SOWK 432 Week 6 DB Forum 3 Example

Discussion Board Forum 3: Thread and Two Replies

SOWK 432 Social Work with Aging Adults, Discussion Board Forum 3 (thread and two replies)

Thread by [Student Name]

The prompt, the client, his family and the classmates' posts are composites standing in for the course's own forum; Scripture, the textbook and the journal articles are real and described from their published sources; the requirements follow Liberty's public course guide for SOWK 432.

Thread

Mr. Earl Simmons, a composite 84-year-old widower recovering from pneumonia, receives home health visits. On her second visit, the agency's social worker noticed an electric shutoff notice on the kitchen counter, a refrigerator holding little more than condiments and a 26-year-old grandson who answered every question addressed to his grandfather. When the grandson stepped outside, Mr. Simmons quietly admitted that the young man moved in last year, "handles the money" and has been using his debit card. Mr. Simmons's savings, built over forty years at a textile mill, are nearly gone.

Cases like his are common. Acierno et al. (2010) ran the National Elder Mistreatment Study, a telephone survey of more than five thousand older adults, and roughly a tenth said they had been mistreated emotionally, physically or sexually, or possibly neglected, during the past year, while financial exploitation by relatives turned up often as well. Lachs and Pillemer (2015) describe elder abuse as widespread and underreported, taking physical, sexual, psychological, financial and neglectful forms, and associated with depression, hospitalization and higher mortality. Financial exploitation by a relative who lives with the victim is among the most common patterns. McInnis-Dittrich (2014) notes that dependence on family for care can make older adults reluctant to report the people they rely on.

In most states, the social worker is a mandated reporter and must report suspected exploitation to Adult Protective Services. Reporting is not a betrayal of Mr. Simmons; it starts an investigation and can open services such as a representative payee, a bank fraud review or help restoring his utilities. Yet Mr. Simmons is mentally sharp, and he begged the worker not to get his grandson "in trouble." He loves the young man, who has struggled with addiction, and fears being alone.

The worker must report, but she can do so with Mr. Simmons rather than around him: explaining her duty, asking what outcome he wants and connecting him with legal aid and his bank. Lachs and Pillemer (2015) stress that responses work best when they involve several disciplines rather than one agency acting alone.

How would you balance Mr. Simmons's right to make his own choices with the duty to protect him?

Reply to Abigail

Abigail, you argued that Mr. Simmons's wishes should come first because he is competent, and I agree that self-determination is central to social work ethics. But I think reporting and respecting his wishes can coexist. A report to Adult Protective Services does not automatically remove the grandson or force services on Mr. Simmons; in most states, a competent adult may decline services after an investigation. What reporting does is put trained investigators in the picture and give Mr. Simmons options he may not know he has, such as setting up direct payment of utilities, adding a trusted third party to monitor his account or obtaining a protective order if things worsen. Many older adults in his position want the exploitation to stop without losing the relationship, and services such as addiction treatment for the grandson might serve both goals. The social worker's task is to widen his choices, not to make them for him, and to stay in contact long enough that he can change his mind.

Reply to Levi

Levi, you mentioned Psalm 71:9, where the psalmist asks God not to throw him aside when he is old or abandon him as his strength gives out (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016). The prayer voices exactly the fear Mr. Simmons carries: being abandoned in weakness. I think the verse also calls God's people to be the answer to that prayer. Churches are often the places where older members are seen weekly, and a pastor or deacon who notices that a member has stopped tithing, looks thinner or always arrives with the same controlling relative may be the first to sense something is wrong. Training church leaders to recognize signs of exploitation and to know how to contact Adult Protective Services would turn the psalm's plea into practical protection. Congregations could also offer older members trusted volunteers to help review bills, giving them an alternative to depending on a relative who may exploit them.

References

Acierno, R., Hernandez, M. A., Amstadter, A. B., Resnick, H. S., Steve, K., Muzzy, W., & Kilpatrick, D. G. (2010). Prevalence and correlates of emotional, physical, sexual, and financial abuse and potential neglect in the United States: The National Elder Mistreatment Study. American Journal of Public Health, 100(2), 292-297. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2009.163089

English Standard Version Bible. (2016). Crossway. (Original work published 2001)

Lachs, M. S., & Pillemer, K. A. (2015). Elder abuse. New England Journal of Medicine, 373(20), 1947-1956. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra1404688

McInnis-Dittrich, K. (2014). Social work with older adults: A biopsychosocial approach to assessment and intervention (4th ed.). Pearson.