Background
A social worker is a professional dedicated to helping individuals, their families, groups, and communities navigate and overcome various social challenges to improve their well-being. Social workers are crucial in advocating for social justice, promoting human rights, and addressing fundamental issues contributing to inequality and deprivation.
Nevertheless, dealing with any client may be tiring, especially for newly arrived workers. A specific schema or plan should be developed, allowing the social worker to organize and keep track of their meetings. It can include points related to a client, such as examining their mental status, completing the biopsychosocial history, and examining the client’s spiritual views.
Organizing Client Assessments in Social Work
A mental status examination (MSE) is a structured assessment to evaluate an individual’s cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning. It demonstrates an overview of the current mental state of a person and helps to inform diagnostic impressions and treatment planning.
Corcoran and Walsh (2015) suggest a specific MSE format covering common psyche features. It includes a client’s appearance, speech, and cognition, among others. The first concerns the overall physical appearance of the client’s cultural group. If poorly presented, it may imply indifference or an inability to care about appearance.
The second feature deals with the elements of a person’s speech. It involves voice volume, speed, and even the clarity of answers. Cognition describes the process of perceiving the world around an individual. It helps to estimate the level of long- and short-term memory development, understanding of basic math, or abstract thinking.
The questions asked to obtain the information required for an MSE can vary extensively, from a person’s basic introduction to peculiar or even personal concerns. For instance, it may start with “Do you control your other hand the same as your main hand?” at first, but become more precise, like “What do people around you say about you?” later.
Understanding the Biopsychosocial History
Biopsychosocial history comprehensively evaluates an individual’s biological, psychological, and social aspects. The assessment focuses on understanding the individual within the context of their unique experiences, relationships, and environmental factors. In the 1960s and 1970s, a common biopsychosocial model was developed. As Herrera (2022) points out, it can increase “awareness of the complexity surrounding health issues and the multitude of factors <…> that affect someone’s well-being” (19).
The information gathered during the biopsychosocial history informs diagnosis, treatment planning, and intervention strategies. It is crucial to balance and evaluate the level of privacy of the questions used to gain information about the client. There may be contexts where such a question as “Do you keep in touch with your friends from school?” is considered too personal.
Incorporating Spiritual Beliefs into Practice
As a social worker, it is vital to recognize and respect clients’ diverse spiritual and religious beliefs. Understanding them can be integral to providing complete and culturally sensitive care. Crisp (2020) suggests that “…spirituality has a place in a much wider range of fields of practice than previously and that spirituality has a place in social work beyond direct practice” (p. 971).
A client’s spirituality is personal and deeply rooted in their identity. Acknowledging and respecting their spiritual views can promote a stronger therapeutic alliance and support their overall well-being. Similar to the previous topics, the arrangement of questions about the client’s denomination should remain from general to precise to avoid tension or pressure. For example, it may be the basic “Are you a religious person?” at first, and turn into “Do you argue with your atheist friends?” later.
References
Corcoran, J., & Walsh, J. (2015). Mental Status Examination. In A. Dodge (Ed.), Mental Health in Social Work (2nd ed., pp. 4-5).
Herrera, S. G. (2022). Biography-Driven culturally responsive teaching: Honoring race, ethnicity, and personal history. Teachers College Press.
Crisp, B. R. (2020). Charting the development of spirituality in social work in the second decade of the 21st century: A critical commentary. The British Journal of Social Work, 74(4), pp. 961-978. Web.