SUPPORTING SIGNIFICANT LIFE EVENTS

Case Study - Veering Between The Alcohol Cabinet And The Wife And Kids

Richard has spent the previous two years dealing with Alcohol addiction until this June when his wife Sophie made use of the Health Insurance and sent him to the 28-day Recovery for Addiction Programme. The following are snippets of Sophie's account of this significant life event, which moulded their future together with their 3 kids:

"Three months have passed and my husband is still sober. It feels like a miracle, and I am incredibly proud of all that he has achieved. However, the last few weeks before his trip to the Addiction Programme, had been the toughest in our relationship...........I began to behave like the crazy, scorned wife. I hid all the alcohol in the house. I tipped wine down the drain. I marked spirit bottles when I went to bed and checked them in the morning to see if they'd gone down - all in vain because an alcoholic will always be able to find a drink...... My husband did insane things too. I thought he was Jesus when I poured myself vodka one evening and pure water came out of the full bottle!..........."

"For some reason, nobody had told us that life after rehab would be quite so challenging - or if they had, we weren't listening...... Within a couple of hours of my husband returning from the Priory (Addiction Centre), I was in bed with a cruelly timed bout of food poisoning. No longer protected by the secure walls of the hospital - he was left to run the house. Within a day, the house was a cesspit of germs, dirty dishes, three craggy children and general disorder. He couldn't cope with the stresses of family life only a few hours after leaving the priory (rehab)"

"Our post-rehab support included a bunch of self-help leaflets which provided general guidelines on how to support your spouse to prevent a recurrence - I think John (the Healthcare worker appointed to Richard) had had enough of Richard's tantrums and was ecstatic to see me pick him up on the last day! As helpful as the leaflets may have been, I was terrible at these manuals thus opted for a more interactive way to helping Richard and I survive our marriage and prevent any recurrence of his addiction. We joined Focus Group at our local Community Centre where people who had been through what we had been could share their experiences and how they were coping. I think these 3 months have seen Richard sober because of Tim (the Focus Group's leader). Before Rehab, he had lost all of his friends because of his excessive drinking and disgruntled attitude but this Focus Group has given him confidence and friends back."

The extract above was adopted from Barden's, 2013 article in the Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/may/11/after-rehab-my-husband-alcoholic

TASKS

LO 1 Understand how significant life events impact on individuals and their social networks

TASK 1

Task 1.1 With Reference to the case study; explain the impact of significant life events on individuals namely Richard and Sophie.
ANSWER SHOULD INCLUDE: Life events: events and transitions associated with life stages (childhood, adolescence, adulthood, middle age, old age, dying); physical, social, psychological changes relating to eg lifestyle, relationships, health, illness, disability, economic circumstances, cultural difference

Task 1.2 Analyse possible group responses to significant life events that occur to one of its members (examine Richard and Sophie's Friends and co-workers response to his addiction).

ANSWER SHOULD INCLUDE: Impact: psychological eg depression, emotional stress; physical eg reduced mobility, loss of function; social eg behavioural, detachment

Task 1.3 Taking the case study in to consideration, analyse the impact for others in health and social care (John and Tim) when an individual experiences significant life events.

ANSWER SHOULD INCLUDE: Groups: life partnerships, family, friends, communities; care workers, colleagues; users of health and social care services

M1: Analyse concepts, theories or principles to formulate a response to deal with Richard's addiction.

D1: Evaluate approaches to develop strategies in response to actual or anticipated situations.

LO2 Understand the support available for individuals experiencing significant life events

TASK 2

Task 2.1 Looking at the case study, evaluate the effectiveness of organisational policies and procedures in supporting Richard and Sophie and their social networks affected by their significant life event.

ANSWER SHOULD INCLUDE: Support received from: family, friends, groups, communities; other users of health and social care services, care workers

Task 2.2 Explain how others in social networks may provide support to Richard and Sophie.

ANSWER SHOULD INCLUDE: Support: based on policies and procedures eg confidentiality, bereavement, accessing specialist services

Task 2.3 Evaluate the suitability of external sources of support for those affected by significant life events with reference to the case study.

ANSWER SHOULD INCLUDE: External sources of support: specialists within the health and social care sector and the framework within which they work; support therapies eg counselling, aromatherapy; cultural, faith communities; agencies eg the Deaf Society, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), the Dementia Association; information and advice eg financial, legal

M2: What policies, schemes in your opinion, should be implemented to support families dealing with a challenging life event such as a bereavement or terminal illness.

D2: Evaluate the external sources and social networks are available to supports families dealing with a challenging life event such as bereavement.

LO3 Be able to analyse responses made by health and social care services to support individuals experiencing significant life events.

TASK 3

Task 3.1 Analyse possible organisational responses to the need to support Richard and Sophie who are experiencing a significant life event.
ANSWER SHOULD INCLUDE: Organisational responses: applying policies and procedures; critical incident responses; routines; support for those in social networks; respect for rituals; adaptations to service eg equipment; personal care

Task 3.2 Reflect on own personal contributions to the support of individuals experiencing significant life events. Have you ever helped someone experiencing a significant life event?

ANSWER SHOULD INCLUDE: Personal experiences: in the workplace, other experience (at the discretion of individual learners) sufficient to recognise place of learner self-awareness in relation to supporting others

Task 3.3 Make recommendations for improving the support available in a health and social care organisation for individuals and their social networks when affected by Alcohol Addiction as in the case study.

ANSWER SHOULD INCLUDE: Recommendations: for improvement to support eg for policies, procedures, organisational culture, management style, accommodation and facilities

M3: Provide an extensive list of references from a variety of sources at the end of your assignment and also support your argument with in-text referencing (both Harvard style).

D3: Demonstrate lateral and creative thinking.

Resources for learners:

Books:

1. Sugarmon, Leonie. Lifespan Development. Framework, Accounts and Strategies (2nd edn.) Routledge, 2001.

2. Taylor, I (ed.) Active Psychology, Longman