bereavement care and social work

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Format: missing heading and pagination. This is really interesting and I can see how important this is to a social worker. In the introduction, the thesis comes across more as informational than argumentative, though, so going forward, that’s certainly one area you want to focus on. Remember you’re supposed to be arguing for or against something, and this argument needs to be clear in the thesis. The introduction also needs more development, though I suspect that will come once you determine what, exactly, your argument is. For your first body paragraph, we also need more development. Mostly, we need more of what you have to say/argue. You have a long quote (which isn’t formatted properly), and one sentence that is yours. Instead, we should have a strong topic sentence that supports the thesis, your claim/argument/ideas, and then the support from the quote. The same goes for other body paragraphs. The conclusion sounds well, though there is room for more development. There are some grammatical and citation errors. Finally, remember to include a works cited in the final draft.

“Bereavement Care and Social Work”

Working with the families of deceased loved ones is a very important aspect of social work. Sometimes the death of a loved one is very sudden and unexpected leaving the family with questions and frustrations. It is important for the social worker to have a very clear understanding of the process of grieving and how to best help and work with the friends and loved ones of the deceased people

As a social worker it is key to know the steps of the generalist intervention model, “engagement where the social worker builds rapport with the client, assessment where the worker assess the client’s needs, planning where the social worker lays out the plan to help the client, implementation where the social worker helps the client work through the plan, evolution where the social worker asses how well the plan is working, termination where the social worker helps the client resolve any emotional reactions, and follow up where the social worker makes sure that the client is getting all of their needs met and refers the client to other services they may needs” (Kirst-Ashman, 2009). Having a good understanding of the generalist intervention models’ steps is the best way for a social worker to help a client.

Bereavement is defined as “a period of mourning after a loss, particularly after the demise of a loved one” (Becker, 2014). The social worker must have a good understanding of the competencies that are necessary to work with the family of the deceased loved one. Grief is the process of responding to a loss. According to skills competencies checklist 2015, “supporting clients and families who experience grief consists of helping them understand emotions and behaviors commonly experienced during grief and providing supportive interventions” (Therivel, 2015).

The social worker should express interest in discussing the client and family’s loss and offers them an opportunity to speak and feel heard by the social worker. According to Theirvel, “the social worker should use a combination of direct and open-ended questions to identify short-term goals, the need for assistance if clients are providing care to loved one, and other support needs, the social worker should use direct questions to identify coping strategies, personal needs, and spiritual resources, provide individual supportive grief therapy if indicated using the social workers grief model of choice that best fits the client’s needs, the social worker could also provide or refer the client or family to group therapy that will likely be time limited and targeted towards a specific type of loss, the social worker should be able to recognizes complicated grief or risk factors for complicated grief” (Theirvel, 2015).

The post-procedural responsibilities of the social worker would be to, “document assessment findings, interventions performed, and client’s response to interventions in the client’s record according to facility guidelines. Reinforce client education, including that after receiving grief support clients and family members should find comfort in relationships with others, express grief as a response to loss according to their individual comfort levels and cultural and religious influences, recognize and utilize effective coping strategies, and begin to set goals and return to prior routines” (Theirvel, 2015). The best thing a social worker can do for their clients is to ensure that the client and/or family have all referrals or resources needed for returning to the community.

In this client system, the social worker would be working in the mezzo is of practice with the close friends and families of the deceased loved one to help them understand the grieving process. In the mezzo level of social work, the social worker will work with different clients from medium-sized to small schools, businesses, neighborhoods and local associations, and other undersized gatherings. Working in the mezzo practice of bereavement has been used in some high schools when a student passes away in a sudden accident, the school then calls in extra counselors to speak with the student and help them sort out their grief.

The instruments of oppression that are looked by the loved ones of a lost adored one could be that the family is left with a type of weight from the lost cherished one, for example, obligation or burial service costs. The oppression could even be mental or physical the family could be left with questions and frustration causing the family members to become depressed. Anxiety could be a mechanism of oppression because a member of the family could become anxious about their own death.

The discrimination factors that can come with death are, “race, finances, family status if the person was in jail and or executed” (Parvu, 2015). A person can face racial discrimination even after their death or their family can face discrimination. The family of the deceased loved one can face discrimination with finances because the death happened very suddenly, and the family was not fanatically prepared to pay for funeral costs, in this case, some families choose to fundraise to help pay for the funeral costs. Some people may discriminate against the family that chooses to fundraise because maybe they believe that they should have had insurance, or they may be discriminated against because of race. The family can be discriminated against by people because of their status as a family within the community. A family that has lost money may not face the same discrimination as a very poor family. A poor family may only be able to use a certain funeral home or a certain cemetery because of expenses, whereas a family that is wealthy can use any funeral home in town and any cemetery in town.

The first step in the generalist intervention model is engagement. This is where the social worker greets the client, demonstrate that they are listening to the client by, listening carefully, making eye contact, focus on the client’s thoughts and feelings. A social worker handling a bereavement client ought to give them an ear to understand how the client and or family is feeling and show them support and build a good rapport with the client and or family.

The second phase of the general intervention model is an evaluation. This is when the social worker picks information and obtains an understanding of an issue, what causes the issue or problem, or and what can be altered to reduce sort out the problem” (Kirst-Ashman, 2009).

The third phase of the general intervention model is, “planning, when planning a social worker should plan how they are going to help the client and prioritize problems and come up with an intervention plan.

The fourth phase of the generalist intervention model is, “implementation in the implementation phase the social worker will follow the plan, monitor progress, revise plan if and when necessary, and complete the plan to the best of the client’s abilities” (Kirst-Ashman, 2009). This is one of the most important phases for clients because it shows them that they can change their own lives and begin to make it better.

The fifth phase of the generalist intervention model is, “evaluation, in this phase the client can take a satisfaction questionnaire, or target-problem scaling” either of these would work best for a client going through bereavement because with bereavement there are not a whole lot of goals to actually achieve.

The sixth phase of the generalist intervention model is, “termination in this phase the social worker decides when to end, assess accomplishment of objectives, maintain and keep on development, sort out emotional responses of the client and worker, and make suitable referrals” (Kirst-Ashton, 2009). Working with a client in bereavement services the most important phase to focus on is to resolve emotional reactions because you can’t terminate with a client that is still very emotional and non-understanding of the death. The second most important aspect to focus on is making appropriate referrals so that the client can continue to be successful.

The last phase of the generalist intervention model is a follow-up. This is where the social worker discusses any problems with the client and straightens out any difficulties the client may be having (Kirst-Ashman, 2009). This is a very important phase because you don’t want the client to feel like you no longer care. It is very important to continue to show the client that you care and that you are trying to help them even after the termination of services.

Some of the difficulties with working with a bereavement client would be a separation of emotions. In some cases, it could be hard not to cry with the family over their loss. As a social worker, it is important to be strong for our clients but also be companionate at the same time and understand that they are going through something really tough. It may also be difficult to terminate services with a client that still seems rattled by the loss of a loved one. If this becomes a problem the best thing to do may be to refer the client to another social worker in the office or even at another agency so that you don’t get attached.

Work Cited

Becker, A. (2014). Sudden Traumatic Loss and Complicated Grief. Social Work Reference Guide,

Therivel, J. (2015). Clients and Families in Grief.Social Work Reference Guide,

Parvu, A. (2015). Ethical dilemmas in the doctor-Roma patient relationship, from the perspective of health mediators. Revista De AsistentaSociala (Social Work Review), 14(2), 67-79.

Duke University Medical Center. (2015,Sep 23). Retrieved Nov 01, 2015

Wilson, J. (2011). The assimilation of problematic experiences sequence: An approach to evidence-based practice in bereavement counseling. Journal Of Social Work In End-Of-Life & Palliative Care, 7(4), 350-362.

Kirst-Ashamn. (2009). Generalist Practice With Organizations & Communities (Vol. 4). U.S. A: Cengage.

 

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