Case #1: Case Content
Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez, aged 77 and 68 respectively, have been raising their two
grandchildren for the past five years. Maria (age 10) and Tony (13) were orphaned
five years ago when their parents (the Sanchez’s daughter and her husband) were
killed in an automobile accident. The children’s father was driving home with his
wife from a party where he had been drinking heavily. Neither of the Sanchez’s two
other children was in a position to take on parenting responsibilities. Mr. Sanchez is
retired from a position with the post office. Mrs. Sanchez supplemented their
income by cleaning apartments.
Approximately two months ago, Mr. Sanchez suffered a stroke, which left him with
considerable impairment. He has been admitted to a rehab facility, where he is
progressing well, and the expectation is that he will be returning home. He
currently has some speech impairment and is partially paralyzed on one side. It is
not clear how fully he will recover, but the expectation is that there will be some
residual impairment. It is also unclear how he will be able to manage as the home
has two stories, and the only bathroom is on the second floor.
Prior to Mr. Sanchez’s stroke, Tony was beginning to get into trouble at school. This
took the form of “sassing” his teachers and failing to do his homework assignments.
Last week, Tony assaulted another student and was therefore suspended from
school. Maria, always a quiet child, has presented no problems at school, although
her teachers have noticed that she now spends more time by herself.
Mrs. Sanchez initially was able to handle things with the same determination and
task-oriented focus that she used to deal with the loss of her daughter and
transition to the “parent” role for her grandchildren. However, Tony’s suspension
from school has taxed her beyond her ability to cope. Mrs. Sanchez has become
weepy, unable to focus, and unable to make decisions. She has had difficulty
explaining to Tony and Maria what is happening to their grandfather. She has not
told Mr. Sanchez about Tony’s suspension.
Mrs. Sanchez is called to attend a meeting with the school principal and social
worker. When the social worker asks Mrs. Sanchez if she could give them an insight
into why Tony has become so aggressive, she bursts into tears.
‘J WINTHROP U N I V E RS I TY
SCWK 615: Empowerment Practice Concepts
Case Study: Case #1
At the end of the meeting, the social worker referred Mrs. Sanchez to the Area
Administration on Aging (AoA) for assistance. The AoA provides comprehensive
services for seniors, including individual, group, and family counseling,
supplemental income support, job training, supportive housing, leadership
development, and recreational activities.
Case Analysis
Part I: Engagement and Assessment:
1. Conduct a biopsychosocial-spiritual assessment:
a. Identify biological factors such as information regarding physical
functioning b. Identify psychological factors such as coping capacities and affect
c. Identify social factors such as social roles, social functioning, social supports, financial status
d. Identify family factors
e. Identify cultural factors f. Identify spiritual factors
g. Identify factors in the social and physical environment
2 Recognize and identify family, agency, community, and societal factors that
promote or inhibit the greatest possible autonomy.
3 Identify the clients’s varying strengths.
4 Recognize indicators of the need and areas of concern.
Part II: Intervention:
1. Often individuals must deal with exceptional life challenges because they belong to an oppressed group. Principles of Empowerment Practice guide
practitioners as they think about oppression and using empowering helping processes. Which principles would most guide your work with the client
system(s) identified in the case? And, why?
2. Identify the characteristic(s) of the Sanchez family that might give a sense of
power.
3. Identify the characteristic(s) of the Sanchez family that might be a source of
powerlessness.
4. Many groups experience oppression. To what oppressed group(s) might the
Sanchez family belong?
‘J WINTHROP U N I V E RS I TY
SCWK 615: Empowerment Practice Concepts
Case Study: Case #1
5. After reading the case and your response to the previous question, identify possible direct power blocks
6. Identify possible indirect power blocks that of the Sanchez family might experience.
7. The helping relationship focuses on collaboration, and the practitioner takes
on many roles. Working collaboratively with of the Sanchez family, what realistic and measurable objectives would you establish to the address indicators of the need and areas of concern identified in the biopsychosocial-
spiritual assessment?
8. Working collaboratively with of the Sanchez family, what intervention(s) would you use to address the indicators of need and areas of concern? Collectively, the interventions should represent a multi-layered, multi-system
approach.
9. Empowerment Practice focuses on community-based resources to address
the need (Kristhard, 2006). What resources would you utilize to help address client need? And, why?
10.Identify the intended outcomes of your multi-layered, multi-system intervention approach.