Physical, cognitive, social and emotional changes - Essay Example

? CASE STUDY ONE Identify the physical, cognitive, social and emotional changes that are present in Elsie. Mrs. Elsie who is 73 years old now is most probably a victim to loneliness. She experienced her husband death two years ago after which she stayed alone as her daughter Doris was not able to visit her frequently due to the distance they share and as his son Joan preferred staying with his wife and children although he showed up twice every weak but he did not chose to brought his mother over his place or move in to hers. With time passing by Elsie eye sight weakened due to which she also got dependent on delivered food system as she must have experienced a difficulty in cooking. A person who is old needs attention and care but if left alone and does not have any activity to get them indulged in it experience depression. It is known that living alone can increase the risk of mental health problems for the elderly. Man is a social animal and especially at an old age needs attention, care and company and usually behaves like a child .Mrs. Elsie feels as if she is a burden on her children and tries her best to be compatible with them. She is very much attached to her home as she has spent forty five years of her life in it and does not want to leave it when her son suggests that she should move to an old house, the feeling of which makes her more miserable. Speaking of her cognitive behavior, she has assumed that she would be forced to move away from her home , she believes that she is not capable of doing anything by her own now and has to look after her children support for all the things she has to handle which cause them irritation and meanwhile she suffered emotionally too on the way her life style has been since her husband died and how she is physically not active to do her chores herself and on the fear that she might have to leave the house .She surely had expected that her son would volunteer to look after her when she is old as everyone has expectations. A close understanding a shared time with another human is necessary and essential for every human. Mrs. Elsie has lived an isolated life starved of emotional help as well as practical help for over last two years when she lost her husband which was also a great thing to upset her. 2 Describe the ways in which you could assess Elsie’s developmental status In order to assess Mrs. Elsie’s developmental status we need to know her everyday life routine and compare it with her past. We need to know the changes that occurred in her life after her husband’s death and how she spent the time after he was gone. We should be interrogating what she fears most now how was her life as a child how was her life as a teenager did she spend a healthy married life what she always wanted to do and is she satisfied the way her life is and what are her expectations from her children how she wants to live and what are her concerns she should also be taken to a psychiatrist who could do her counseling well and should be asked about what she does all day long , noting the minor details will help us to most to more know about her state of mind and knowing about the minor details would help us to diagnose more why she feels that she is suffering from memory loss or is it only a perception .With love care and affection and keeping her lifestyle in mind only her developmental status of mind can be assessed.as from the scenario presented above the lady suffers from depression and cognitive disorder of being a burden to her children and she perceived this all due to her growing age loss of a spouse and his son proposal to her for shifting to an old age which made her cry and depicts factors for her developmental status over these years. 3. Identify the range of information that you would want in order to assess this situation more fully i.e. what would you want to know that you don’t know now? Identify who you could speak to, to obtain this information? In order to assess the situation in a more good way I would chose to have a detailed conversation with Mrs. Elsie in which I would like to throw her light on various aspects of her life . I would need to know more on her life that how her life was what kind of a married life she lived what changes she experienced after her husband’s death and how much she miss him how his behavior was with her and did he care for him , what kind of a realtion she shared with her children and do they care for her or does she feel their behavior has changed , does she love her grandchildren and how they treat her what are her concerns related to her health and is she suffering from any financial crisis and all the ways in which her life has been changed and affected after loss of her spouse , I would further interrogate on how she spends her whole day and is she satisfied with the way she is living or did she expect that her children will offer her to come up and stay with them .I would also like to talk to her general practitioner to know about her declining health issues and does he agree with the fact that she might be suffering from dementia and most importantly her son should be interviewed on why he feels her mom should be sent to old age does he bring his children to meet their grandmother how is her wife’s behavior with his mother and I would also like to ask her daughter Doris that what decline her mother faced after his dad died and is she satisfied with the way of life her mother is spending and will need her to throw light on relation of her mother with her brother. 4. Identify the developmental issues that are present in Elsie. What are the causes of these issues? What are the risks associated with these issues for Elsie Mrs. Elsie is very much deprived of emotional support which is an essential element especially at this age where person assumes by himself and becomes greatly dependent on others due to various issues such as decline in health and stress brought by old age. There are various causes that made Mrs. Elsie a victim of self-pity and made her think that it bothers his son to look after her as she is not capable of looking after her health and home anymore , moreover I believe that she was deprived of attention and her son never really cared for her , she might also have noticed a change in her sons behavior and It was selfish on the part of her son to suggest her to go to old age and live here which was really a heart breaking Mrs. Elsie too as it made her cry in guilt of being a burden on others. Harmful effects on health , weakening of eye sight at an old age do take person to the state of grief and person expects company around wishes to be looked after but such cold behavior from son is one of the most serious issue that took Mrs. Elsie to this state of mind where she felt like a parasite. If she would have been physically fit and would have own good eye sight she could have indulged herself with certain activities like cooking reading books and watching tv going to places and meeting friends as it would have helped her to kill time more easily but it seems clear from the scenario that she did not do anything at all as her health did not allow so basically these all things together played a role in her such depressed developmental state of mind. 5. What indicators are present in the scenario that there may be serious issues in Elsie’s life? There are certain indicators in the scenario that seem to be a serious threat for Mrs. Elsie life. Her daughter Doris on her recent visit observed decline in Mrs. Elsie’s bank accounts and immediate withdrawal of money .Doris was well aware of the fact that it is her brother Joan who is looking after all the accounts for Mrs. Elsie’s as she is not capable of handling the financial issues herself ,it made her suspicious and when she inquired Mrs. Elsie about this matter she comes to know that Joan has told her mother that he withdraws money just to save herself from paying tax .Moreover the housekeeper lady tell Doris that Joan informed her that Mrs. Elsie had a fall and she is happy that Mrs. Elsie is fine now , noticing some bruises and scars on her mother’s face and also on contacting with Mrs. Elsie’s practitioner Doris comes to know about the strange fact that her mother has not been to a health practitioner for last six months are serious indicators of threat. Joan claims that her mother is suffering from episodes of dementia and his proposal that its time that their mother should be shifted to old age clearly shows that Joan is playing a selfish role , it can also be perceived that he might have been treating her mother very bad is using her money for his personal benefits might have attacked her physically and now wants her to leave so he can do something with the money he will get from selling the house she leaves behind ,whatever it maybe but many things in this scenario go against Joan depicting the dirty game he is playing .These all things show that Joan is not fair to her mother and has acted in a greedy way. What strategies are available for investigating these issues further? Who would you refer to for further assessment of these issues? To further interrogate the situation Joan should be interrogated first , he should be asked where is the money that he took from banks where are the receipts showing that it was used for Mrs. Elsie , moreover he should be asked that if he told maid that her mother fell which caused bruises on her face why he did not take her to the doctor and why she has not been to a doctor for last six months as she is seventy three so she needs medical checkups on regular basis , he should further asked to throw light on what made her believe that she suffers from dementia. The house maid should be questioned that if she believes that Mrs. Elsie is suffering from memory loss and she should be further asked about her daily life routine and she should be asked to give her opinion on Joan’s behavior with her mother if she has noticed it .Mrs. Elsie should be asked politely that why she has scars on her face , did she ask Joan to shop something for her did she buy something new does she feel that she forget things and how is Joan’s behaviors with her she should be assured that she does not have to feel afraid and say what she wants to . She should be asked about her daily life routine it should be assesses that either she is really suffering from dementia or is Joan just making up the stories for his personal benefits. CASE STUDY TWO Q1. What questions or observations might you ask/make to obtain information about Shane’s developmental status? In order to make a hypothesis about Shane’s developmental status we need to record a thorough history about his past. It should start with his birth. It should be confirmed first that did he suffer a complicated delivery during his birth for which his gynecologist or past files should be consulted or either he was born abnormal or did he experience some serious accident or any fall or injury in past or as a baby that affected his mental state of mind and his motor system as well , moreover his mother should also be questioned about the gestation period in which she conceived Shane it should be made clear that did she had any fall or complications during her gestation period it should also be noted either Shane has some twin sibling or not. Keeping all this data in mind, we can have a better idea about Shane’s developmental state. It should be noted that why his parents left Shane to this special institute and at what age they took this decision more over his childhood activities should be noted in detail .A detailed interview of his parents should be taken in which they should be asked about their married life , if they shared a healthy relation or was it bad which might have left some effects on their child brain and to know more about Shane it should be questioned on that how he was as a child what kind of relation he shared with his siblings did he like going to school his eating habits should be noted . It should be asked from his parents did they felt any deficiency in his physical growth and learning pattern that made them worried and if so what measures did they take and did they concern a child specialist for that or not and if so that contacting that child specialist would also be a great step to help us know more about the subject. Moreover the personal take care of the Shane at residential care should be asked to throw life on Shane’s daily life to tell us more about his behavior , what are the things that makes him aggressive and what are the things that makes him happy his eating habits his social activities and what kind of relation he shares with other children over there residing in residential school. Lastly he should be observed for a day or two as it will help us to diagnose his situation more clearly and expert advice should also be taken. How might you apply your knowledge of lifespan development theories to clarify Shane’s developmental status? Include cognitive, social, moral and psychological theories in your answer. It should be kept in mind that early childhood development is defined as a set of concepts, principles and facts that explain and describe and account for the processes involved in change from immature to mature status and functioning. Development is usually classified in three stages of development that are physical, cognitive and social or emotional phase of development. Physical development focuses more on the growth pattern of children their learning abilities and how they perceive their surroundings. In order to assess Shane’s physical developmental state interviewing his parents about his past, noting the minor details would be the most useful step that will help us to reach a certain conclusion. The relation he observed between his parents while being a child that either they shared a healthy relation or it was an abusive one , his own relation with his siblings and kids around and activities that made him more happy and what were the things that made him aggressive or angry , his eating and feeding patterns .all these things play the most important role in development of personality as a child and when put together can help us to reach a theory about his physical developmental status. Cognitive developmental status focuses on how development pertains to the mental processes (e.g., language, memory, problem solving) that children use to acquire and use knowledge. In order to create cognitive theory of Shane we need to just go through his past history and obtain information on these aspects from his parents , information from his family doctor and talking to his siblings about a his past life behavior will help us . As for his emotional state of mind, it develops by the way one interacts with the surroundings, the way one feels about himself and his attitude with others. Shane has always experienced difficulty in speaking and understanding as he was a slow learner when compared to children of his age these things might also have affected him. Q2. How suitable might it be for Shane to be: (provide a reason to support your answer) a Given personal care support? b Taken to a movie? c Involved in an activity constructing a model plane? As we know Shane is dependent on personal assistance to help him change his clothes as he is unable to do so himself .He should be given a personal care assistant who should be friendly towards him, should treat him in a good way and should understand him. He should help Shane to build up confidence, to handle his mood swings, come over his aggressiveness and should introduce techniques to Shane that could help him to be less dependent on others. Thus he can play a very important role in Shane’s present state. He should observe Shane thoroughly and should note down the things that makes him happy and should also focus on the things that might harm him or can somehow made him aggressive. He should also be taught to differentiate between different colors and an effort should be made so that he can learn to write and read a little bit for which symbols and pictures can be used. According to me it is a great idea to take Shane to some movie .It should be kept in mind that the kind of movie you are taking him too should be of his interest .These sort of activities will enhance his happiness and are also a way of learning so it is quite beneficial. It will also bring a change in his daily life routine .If it is observed that Shane takes interest in movies and may learn something from them and it improves his behavior among the public he should be often taken outside to a movie theatre. According to me it is a great thought to let Shane construct a model plane as it might catches his attention and is a great opportunity where he can show his talent and creativity. Such activities sharpen the mind and improve one’s skills. Q3. How comfortable do you think you would feel working with Shane on your own? Consider your own values and abilities. If handled with love and affection I am sure that Shane will behave in a good way as there are certain aspects in scenario that show Shane has great chances of improvement. If I get a chance to look after Shane I will do my best effort to help him, I will introduce methods to him that are adopted worldwide for betterment of special children so they can live a quality life. I will try to figure out the things that make him shout and scream and I will try to counsel him in ways which will lessen his fears .I will consult a psychiatrist and will discuss about Shane’s condition with him and I will follow all the steps properly suggested by psychiatrist which will with time improve Shane’s quality of life. 1 If Shane displayed signs of abuse (such as bruising, fear or increased anxiety) following a visit to his family, what action would you be legally required to follow? If I somehow come to notice that Shane has been a victim to abuse and bad behavior on his visit to family , I would interrogate his parents about the situation , I will ask his siblings and will also investigate from the servants and maids who work at his home and if I come to find out something suspicious I will fire a case against his parents for indulgence in child crime and I will inform the police as well who will warn his parents to be careful in future or else they have to face the consequences. I will make sure unless his parents repent their behaviors Shane should not be sent home and his family should not be allowed to visit him as well. 2 Identify 3 potential risk factors associated with Shane’s developmental issues? From the scenario above it seems that Shane developmental status was greatly affected by his childhood memories as it seems possible from the scenario that Shane might been a subject to abuse as a child which effected his mental condition, it is also possible that he was physically hurt by someone as a child that might have damaged his motor system or maybe it was a result of a complicated delivery or God made him so As Shane is unable to control himself at various times while his interaction with public, he might attack someone or scream at someone or may lose temper which is a thing to be looked upon. More over medical science has proved that prolonged thumb sucking is adopted in children who are deprived which of love and affection during their childhood or who have observed abusive relations around them and sucking on to thumb and other items give them relief and they feel it is a way to lessen their anxiety and fear. It looks that Shane did not had an ideal childhood due to which his personality has been greatly affected. What are some key features of reporting and documenting as required by organizational policies and procedures? If it is doubted that a child belonging to a certain organization has been a subject to abuse in any way it should be reported Following various methods. The expert physicians hired by certain organization should views and experience the matter related to the detection, reporting and investigation of child abuse and neglect. More over physicians’ should take certain protocols use of standardized forms for identifying, reporting and documenting child abuse and neglect , physician knowledge of signs and symptoms of abuse and strengths and barriers of current collaboration and communication between physicians and organization working against child abuse physician knowledge of the referral process. Individuals found guilty in child abuse should be punished harshly and public should be made aware that child abuse is a crime and how it effects one’s life. Almost every country in world has certain well known organizations who work against child abuse, if you somehow come to notice such a case in your surroundings you can always report it to such organizations and if you can take some photographs of the victim it is better. Works Cited Bennett, R. (2012, Febrary 24). Elders Living Alone. Retrieved October 17, 2012, from timegoesby.net: http://www.timegoesby.net/weblog/2012/02/elders-living-alone.html Developmental Stages Children Youth. (n.d.). Retrieved October 17, 2012, from calgaryandareacfsa.gov: http://www.calgaryandareacfsa.gov.ab.ca/home/documents/AdditionalResources/Developmental_Stages_Children-Youth.pdf Support4change. (2012). Erik Erikson's Stages Psychosocial Development. Retrieved October 16, 2012, from suppor4change: http://www.support4change.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=108 UNICEF. (2009). Child Abuse: A painful reality behind close doors. Retrieved from www.cepal.org/dds/noticias/desafios/0/37890/Challenges9-cepal-unicef.pdf Read More