RE: SOCW6060 - Instruments Measuring Resiliency - Response to 2 Students
Respond to two colleagues: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.Response to Erika,Applying the Concept of Resilience to My Field ExperienceMy field experience at MUST Ministries gave me valuable insight into the resilience that exists among the homeless population. MUST Ministries is a nonprofit organization that provides services, resources, and housing to the metro Atlanta homeless population. Society stigmatizes the homeless as failures who could not succeed in life. However, these individuals possess a resilience that enables them to survive tremendous adversity. In accounting for client strengths, the social worker must also acknowledge the types of adversity faced by the client. Turner (2017) describes adversity as having two primary dimensions: “shock” and “chronic conditions” (p.442). Turner (2017) explains that shock is typically associated with a specific tragedy (p.442). Chronic conditions refer to a complex accumulation of stressors developing for an extended period (Turner, 2017, p.442). A client who continues to face the adversity in her life with courage and perseverance demonstrates resiliency.The Resilient A. A.A particularly resilient client that I worked with was A.A. A. A., a caring, unique, animated, encouraging, survivor and world traveler, is a chronically homeless elderly female with a diagnosis of clinical depression with schizotypal features and chronic pain. She is unemployed but is present at the office almost daily requesting tasks and assignments to help her social worker and the other clients as well as actively participating in her recovery and mental stability. Her most significant issue is unresolved family trauma primarily centered around her abusive father. Implementing an Intervention to Foster A. A.’s ResilienceResiliency is a phenomenon that constantly evolves during an individual’s life (Vanderbilt-Adriance & Shaw, 2008 as cited by Turner, 2017). Resilience under a specific condition is not an absolute predictor of resilience under different circumstances (Vanderbilt-Adriance & Shaw, 2008 as cited by Turner, 2017). However, in the case of A. A. it is evident that she demonstrates resiliency in the face of tremendous odds throughout her life. Identifying her ability to survive her childhood trauma is valuable. However, focusing on that issue might cause A. A. to fixate on the pain inflicted by her father and her perceived blame thus making progress challenging. In my experience, completing a Timeline can help clients identify several instances where they exercised resiliency. It is crucial for the client to be able to prove to themselves that they have the capacity to withstand life’s challenges. In my experience, an individual may be able to verbal recount their experiences and how they coped with them. However, using pen and paper to organize the information provides a valuable perspective and physical evidence supporting the client’s ability to overcome adversity. Using the Resilience Scale with A. A.Assessing client resilience is useful in identifying strengths and planning change within the client system (Smith-Osborne & Bolton, 2013). I would use the Resilience Scale to assess A. A.’s resiliency. The Resilience Scale consists of 25 item 7-point Likert scale which was first used in the older female population (Wagnild & Young, 1990, as cited by Smith-Osborne & Bolton, 2013) which would include A. A.. It reflects a 6th grade reading level (Smith-Osborne & Bolton, 2013). This is appropriate because A. A. did not complete high school. Another benefit is that the Resilience Scale does not cost anything (Smith-Osborne & Bolton, 2013). Therefore, it is easily accessible for the homeless. Administering the Resilience Scale prior to completing the Timeline as well as after the social worker and A. A. have processed the Timeline may reveal any changes regarding A. A.’s perception of her resiliency.Conclusion During my time at MUST, I encountered many wonderful, resilient individuals. A. A. is a client who taught me lessons in perseverance. Recovery from trauma is a lifelong process. Even though A. A. shares openly about her hardships and successes, a concrete representation of her strength and life skills such as a Timeline could be useful. The impact that completing a Timeline and seeing one’s experiences on paper has a profound effect on the client. It makes their ability to demonstrate resilience harder to deny. The Resilience Scale can be administered before and after A. A. completes the Timeline to assess the effect the intervention on her life scope. I am grateful for my experience at MUST with A. A. and the other clients who demonstrate resiliency in their daily involvement in the recovery process. *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************Response to AleciaReflect on your fieldwork experience, and identify a case where it would have been beneficial to employ resiliency theory. Describe the case in 2 sentences.I had a case at Haven Hospice where my client was terminally ill with stomach cancer and was transitioning in the last stage. He was estranged from his children and was having difficulty because he was not able to see them before he passed.•Describe the presenting problem in one concise sentence. The intervention did not help the client to get closure before he passed of his terminal illness.•Describe an intervention you would implement to promote resiliency. The intervention that I would implement would be acceptance and commitment. By teaching acceptance and mindfulness such as being in contact with the present moment, acceptance, cognitive diffusion, and commitment several resilience factors would be fostered in resilience interventions based on acceptance. The acceptance of a full range of emotions taught in acceptance and commitment would result in a better adjustment to stressful conditions when dealing with a terminal illness. My client refused to find closure before he passed. He blamed himself for divorcing his wife and the result was his children didn’t want anything to do with him. •Identify an instrument from the Smith-Osborne and Whitehill Bolton’s article that would be appropriate when employing a single-subject design to evaluate how effective the intervention is in increasing the client’s level of resiliency.The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) would be appropriate when employing a single subject design to evaluate the effectiveness of intervention of resiliency.Resilience is associated with positive mental and physical health outcomes of successful stressful life conditions that exists (Cambells-Sills, Laura & Stein, 2007).•Explain why you selected the instrument.I selected this instrument because my client needed to be able to accept that his children did not want any reconciliation. He was in his last stage of a terminal illness that was inevitable. It would have been better if he could have had some peace with the situation before he passed. He was not willing to let it go or accept the moment for what it was. The CD-RISC has sound psychometric properties and distinguishes between those with greater and lesser resilience. The scale validates that resilience is adjustable and can improve with treatment, with greater improvement equivalent to higher levels of totaloverall improvement. •In other words, why would the instrument be appropriate? (Consider the age of the client and for whom the instrument was designed, how feasible it would be to administer the instrument such as cost, time to administer it, etc.).The need for this type of analytical approach is way overdue. This instrument is necessary because it aids social workers to better work with clients when they are facing difficulty such as terminal illness and finding closure (Smith-Osborne, Whitehill, 2013). Because of the age of my client this instrument was most appropriate. Resilience tend to increase with age my client was elderly and in his 90’s. This test would be cost effective and the time to administer because it could be done similar to how an intake assessment is conducted which is also cost effective when incorporated into the performance elements of the social worker tour of duty.Please include peer reviewed reference and answer in detailed explanation use subheading.