You will identify an older adult (current client, character from movie, or famous person etc.);You will conduct a social work assessment of this individual guided by one or multiple frameworks/theories we discussed in class (e.g., biopsychosocial, cultural formulation interview, suffering, minority stress etc

Written Assignment

Social Work with Older Adults and their Families

Fall 2021

David Camacho PhD, MSW, MSG

Virtual Presentation: Week 9

Due Date for Final Written Assignment: 12/09/2021

Part A: Case Study, Assessment, and Virtual Presentation (40% of final class grade)

The first part of your assignment includes:

1. You will identify an older adult (current client, character from movie, or famous person etc.);
2. You will conduct a social work assessment of this individual guided by one or multiple frameworks/theories we discussed in class (e.g., biopsychosocial, cultural formulation interview, suffering, minority stress etc.);
3. Through this assessment, you will identify critical clinical needs and possible interventions points for your older adult;
4. You will identify one specific problem that you will you focus on for part B of this assignment. You may choose from any of the problem/concerns/health issues your older adult is experiencing (e.g., depression, anxiety, dementia etc.). In part B, you will focus on conducting a thorough literature review on an intervention(s) to address the identified problem;
5. Compose a brief (one page) case vignette of the older adult you are focusing on; and
6. You will present your assessment to the class via a power point presentation. This presentation will occur during week 9.

Part B: Written Assignment- Literature Review (50% of final class grade)

Assignment Length: 8-12 pages…remember, quality not quantity!

            The recent drive towards integrating evidenced-based treatment has led to an increase in the data collected on the effectiveness of various psychotherapeutic models.  Specific guidelines have been developed by various researchers to help students and clinicians in the process of understanding and evaluating the levels of effectiveness of different assessment tools as well as psychotherapeutic and pharmacological treatments. The goals of this assignment are to: 1) help familiarize you with current clinical interventions and the extant evidence that supports their use; 2) help you evaluate and critique available literature; and 3) synthesize clinical principles and values associated with these practices. 

Assignment Guidelines

Choose a specific problem from your case study.  For example, you might focus on family interventions for older adults with depression, or programs for older adults living with dementia. Alternatively, you may focus on one type of intervention (e.g., CBT) for depression in older adults. The identified problem or intervention can be one that is covered in the course, but if so, you should draw on literature beyond that listed in the course syllabus. Make sure to include all citations as necessary.

Layout of Final Manuscript

1. Attach Case Study to the Beginning of Final
2. Introduction
   1. State the problem you are addressing
      1. Depression, Dementia, Suicide etc.
      1. Pick one you are really interested in J
      1. Epidemiology
         1. What is the prevalence of this problem?
         1. Why is this an important problem?
            1. Does it affect other problems in life?
               1. Quality of life, functioning, mortality, $$$?
   1. What is the purpose of your literature review
      1. One treatment (e.g., intervention, programs); or
      1. Looking at multiple treatments for one problem?
   1. If you choose one specific intervention:
      1. Describe the assessments/intervention
         1. What is it?
         1. What does it do?
         1. What is the guiding theory?
         1. Other important information
3. Methods
   1. How did you identify your literature ?
      1. Key Words
      1. Run your search in at least three (3) databases
   1. What was your inclusion/exclusion criteria
      1. ****Be as specific as possible

• Results
  • Aim for approximately 6-8 original peer reviewed articles.
  • Describe the “eligible” articles you found
    • Create Categories
  • Categories
    • How were the outcomes measured?
    • Who were the interventionists (e.g., social workers, psychiatrist, community health workers etc.)?
    • What study design did they use (e.g., randomized control trials)
      • Think about the hierarchy of evidence
    • Sample-For example:
      • Sizes
      • Who participated in these studies?
      • Where were these participants from?
        • Country, State?
        • Large cities
        • Primary care, outpatient mental health clinic, emergency department
      • What were the studies inclusion/exclusion criteria?
  • Summarize your findings
    • Is the intervention effective?
      • Were there “statistically significant” effects?
    • Is the evidence conclusion/strong/equivocal?
• Discussion
  • Critique: Limitations
    • Think about power, race, oppression & privilege
      • Race
      • Culture
      • Gender
      • Language
      • Immigration Status
      • Education
      • Age
      • Socioeconomic Status
    • Who is not included in these studies?
    • Are results generalizable? Are results grounded in communities’ needs?
      • Consider: Has this been used with patients like yours?
  • Implications for Practice
    • What are the implications for your practice?
      • Would you use this/these intervention(s) with your client?
      • If so, HOW?
      • If not, WHY NOT?
    • What factors are some possible challenges in delivering this/these intervention(s)?
    • How would you track changes (improvement/worsening)?
• Reference List. List all references according to American Psychological Association (APA) style.  Papers that include references and citations that do not conform to APA format will lose points.  (Note—the reference list should not be included in the page count).

You will be graded on: 1) your ability to clearly state the purpose and goals for your paper; 2) your ability to synthesize the professional literature and other relevant information; 3) your ability to critically assess, synthesize, and organize the information gathered; 4) the overall quality of the paper (clarity of writing, organization, grammar, lack of typos, APA guidelines for all citations and referencing, etc.).