Setting Goals

One of the critical functions of a social worker is helping clients meet their goals. The goals may entail improving the client’s quality of life or maybe therapeutic – to overcome a challenging issue in their life. Besides, a client may have several challenges, which require a social worker setting several goals simultaneously. Therefore, goals should be SMART and designed to promote holistic recovery or improve a client’s quality of life. From my video analysis, the client requires financial support, mental health support, and social support, from which financial support is the most urgent.

Goals

My client requires financial support, mental health support, and social support. Regarding financial support, she explains that they have not acquired the right treatment and diagnosis of their son due to financial constraints. This is a common issue due to the recent economic impacts of the covid-19 pandemic, which has cost many people to lose jobs and business. She has also been homeless before. Therefore, she needs strategies to overcome their financial challenges. Concerning mental health, the client expresses that her son is a bit overwhelming. The son has many issues that the client has to deal with, which has caused significant stress. It is a mental disturbance that needs mental health support. In this goal, the client will learn and understand the developmental stages and changes to his son and adopt the best coping techniques. Besides, if the stress continues, the client may end up in depression, which is a more severe mental health issue (Hepworth et al., 2017). Lastly, the client does not have a robust social support system, which can help overcome some overwhelming son issues. This happens when people withdraw during a crisis, escalating the challenges they face at that time. One of the goals will be to establish a social support system from which the client can talk, listen, and share experiences to overcome their challenges.

Identifying the Goals

I have identified these goals through interview and self-determination models. In the interview session, which is recorded in the video, I used semi-structured questions to enable the client to give details about themselves, the son and other factors in their social life. Semi-structured questions enable identifying the apparent challenge and the missing links underlying the challenge (Alio, 2017). For instance, when the client is asked why they think the son is developing, not like other children, she does not have a definite answer. That reveals that the developmental changes of her son are ambiguous and stresses her. From a self-determination approach, I addressed some general psychological issues, which probe their competency, autonomy, and relatedness to common social issues (Alio, 2017). For instance, through relatedness, I can find that the client faces financial issues that have faced many people in the past year.

While all goals are critical, I have identified that financial support is the priority. First, it is challenging the health condition of the client’s son and increasing stresses. Besides, physiological needs are the first in the Maslow hierarchy of needs (Alio, 2017). As such, I will ensure that she can access quality care for her son, which may entail Medicaid or children insurance programs. Mental health is critical, but since she has not suffered any mental health problems in the past, I rate it as the second priority. Both the client and the son ought to attend family therapy so that the therapist can identify the underlying issues and develop a therapeutic plan. Social support is the least priority since it complements the work that the social work professional will do to promote the client’s wellbeing.

Measuring the Goals

The three goals can be measured through the Needs Assessment and Outcome Assessment. Over the Needs Assessment, the intention is to identify the needs gaps that might be causing the client’s challenges (Beran, 2015). For instance, the Needs Assessment prompts understanding human needs to assess the underlying challenges that exist after a certain need (Alio, 2017). This assessment may utilize frameworks such as the Maslow hierarchy of needs. Through the Outcome Assessment measure, a goal is rated according to the level of intervention needed. As such, the most urgent needs necessitate immediate outcomes. Therefore, I will measure the urgency of client needs and the degree of significance of each goal’s expected outcomes.

Justification

The goals identified in this case are SMART and, thus, should be implemented. For instance, the financial goal is critical and can be implemented within a few weeks. The client needs to understand the health insurance industry and identify affordable healthcare programs such as the children’s health insurance programs. This will help her tremendously evade medical costs and improve her financial wellbeing, such as avoiding being homeless again. Gaining mental health will enable the client to thing critical about other life issues, such as the development of her son and the need for social support. While she may not understand it now, her life stresses are critical and can cause depression if left unattended. Lastly, many people are facing similar social issues at the client or who have already overcome them. Joining social groups in the community provides motivation and encouragement to pursue other goals and resources to achieve a better life quality.

To sum up, my client requires financial support, mental health support, and social support. I have identified these goals through interview and self-determination models. They are all goals. They are critical, BUT I have identified that financial support is the priority, followed by mental health and social support, respectively. The three goals can be measured through the Needs Assessment and Outcome Assessment.

References

Hepworth, H. Dean, Rooney, H. R, Rooney Dewberry, G, & Strom-Gottfried, K. (2017). Direct Social Work Practice: Theory and Skills. Cengage Learning.

Alio, P. A. (2017). Identifying, prioritizing and addressing client needs: Strategies for home visitors. University of Rochester Medical Center, NYS Maternal & Infant Health Center of Excellence, Rochester, NY, 14642.

Beran, D. (2015). Needs and Needs Assessments. SAGE Open, 5(2), 215824401558037. doi: 10.1177/2158244015580375