Stages and phases of Case work

Last Updated on July 17, 2024 by Muzammil Ijaz

Casework process is the ongoing movement of the continuing development of the case involving several activities , some carried out by the social worker alone, some by the client alone and some by the worker and the client together. Social casework entails different steps during the practice of the social case work. To solve the problem of the client the client has to visit the agency or the social worker who vow to help the client and uses the best ways to solve the problem of the client. During the process of solving the problem different stages were followed accordingly by the worker and also by the client. The different steps were given below:

1. Intake phase

2. Study phase

3. Assessment phase

4. Treatment phase

5. Evaluation and monitoring phase

6. Follow up and termination phase

1. Intake phase

This is the first stage of social case work process. The client who is in need of help will meet the agency for the professional help by the social case worker. During this period the relationship between two person of unequal position and power is developed. The social case worker accepts the client as a person who is in a very stressful situation. He respects the client personality and promise to solve the problem of the client. In other word, the social case workers picks up the client from stressful situation and help him/her to regain personal and social balance which is satisfying in the relationship. During rapport building process the case worker tries to have following information regarding the client.

1. The stage of the problem at which the client is in.

2. Through whom or for what reason the client comes to this agency.

3. The nature of relation to the problem, cause of the client’s problem and how client see the problem.

4. His/her adjustment to the social function in job, family, society etc.

5. The state of his physical and mental health.

6. His appearance including dress, hairstyle etc. in his first meeting.

7. Level of motivation, how quick the client has desire or need to get rid of the problems.

8. Nature of family, family status, norms and values, relationship with family members

2. Study phase Social, study is a systematic study of the client and his/her circumstances in relation to his/her problem. In this phase the case worker makes initial assessment or diagnosis of the client current relevant past and possible future modes of adaptation to stressful situation to have normal living situation. It requires an analysis of social, psychological and biological determinants of client’s current stressful situation. The case worker should get following information regarding the client’s problem.

1. Nature of problems.

2. Significance of problems.

3. Cause of problems.

4. Effort made by client and his family members to cope with problem.

5. Nature of solution. The case worker can obtain data related to the client by questionnaire methods interview and recording methods. After getting data the case worker develops hypothesis for understanding the client and his situation for the further process.

3. Assessment / diagnosis phase

Assessment is aimed at finding answers to three major questions: What is the problem? How has it arisen? What can be done to solve it? The operation underlying social assessment is that of making a conceptual picture of the problem, leading to a plan of action. It means linking up the contributory factors meaningfully with the help of theoretical knowledge. Further collecting of data and deciding the best course of action to solve the problem is carried by case worker. This helps to arrive at the exact possible situation of the client and also help to understand both psychological and personality factor which leads the client to difficulties. Data related to assessment or diagnosis can be collected by interview observation, lab test etc. Diagnosis or assessment should contain following information:

1. Nature of problem and client relationship.

2. Nature of person who bears problems.

3. Nature and purpose of agency and kind of help it can afford or make available. Types of assessment or diagnosis

1. Clinical diagnosis:

• In this diagnosis the person is described by the nature of illness. Like typhoid, hypertension, hepatitis etc.

• The clinical diagnosis is used in medical field.

• It is used in minimum case work practice.

• It is very important in medical and psychological field.

2. Etiological:

• In this process the worker tries to find out the cause and development of the present difficulty.

• The case worker also searches about the history of the client

3. Dynamic diagnosis:

• Proper evaluation of the client’s current problem.

• Role of psychological, biological, social and environmental factors for problem evaluation.

• No attempts to dig life history of client.

• Case worker and client are engaged in appropriate action or treatment. The steps used in diagnosis process

1. Case worker begin to focus on problematic behavior.

2. Behavior and client’s environment are studied.

3. Complex behaviors are breakdown into clear components.

4. Data are collected by various methods.

5. Information and data are summarized to find out any major problems for treatment.

6. Selected data are used for treatment in the final step of diagnosis.

4. Treatment plan / Intervention phase

According to Hamilton, “Treatment is the sum total of all the activities and services directed towards helping the individual with solution of their problems.” The treatment is the main part of social case work with different steps and techniques. The case worker should plan about the treatment in different way thoroughly. The treatment plan is different in different case works according to the change of the client, problem, situation etc. But every social case work is done through the same methods. The focus in treatment should be given to the immediate problems. Total social casework process includes three stages or three phases they are the beginning, middle and ending. While treatment or intervention process different techniques are used for the identification and eradication of their problem. The techniques used in the treatment are as follows:

1. Support : Social case worker should give total support to the client to improve his weak personality. In this process social case worker tries to make good and strong relationship with client.

2. Clarification: The social case worker should be clear on the client’s personality, family background, personal history, family, history, social aspect etc.

3. Insight: The social case worker tries to find out the actual cause of the client’s problem. He goes deep into to the clients mind and find out the root causes of his problems. This is possible only with the help of the client and family members near and dear ones.

4. Identification: Here the social case worker will identify the client’s total personality, his problems, strength, weakness etc. This will help the client to get rid of his problems.

5. Resource utilization: Social case worker should use all the resources available to improve the progress of client like yoga, meditation etc. Some case worker tries to find out good jobs for the client if he is unemployed one or help client to get loan to start his own business.

6. Evaluation: After completing all the above techniques, the case worker should record his work with the client, so that he can evaluate his work easily. During evaluation if the case worker finds his work not satisfactory, he can make further correction. Thus, his evaluations also help for the better follow up process.

7. Modification of environment: Sometime after solving problems there may be a chance that problem may arise again so the case worker should make the client’s environment suitable for his personality group. (e.g., In case of drug addiction and alcoholism the family members will not accept and behave with client properly.) Thus, the social case worker must provide counseling service to the client’s family to change or modify as environment for the client to overcome from his personal problem. Objectives of social case work treatment

1. To prevent social breakdown and bring back to social functioning.

2. To conserve clients strength.

3. To restore social functioning of the client.

4. To provide happy experience to the client.

5. To create opportunities for growth and development of the client.

6. To preserve psychological damage to client.

7. To increase capacity for self-determination.

8. To increase client’s social contribution.

5. Evaluation and monitoring

Evaluation is one of the important steps in social case work. Evaluation is the activity of ascertaining whether casework service has achieved the desired result in a case. It is the social worker’s reviewing of all the other components of the casework process to make an appraisal of the result. Evaluation is also an ongoing activity, although as a component of the casework process, it finds full scope and expression only after a period of activity. As the social worker continues to offer the service or services, evaluative discernment occurs to him/her at specific points of time regarding the strength, weakness or gaps in his/her social assessment and regarding the success or failure of his/her ways of helpfulness. Evaluation provides feedback to the case worker regarding the client like:

1. Whether the treatment plan is successful or not according to the desire.

2. Whether the established goal has been achieved or not.

3. Modifications in program are essential or not.

4. The client is being helped in real sense or not.

These all will help the social case worker to monitor the activities of client. If goals are not achieved in case work, then it is called crisis in social case work process. Non motivated client becomes challenge to social case worker. Dealing with such client and situation requires special knowledge and process. This special knowledge is used as term as crisis intervention. Importance of Evaluation

1. Evaluation helps to check the efforts of the case worker in case working.

2. It helps to know what are outcome.

3. It helps to check the efforts are meaningful or not.

4. It helps for the further strengthening the relationship between the case worker and client.

5. Provides motivation to the client to work towards his goal.

6. It helps to check the effectiveness of the process or services.

7. It also helps to tell the public that the process used by the case worker is beneficial and effective.

8. Social case worker can enhance his own image and also helps to increase public relation of the agency.

6. Follow up and termination

It is necessary to check the work done by the case worker. For this the social case worker needs to do follow up process after evaluation of the activities done during the intervention. This will help the agent to get the information regarding the client’s improvements. The follow up process is to be done to help the client to maintain the improvements and to get information about the client and his problem. During follow up the client is helped to discuss the problem which he is still facing. If client require he is referred to the proper source for help and service. If he is improving in social functioning he is not prefer. The follow up should be planned in descending order. (e.g., the social worker will meet the client in descending order like after two week, then in a month, then six month and a year.) Following this follow up process will lead to the termination process. The follow up process can also be done by reviewing the record, by asking the questions through telephone calls, home visit, observation etc. Termination refers to the process of formally ending the individual social worker-client relationship. It is a feature of practice with a variety of client systems, from individuals and families to task groups, coalitions, and communities, and it occurs regardless of the duration of the helping relationship. Terminations can occur when goals are met, when clients make a transition to other services, when time-limited services are concluded, and when social workers or clients leave the helping relationship. Even if clients are likely to “come and go” form service over a period of time as their concerns and needs change, it is important to draw closure to each unique episode of care. The notion of ending is often introduced at the beginning of service, when the social worker notes the likely duration of care, the number of sessions allotted, or the goals that will guide the helping process. In some time treatment models, the fixed length of care is part of informed consent discussions at the outset. For e.g., the social worker might explain, “we believe that brief treatment is effective and helps both you and me make efficient use of our time together. So we’ll begin today by getting an idea of the goals you want to work on and the best way to use our time over the next 6 to 8 weeks to achieve those goals.” Whether in short-or long-term therapy models, successful termination involves preparing clients adequately for separation from the social worker and/or group and accomplishing other tasks that facilitate the transition from being a client to being “on one’s own”:

1. Evaluating the service provided and the extent to which goals were accomplished.

2. Determining when to implement termination.

3. Mutually resolving emotional reactions experienced during the process of ending.

4. Planning to maintain gains achieved and to achieve continued growth. The significance of these tasks and the extent to which they can be successfully accomplished are determined in large measure by the context in which the helping relationship takes place. The intensity of the termination process is affected by factors such as the type of contact (voluntary or involuntary), the size and characteristics of the client system, and the nature of the intervention used. Emotional reactions will vary depending on the nature and length of the helping relationship. That is, involuntary clients and those with more structured and time limited services will be less likely to experience a sense of loss at termination than those who have engaged in longer and more voluntary relationships with the social worker. For example, termination of a time-limited educational group may be less intense and require less preparation of members than would getting an idea of the goals you want to work on and the best way to use our time over the next 6 to 8 weeks to achieve those goals.” Whether in short-or long-term therapy models, successful termination involves preparing clients adequately for separation from the social worker and/or group and accomplishing other tasks that facilitate the transition from being a client to being “on one’s own”:

1. Evaluating the service provided and the extent to which goals were accomplished.

2. Determining when to implement termination.

3. Mutually resolving emotional reactions experienced during the process of ending.

4. Planning to maintain gains achieved and to achieve continued growth.

The significance of these tasks and the extent to which they can be successfully accomplished are determined in large measure by the context in which the helping relationship takes place. The intensity of the termination process is affected by factors such as the type of contact (voluntary or involuntary), the size and characteristics of the client system, and the nature of the intervention used. Emotional reactions will vary depending on the nature and length of the helping relationship. That is, involuntary clients and those with more structured and time limited services will be less likely to experience a sense of loss at termination than those who have engaged in longer and more voluntary relationships with the social worker. For example, termination of a time-limited educational group may be less intense and require less preparation of members than would PUBG Name Generator