Social Work Intervention

Social work intervention had led to the placement of children in about half of these cases. Social workers did not always initiate these proceedings it could as easily happen that the relative carer would make contact with social work to alert them to the situation and also to try to elicit their support, not often successfully or, often, to their minds, very effectively. The most likely reason for intervention was concern that the child was at risk through parental preoccupation with drugs, as in the following case ... 

Treatment of Major Depression Social Work Intervention... 

An integral part of social work intervention with depressed clients is the inclusion of outcome measures that provide empirical data on changes in the reported symptoms and treatment effectiveness. Gathering empirical, objective data allows the social worker to evaluate the course of treatment, make changes in the treatment, and evaluate overall practice effectiveness (Dziegielewski Leon, 1998). Assessment instruments that provide baseline data and subsequent changes provide consistency for the entire interdisciplinary team. 

Many social workers are challenged by the task of how to best help the client with schizophrenia. Most agree, however, that medication treatment for the active symptomology of schizophrenia and the other psychotic disorders is an absolute necessity. Any type of verbal therapy by social workers or other mental health professionals is not productive until the client is stabilized, the psychosis is reduced, and some semblance of reality is restored. Once the client is stabilized, social work interventions that emphasize problem-solving methods may be used to address the significant problems that affect the daily lives of clients with schizophrenia. Strict behavioral intervention strategies may be employed that help clients become aware of their actions and the consequences on their levels of daily functioning (Sensky et al., 2000). 

There are certain responses and reactions that will occur within the environment that should always be considered, and it is the social worker s ability to assess and identify environmental concerns that makes social work intervention an essential component of any interdisciplinary team. 

---