Undertaking assessments as a social worker is often a key feature of the role. There are many ways and styles to undertake assessments as has been d

Background

Undertaking assessments as a social worker is often a key feature of the role. There are many ways and styles to undertake assessments as has been discussed in this unit. Introduced in week 4, the Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Assessment is a model often used in health care or mental health environments. Organisations using this tool often adapt it for their local / service context this assessment task will provide a template example to undertake an assessment via a role play case study to simulate undertaking this kind of assessment in practice. You will be provided with substantial guidance during week 4 on the use of this assessment template.

Assessments in social work often present challenges particularly when working with diverse groups and/or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. This assessment task also includes a written reflection to reflect on your experience of undertaking the assessment and to consider the critique of the tool and what you may do to adapt your practice to ensure the requirement of undertaking an assessment is met appropriately. Reflection is also a critical part of strengthening practice as a social worker.

Instructions

This assessment has threecomponents:

Undertake a role play with a peer using one of two provided case studies to model a Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Assessment.

Write up the Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Assessment using the provided template (1500 words).

Complete a reflection about completing the assessment including strengths, challenges, and adaptions that you would make when undertaking this task in future (500 words).

Step 1:During tutorials in week 6 you will decide on/be allocated a pair to work with for this assessment task.

Step 2:In your pairs, you need to arrange a time to meet (either online or face to face depending on location) to undertake a role play.Add your role play in the Go React space provided here.

There are two case studies provided in this assessment task, each person in the pair should do a different case study.

One person plays the role of service participant using the information provided in the case study and the other plays the role of the social worker then swap.

When playing the role of the service user you will need to embellish some of the details to ensure a complete assessment this is okay and will be accounted for by the marker. Note: You are not required to undertake any standardised assessment or mental state exams if you feel this is necessary in the case study, you can note what you would do but do not undertake the exam.

When playing the role of the social worker you are to undertake a Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Assessment using the provided template:

Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Assessment TemplateRole plays will need to go for 10-15 minutes to ascertain enough detail to complete the Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Assessment. You can assume limited confidentiality and consent has been completed and you can just commence with the assessment component of the interview.

Step 3:Finalise the Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Assessment via the template filling in and completing any notes that you had during the assessment interview that should be reflected on the template. This document forms part of the submission for this assessment task and should be approximately 1500 words of your own excluding the prompts and headings in the template which totals 200 words.

Step 4:Write a reflection of 500 words of your experience undertaking the assessment. Consider:

What were the strengths and challenges of undertaking the assessment? Including the format of the assessment, skills, and available information.

Do you feel like it was appropriate to undertake this assessment at the time you were prompted to do so by the case study?

Are there things you would do differently in the future? Including would you advocate for a different approach to be taken, if so, what would that look like and why?

You may choose to use any of the reflective writing models/approaches that have been introduced to you so far in your MSW(Q) studies you should indicate at the outset which model / approach you have adopted and reference accordingly. It is permissible to use the Gibbs (1988) model from Assessment 1 in this unit if you would like to.

Remember Only choose one of the case studies to develop your presentation.

Case study 1

Gavin

Gavin has presented to your health service seeking support. His wife has given him an ultimatum asking him to choose between his wife and child or alcohol, and from his grandfather who told him that he would not pass on the knowledge unless he gave up alcohol.

Gavin is an Aboriginal man, aged 47. Gavin came to his current community as a teenager because of his link to his grandmother. Gavin's parents and grandparents had been affected by policies relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland, Australia including those giving rise to the stolen generation and to birthing being disallowed in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities.

"My grandma was one of the firstborn here but taken (to another place) as soon as she was born. I had a good relationship with my grandma so came to this place and didn't leave"

Gavin has had a long history of alcohol use. Gavin's mother ensured that he obtained an education, and he was employed for much of the time that he used alcohol.

Gavin shares that his use of alcohol has been a way of coping with his depression.

"I was able to hide my depression real good. I self-medicated with alcohol and hid within the stereotype of 'black fella, he's just drunk'... The drink gave me a sense of euphoria and took away the pain..."

"I didn't think I had a problem even when I was losing friends and family. With education, I was able to work so could afford alcohol. Everyone was around me because I could afford it. Some days I would turn up to work and couldn't think or I would take sick days. Nothing was said at work".

Gavin has had some experience of support services ... but they had been in response to emergency events and the services have not engaged him long-term.

"No-on came to us to talk about harm, we would need to go to the service. I had two visits to the hospital for alcohol poisoning. Staff in the hospital reminded me of growing up on a mission where someone of privilege would talk down to me. The hospital staff did not really care about me my support group was my drinking mates they were there to put me down. They don't know the life experience; they have no experience. They were talking about the physical body, not the impact mentally and spiritually..."

Case study taken from:Queensland Mental Health Commission (2020) 'Don't judge and listen: Case studies from the Queensland Mental Health Commission's research project into the impact of stigma and Discrimination on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experiencing problematic alcohol and other drug use.'

There are relevant readings from week 3 and 4 for this assessment. Ensure that you have read and engaged with the following readings before undertaking this assessment task:

Gale (2022)

Hepworth (2016)

Balestrery (2023)

The submission in total should be 2000 words and include a completed Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Assessment and written reflection in a single document.

You are not assessed on the recording of your role play, but we advise that you use Goreact to record so you can look back on it to finalise the written component of the assessment.

Each student needs to submit their own individual Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Assessment and written reflection based on their own assessment interview.

The tutorial in week 4 will focus in a dedicated way on undertaking a Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Assessment including working through an example in detail it is strongly encouraged that you do not miss this tutorial class to gain the most benefit. The session is recorded for those who cannot attend.

There are some useful resources available viaThe Social Work GraduateLinks to an external site.to guide on skills and approaches in undertaking a Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Assessment.

The course convenor is available to discuss any challenges which emerge with this task including if there are difficulties in arranging to facilitate the role play. Any issues need to be raised before the due date of this task so that they can be resolved without risking late submission of the assessment.

References are required in the reflection component of this assessment specifically when thinking about challenges or adaptations that you would make, these should be substantiated by scholarly evidence. In selecting the questions that you ask in addition to what is prompted you may also include references as to where / why you selected the questions you chose to ask this should be recorded in the reflection.

Referencing style:APA 7th Edition Links to an external site.

BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL-SPIRITUAL ASSESSMENT TEMPLATE

Basic Information

Name

Preferred Name

Gender

Cultural Background

Summary of Reason for Referral

Date of Assessment

Understanding / Assessing Presenting Needs

Domain Strengths Stressors History

Physical Health

(e.g., describe your physical health (as you understand it) now? Has it always been this way?)

Mental Health

(e.g., are there any recent events that impact on your thoughts, feelings? Has this been the same in the past? What is different?)

Familial Relationships

(e.g., can you tell me about relationships with people like your parents, grandparents, partner, children etc?)

Social Relationships

(e.g., Are there people in your life that you turn to if you need help? Are they people you spend time with, have fun with?)

Spiritual

(e.g., Do you have a spiritual belief system? Can you describe it?)

Cultural

(e.g., do you identify with a cultural / racial identity? What are important values / beliefs from your cultural perspective?)

Exploring Supports & Establishing Goals

What are your goals / intentions for seeking support?

Can you think of ways we / I may be able to help you do this?

Are there any immediate resources that would support you to feel like engaging with us / me is meaningful?