Assignment #1 – My Agency
I work in an agency called PHC. My agency is a multispecialty clinic which has many physicians from internal medicine, pediatrician, psychiatrist, psychologist, social workers, Occupational therapist, Physical therapist...etc. This clinic only takes straight Medicaid and nothing else. My population is mainly developmentally challenge young adults who suffer from CP, MR, autism and many other physical and intellectual challenges. Most of my consumers are caregivers because a lot of the clients are very little from 7-14 years of age. And in addition a few of my clients are over 45.
My role in the placement is to provide case management services to families and individuals. I make sure that before I proceed in helping them obtain Medicaid Service Coordinator all of their psychological evaluation, psychosocial and physical exam are new and upto date. If families are asking for services and none of these requirements are upto date there will be a delay in obtaining it for them.
Since my clinic is multispecialty almost every room in filled up. Because of that majority of my clients I don't see and have to deal with over the telephone. That has been the biggest struggle for me because I don't know them completely and they resist talking over the phone. But luckily now I have 2 new clients with whom I will be providing supportive counseling to weekly until May. So I will see them in total of approximately 10 times.
The goal of these new clients is to relieve their depression and help provide support in their struggles within their family dynamics.
Zoya, you're agency sounds very interesting and the work you are doing is important! I am not completely clear about who the majority of your clients are: are they the parents of the 7-14 year olds with disabilities or are they young adults with disabilities? As you move on in your semester's project, think about defining the specific problem with one of the two new clients you are seeing. Is the depression a result of illness and disability or is it part of a family dynamic? This will help you frame your intervention and shape your work. I'm looking forward to reading more!
ReplyDeleteWendy, Thank you! To answer your question - most of my clients are caregivers of those children who suffer from a disability. As far as the two new clients they are both females ages 45+ one suffers from severe depression while the other has polio and wants to be around "normal" people. She was in a day program and left because she felt she did not fit in there. I do not know much more on her yet....as far as the other female who suffers from depression she is more of a challenging one. She's had a very poor family dynamic lifestyle and as a result since her teenage years she's been depressed and cannot repress some things that have happened to her. She is married and has a daughter but very poor communication with her husband, which upsets her even more. I want to try to relieve her anger and depression, but I cannot do more than just have weekly sessions with her. Do you have any suggestions?? Thanks for reading!
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