Southern New Hampshire University Effective Advocacy In Social Work Peer Responses
Read a selection of your colleagues' posts.Respond to at least two colleagues in one of the following ways:Critique your colleague's suggestion about how to apply a systems perspective to Lester Johnson's case.Identify one way that a concept in your colleague's post might contribute towards advocacy and social change.Discuss how you might apply the empowerment and strengths approach to one of the concepts your colleague has presented.Be sure to support your responses with specific references to the resources. If you are using additional articles, be sure to provide full APA-formatted citations for your references.Colleague 1: JessicaMultiple Systems Interactions and the Impact Every individual has many systems that make up their life: work, school, religious activities, family, etc. (Zastrow et. al., 2019). These systems all work together to create a homeostasis in an individual’s life, a sense of balance in life (Zastrow et. al., 2019). When something goes wrong within one of these systems it can throw off the balance and cause chaos in that individual’s life, until they fix the system to have an equal amount of input as output from the system to get back the balance or homeostasis within that system (Zastrow et. al., 2019). Systems and Lester JohnsonIn the case of Lester he had many systems working together that created a sense of homeostasis for his life until the car accident (Plummer et. al., 2014). This incident threw off the balance of all Lester’s systems in his life as he was not able to work, go to church, live on his own, or care for himself anymore. Lester’s family worked to try and gain a balance back for Lester so he could go back to his systems of church, work and self-sufficiency however the injuries from his accident would not allow him to do that (Plummer et. al., 2014). A social worker should look at these systems and try to find a balance, an equal amount of input and output to gain balance back in Lester’s life. This could look like an in-home nurse to help Lester with cooking, cleaning, daily hygiene combined with transportation services to allow him to get back to his place of worship. Finding and adding services to support Lester will allow his family to go back to their normal lives and allows Lester to gain some balance in his life. Systems and Social WorkLooking through the lens of systems theory allows social workers to take into account all of the different aspects of an individuals life and see how these systems are affecting this individual (Zastrow et. al., 2019). If a system is not working then the social worker can provide resources or support to fix or eliminate the system so the individual can gain that homeostasis in their life. An individual’s environment and all of the people that make up that environment influence and impact that individual, as a social worker they should be evaluating those systems and ensuring they are maintain a sense of homeostasis for the individual. Reference: Plummer, S. B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. M. (Eds.). (2014). Social Work Case Studies: Foundation year. Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader]. Working With People With Disabilities: The Case of Lester. (pp. 31-33). Zastrow, C. H., Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hessenauer, S. L. (2019). Understanding human behavior and the social environment (11thed.). Cengage Learning. Colleague 2: MarlisaMain Question Post Discussion in which you explain how multiple systems interact to impact individuals. There are three main systems in which individuals are involved in micro (Individual), mezzo (groups), and macro (community level systems) (Zastrow, et al, 2018, 35). Individuals interactions within these systems can be quite stable, having equal input and output, achieving a level of homeostasis (balance), however there are times when individuals experience imbalances in the systems (school, work, family, community) and social workers become tasked with helping them restore the balance through services, counseling, intervention. Social workers take on several roles to help individuals at these times, roles include those of advocacy, mediator, enabler, activist, facilitator, public speaker. Too imbalances are not solely restricted to clients alone, as a social worker working within client system’s we too can experience impact of input we are taking in from clients, and experience things like compassion fatigue, professional burnout. As noted in previous discussions to maintain balance, homeostasis, in our own life, we need to be able to create a work-life balance, we need to adapt a professional self-care model.Explain how you, as a social worker, might apply a systems perspective to your work with Lester Johnson.First, I would identify the systems starting with the family (2 children, brother, and sister-in-law), at this point I would not include the church as part of the family system, though he was active and a member, this was an organization in which we do not know the extend of how involved they will be in his care. As an African American male, who was involved with a church, nor would I completely dismiss them as a resource out of hand, I would wait and see what extend Lester, if he’s able, and his family would want them involved and included or not included in the family dynamic. As social workers we need to recognize, family is who the person says is their family, there are connections made which cannot always be classified and understood, must allow clients to be the tellers of their own story and put people and events into perspective. As the social worker noted in the case study, needed to bring the family together, develop a consensus with Lester (to the best of his ability) on what to do next. As noted, Lester lacked insight and his brother was unrealistic, in wanting point in time for things to go back to normal. Social workers may have to assume the role of educator.The next systems I would work with is the Health care-rehabilitation center (physical needs to be met), the legal system (competency an issue, or activation of POA), Social Security Administration another system (long term disability benefits), previous employer system (pension and determine if he has private long term disability benefits through employer). Referrals may need to be made to long term care facilities as his potential for improvement was guarded and unclear.Finally, explain how you might apply a systems perspective to social work practice.The systems perspective allows us to see who and what clients meet, what they draw on and what takes away from them in terms of energy. Client systems and understanding them helps us shape and develop plans of care for them, in achieving good treatment outcomes, making accurate referrals, and helps in goal setting.ReferencesZastrow, C., Kirst-Ashman, K.K., & Hessenauer, S. L., (2018) Empowerment Series: Understanding human behavior and social environment. Cengage Learning