to explore how Miss A felt about her bereavement. I used it to ask open questions about how Miss A felt about her father. We explored her past and discussed her relationship with her father before his death. I also used this stage to focus on aspects of her father before he died and what she missed about him, this was to explore and gather information about what her relationship was like with her dad. I was able to use a range of skills to gather information about Miss As grief. Trevithick (2000) explains that social work skills are â€Å"the degree of knowledge, expertise, judgement and experience that is brought into play within any given situation, course of action or intervention† (Trevithick, 2000). Some of the skills I incorporated into Egans counselling were active listening, I used this skill with a range of non verbal cues to indicate to Miss A that I was interested in what she was saying. I concentrated on active listening as Miss A was portraying feelings and knowledge of the death of her father which was a sensitive subject and needed my full concentration. I portrayed active listening by nodding, giving eye contact and facing Miss A which were successful in helping build a rapport with Miss A, thus helping her open up. Another skill I feel I used well with Miss A was empathy. I feel I portrayed my feelings of empathy by responding appropriately to her answers and reassuring her that her thoughts and feelings around grief were normal. I found myself using Empathy a great deal with Miss A as I had never experienced bereavement before and she helped me understand how it felt. Its easy to imagine how someone feels, but when youre faced with helping them I felt I really neede d to place myself in â€Å"her shoes†. I also found I made good use of silences with Miss A, I used these to give her time to reflect on her thoughts and answers. I have found by doing this that the meetings were paced better, and showed that she was the expert of her own grief and I was just there to listen and to reassure her. I found that by using Rogerian person centred skills like genuineness, empathy, communication and active listening I was able to understand Miss A and show her that I was there to support with her agenda. Throughout the discussions of grief I feel Miss A was able to vent a lot of her feelings that she had since her fathers funeral. I feel I was able to support her understand those feelings and help her recognise that anger, depression, or denial are normal feelings that many people in her situation suffer. Throughout Egans Skilled Helper Model and each of the sessions with Miss A I found that she responded well to being able to discuss her feelings with someone. The Rogerian influence on the intervention enabled me to build trust, partnership and a good rapport with her facilitating an open working relationship and providing her with support. Some of the values I tried to incorporate into my counselling and indeed my relationship with Miss A were empowerment and self-advocacy, by letting her know that her agenda was central. I wanted to create a balance of power and to provide a supporting role rather than a dictator role, which I feel I achieved by being able to listen to her views and incorporating PCP. Social work has a distinctive value base with beliefs and principles playing an important role in practice (Thompson, 2005). Challenging my values has helped me to treat Miss A with unconditional positive regard, and with the respect and dignity she deserves. I have challenged my values anti-oppressively by researching MRSA and not making assumptions about the condition; I have challenged my stereotypical attitude around learning disability demonstrating that Miss A is first and foremost a person with feelings and issues before recognising she has a disability. Evaluation: On evaluation of the Egans Skilled Helper Model and my intervention with Miss A have shown that her agenda was central to the sessions, a balance of power was necessary to achieve the trust and respect of one another and that listening is paramount to providing effective counselling. I entered the sessions with Miss A being unaware of what to expect, I was troubled that I would not have enough knowledge about grief to help support her. After the initial session I soon realised that I didnt need to be a qualified counsellor to make a difference to her understanding of grief, I just needed to be able to explain her feelings to her and reassure her that they were normal and not as she phrased it â€Å"being mental†. I found that by working with Miss A using the Skilled Helper Model I was able to apply my skills of listening, communication and empathy to help her understand her feelings. I have never personally had a bereavement of Miss As scale before but feel as a direct result of working with Miss A I have learned that grief is a powerful emotion for anyone to experience and it can take a significant amount of time to recover from. The only regret I have of using the Skilled Helper Model was that I feel I did not have enough time to fully help support Miss A, I feel as I had a placement of only eighty-five days I did not have enough time to fully counsel her for the best outcome. I feel throughout the intervention process I tried to maintain person centred principles with Miss A by providing her with the opportunity to discuss what was important to her. Research shows that the use of Egans model is not person centred as it incorporates the counsellor to ask all the questions, and therefore have the control; but I feel by working in partnership with Miss A to discuss the death of her father was important for her emotional well being and empowered her to help resolve her grief. I also incorporated Rogers core skills of genuineness, respect and trust to achieve this Conclusion Through working with Miss A I have found the experience to be invaluable learning. I have discovered that there is a spectrum of ability with adults and their learning disability. I have found that each person is an individual, and that group care is not necessarily recognising of this. In regards to Miss A I have learned not to make assumptions or stereotypes before meeting the person, as this can lead to oppression and even discrimination. Miss A is an individual, with individual needs, and at this assessment and intervention her emotional needs were prominent. I feel I completed the aims I had intended to by supporting Miss a through her grief using Egans Skilled Helper Model. I incorporated Rogers core skills into this model to help facilitate person centred sessions, and create an understanding that she was the expert, and I was there to listen and support her. If I was to repeat the intervention I would use Egans model again as it provided me with a structured, logical framework to work with and provided me with the identification of the skills I needed to make the sessions successful and effectively counsel Miss A. I feel my future learning needs from working with Miss A are to use more formal language as I identified I talked to her informally using words such as â€Å"wee†. I feel I did this to appear more friendly rather than her social worker, but realise this is not a professional manner to work. Other learning needs I identified were to pace the sessions more appropriately and ensure that Miss A understands the conversation. I feel during the initial sessions with Miss A I spoke more to engage her in the discussion, and feel this was more of a nervous reaction to having to counsel Miss A. During later sessions I was able to take this skill into consideration and settle quicker into sessions to give Miss A the opportunity to discuss what she wished. Overall I feel my relationship with Miss A was good, I feel the assessment and intervention were successful, and I feel I worked in a person centred way incorporating knowledge, skills and values to inform my practice. I feel Miss A felt positively about our work together as her feedback from sessions indicated that she was satisfied with the support I provided. References: 1. Beresford, P. (1996) The Standards we Expect: What Service Users and Carers Want fromSocial Services Workers. London: National Institute of Social Work 2. Bradford, J. (1984) Life after a Death, Parents Voice 34: 6-7 3. Cathcart, F. (1995) Death and People with Learning Disabilities: Interventions to Support Clients and Carers; British Journal of Clinical Psychology 34: 165-75 4. Coulshed, V., and Orme, J. (2006) Social Work Practice. Palgrave Macmillan, Fourth Edition 5. Duffy P, Fisher C, Munroe D (2008). Nursing knowledge, skill, and attitudes related to evidenced based practice: Before or After Organizational Supports. Medsurg Nursing 17 (1): 55-60 6. Egan, G (1990) The Skilled Helper: A Systematic Approach to Effective Helping. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole 7. Elliot, D. (1995) Helping People with Learning Disabilities to Handle Grief, Nursing Times 91 (43): 27-9. 8. Goldsworthy, K. (2005) Grief and loss theory in social work practice: All changes involve loss, just as all losses require change, Australian Social Work, 58:2, 167 — 178 9. Kitching, N. (1987) Helping People with Mental Handicaps Cope with Bereavement, Mental Handicap 15: 60-3. 10. McLoughlin, I . (1986) Bereavement in the Mentally Handicapped, British Journal of Hospital Medicine October: 256-60. 11. Murray, G., McKenzie, K., and Quigley, A. (2000) The Grieving Process in Individuals with a Learning Disability; An Examination of the Knowledge and Understanding of Health and Social Care: Journal of Intellectual Disabilities; 4; 77 12. Nelson, P. (2007) An Easy Introduction to the Egans Skilled Helper Solution Focused Counselling Approach. Palgrave and Macmillan (Online at www.f-e-t-t.co.uk) (Accessed 2 March 2009) 13. Preston-Shoot, M., and Braye, S. (2009) Social work intervention (Online) Available at: http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/elearning/law/law08/index.asp [Accessed 5 May 2009]. 14. Read, S. (1996) Helping People with Learning Disabilities to Grieve, British Journal of Nursing 5 (2). 15. Smale, G and Tuson, G. (1993) Empowerment, Assessment, Care Management and the Skilled Worker. London. HMSO 16. Thompson, N. (2005) Understanding Social Work: Preparation for Practice. Second Edition. Palgrave Macmillan 17. Thompson, J., Kilbane, J., and Sanderson, H. (2008) Person Centred Practice for Professionals. Open University Press. 18. Trevithick, P (2000) Social Work Skills: A Practice Handbook. Open University Press. 19. Whittington, C. (2007) Assessment in social work: A guide for learning and teaching; London.Social Care Institute for Excellence 20. Williams, P (2006) Social Work with People with Learning Disabilities. Learning Matters Ltd Other: 21. http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/news/news-dhssps/news-dhssps-october-2008/news-dhssps-101008-community-statistics-for.htm (10/10/08) (Accessed on 8 May 2009) 22. http://www.understandingindividualneeds.com/policyandprocedure/statistics.htm (Accessed on 24 April 2009)

Compare And Contrast Sociology Essay Essay

Sociology is based on two frameworks, namely structure-agency and conflict-consensus. These frameworks center around three founders of sociology, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx and Max Weber. This essay will attempt to demonstrate which author explains sociology within which framework. The structure used for this essay will be a point-by-point structure. This essay will start off with structure, move on to agency and then to conflict and lastly conclude with consensus. Structure is the social patterns, which influence and may restrict the choices and opportunities of the individual. Durkheim is a structuralist and explains structure through social facts. Social facts are the structures, values and norms, which surpass the individual and may lead to social constraint. Durkheim believes that structure together with hierarchy is the most important aspect of maintaining a civilized society. Similarly, Marx is also a structuralist. However, he explains structure through dialectical materialism. Through this, he believes that history is not driven by ideas but rather by economic and class interests. Thus, structure is based on what the interests of the most influential class (in an economic context) are. In contrast, Weber is not a structuralist and focuses on agency more than structure (this will be explained further later on). However he does explain structure through bureaucracy and a rational-legal model. He defines bureaucracy as routine tasks that become jurisdictional areas and are ordered by rules and regulations. Thus, structure can only optimally function if bureaucracy follows the strict rules and regulations put in place without any corruption. On the other hand, agency is the ability of individuals to make their own decisions and act independently through free will. Durkheim does not believe that society is based on the individual but more on the social structures around the individual. He maintains that individuals will come and go from social institutions, but institutions have a life over and above the individual and therefore structure plays a more influential role than agency. Likewise, Marx also believes that structure is more important than agency but also emphasizes the fact that structure leads to the detriment of the majority of individuals. This means that the majority of individuals’ interests are not taken into consideration and are over powered by the role of structure. On the contrary, Weber starts his argument with agency and explains agency through â€Å"verstehen† and the theory of social action. Weber maintains that it is important to understand why the individual does a certain action (â€Å"verstehen†) and that there are three different types of social action that make up a civilized society: Traditional action (actions carried out due to tradition and because that’s they way things have always been done), affective action (actions carried out due to emotion to express personal feelings) and rational action (actions carried out using reason to achieve a certain goal). Weber also believes that legitimate authority is based on agency and the free choice of individuals. The conflict theory maintains that social, material and economic inequality are the forces of social change within a society. Durkheim is of the belief that conflict will not achieve social change, but rather consensus (will be explained further later on). He stresses the fact that conflict will only cause disorder and chaos within a society and a society will not be able to move forward if there is too much conflict. However, Marx emphasizes conflict over consensus and that inequality and class conflict furthers one side of society (the bourgeoisie) and not the other (the proletariat) due to the economic interest of the upper class. Weber is in the middle of Durkheim and Marx on both conflict and consensus. Weber is of the opinion that conflict is due to inequality within a society and the fact that there are certain people in power by force (are not chosen to be in power), which contributes even more to conflict. In contrast to conflict, consensus maintains that social and economic systems are fair and sustain social order in society. Durkheim believes that for there to be a normative basis for order within a society, there has to be moral and normative consensus. This means that everyone within a society needs to have the same values, and when everyone has the same values they become norms for a society to live and act by. Marx on the other hand, does not believe in consensus but rather in conflict. He focuses on the fact that a society can only progress if there is conflict, not shared values and norms. If there is no economic interest within a society or class, a society will remain stagnant and not move forward. As stated before, Weber stands in the middle of Durkheim and Marx on consensus and states that for there to be consensus within a society, legitimate authority needs to be achieved through the consent of the people in a society. This means that all people should decide together on who should be given authority to do what. However he also believes that for a society to progress forward, conflict and consensus need to occur simultaneously. In conclusion, the three different authors all have very different but equally important viewpoints on society. Durkheim emphasizes structure over agency and consensus over conflict. Marx also focuses on structure over agency but rather conflict over consensus. And Weber stresses agency over structure and that conflict and consensus are equally important. Therefore Durkheim, Marx and Weber have many differences and similarities within the structure-agency and conflict-consensus frameworks.