Having obtained consent from the agency administrator, the first section of interview involved direct conversation with the administrator, Eric Holland, reachable by phone, who was enthusiastic to give accounts of events as is in the Meadows of Fulton. Here are brief data information of the Fulton’s administrator interviewed concerning social work.
Me : Good morning sir, I would like to gather some information about Fulton agency. If you don’t mind, I would like us to go through some information crucial at Fulton.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Holland : Okay, feel welcomed.
Me: what is the mission of your agency and nature and scope of its services?
Holland : Our main mission is to improve the health of our patients by providing best possible services. At Fulton, we work on rehabilitation and offering various services to the elderly such as short term care on Alzheimer, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. There are many benefits that the elderly can get when they come here, most of which work to recover the health of the patients.
Me : What does the agency serve (the target population)?
Holland: The agency offers varied services to the elderly. Even though it is squarely targeting old people, it does not mean that younger people cannot get served when there be a need. We are dedicated to help the elderly recover from their daunting health problems and retain healthy lives.
Me: What are the agency’s funding sources?
Holland: Fulton is a profit nursing home, therefore, we get our funding from patients visiting the facility. Also, we get grants from various organizations to help us run smoothly.
Me: With what other local agencies does the agency have formal linkages?
Holland: As a healthcare providing unit, you notice that we cannot work in a vacuum. It means that we have to liaise with other agencies to ensure that we provide robust services to our customers. For example, we must have agreements with local governments and comply with environmental concern statutes. Also, we must work hand in hand with pharmaceutical suppliers to equip us with various tools and medications to run the facility. In this sense, we have collaboration with several medical units in the state. Other agencies we often have close link to include Diversicare of tupelo, and Tupelo Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
Me: What roles do social workers play in the agency? If none, is there a need for a social work component? What could this social worker be doing to help meet the needs of the target population?
Holland: The social workers are a crucial component of our organization. They work to diagnose various diseases, treat mental illnesses, emotional ones, and they help patients adjust to the changes related to their diseases while recuperating.
Me : What is your assessment of the impact of the agency's services on the target population?
Holland: our main focus is to provide better healthcare for any person that steps into the facility. We work day and night to ensure that we have the most robust clinical practices that serve every individual. Therefore, I have no doubt; we impact the entire target persons positively and change their lives. The first thing we do is to ensure change of attitude is proper on our patients and that everyone is committed to the process of rehabilitation.
Me: What are the most critical problems facing older persons living in this community? How well are those problems being addressed by current programs and services available to community residents ?
Holland: From our statistical data, we noticed a significant number of problems characteristic of the elderly. We have Alzheimer diseases, diabetic patients, abused elders, and even physically unfit patients. For every problem recorded, we have sufficient programs in place to work and correct it. Our social workers often give the right psychological mentality to the patients to ensure that recovery is effective. For abused elders, we have robust counseling programs, involving the families and affected persons. Notably, we have recorded significant positive remarks from those who have benefited from the service. Medications are also in place for medical conditions.
Me: What new services or additional resources are needed to provide for the unmet needs of older community residents?
Holland: Currently, we are not short of either resources or services. Based on the things we are set to deliver, we have exhaustive facilities and man power to work round the clock to provide the help required. Maybe in future, we are working to increase the number of walking aid equipment to be able to absorb more patients to our facility. Also, we may plan expansion of our facility in other states across the USA. An expansion would mean that we are capable of getting more patients and serving more people in the country.
Employee
After lengthy conversations with the administrator, I made an approach and pinpointed one if the service workers. This was the outcome:
Me: What are the worker's program, service, and/or treatment responsibilities?
Worker: Workers are the main engine at Fulton. We work in shifts and we have enough amount of employees in place to work in every department. Training is the main essential program we have to ensure that we are competent. Also, we offer guidance and necessary therapy sessions to the patients to ensure they recuperate well.
Me: What types of client needs or problems does the worker deal with?
Worker: The worker, as you know, must be close to the patients, diagnose the disease problem, efficiently deliver medication, and offer required guidance to both the family members and patients. It is a daily routine to do the best thing to ensure the patients get the best service. Some patients do not remember the description for a given medication. Therefore, we often work hard to make sure that we handle every patient according to his or her needs. Moreover, for such patients, we keep time and inform them of the required process when it is time to perform a specific routine.
Me : What are the special challenges or issues encountered in working with older persons encountered through the agency?
Worker: There are many problems dealing with elderly persons. However, it is part of our issue to deal with it since they compose a portion of our job. First, think about dementia. Most of them are forgetful and they will rarely remember a thing or even take medication at the right time. Therefore, you must be available at all times to help. Second, think of attachment. Sometimes, we know these patients, get close to them, and even feel like he or she part of your family. Now, the problem comes in considering the amount of suffering they undergo. You will definitely feel heartbroken. Other problems include unwillingness to seek help or speak out own problems and the treatment process itself. On the whole, we learn new things daily and often find a way out of dealing with each problem cogently.
Me: How effective do you feel the agency's services are in meeting the needs of the target population?
Worker: Frankly, our facility is efficient and helpful to our visitors. We have enough workforce and everyone is committed to meet the need of every patient. It is what we learned to do and we do it enthusiastically. If you can see someone joining first day, and the same person cannot walk properly. Let’s say after a month, the person is capable of walking properly and able to handle other activities he or she was not capable of doing before, then you can remark that a change has really occurred. Likewise, if you hear of positive reviews from families and patients themselves, then it is an indicator that the work we are doing are sufficient. Therefore, I have no doubt we are doing enough to help patients recover.
Me: What are the most critical problems facing older persons living in this community? How well are those problems being met by current programs and services available to older community residents?
Worker: The problem of dementia, Alzheimer, and diabetes is on the rise. Apart from giving the right advice to the patients, we often try as much as possible to treat diseases and prepare our patients well for the process of recovery. In the counseling and guidance department, we denote some problems of elderly abuse such as misuse of funds, and neglect.
Me: What new services or additional resources are needed to provide for the unmet needs of older persons and their families?
Worker: Currently, the management has not communicated on any plan to integrate a new service or add additional resources to the facility. However, there is an urge to expand the facility in terms of infrastructure, which is yet to be communicated officially. The administration do not often speak of something that has not been officially confirmed, but it is an idea we hear of as workers.
Client
The next section of the interview involved a customer to the service. The chosen person was a dementia patient and had difficulty remembering things. However, he was good at spoken words and efficient at explaining things.
Me: Why did you seek agency services?
Client: Actually, I did not want to come and stay here, but after lengthy consultation with my family members, I had to change my mind. I have memory problem, a condition of dementia, and difficulty in handling day-to-day activities.
Me: Do you use other services available to older persons who live in the community?
Client: Of course yes. The walking aid is a very essential equipment and I use it most of the time. It aids my walking problem. Since I came here, I have felt changes in terms of strength. I can walk alone and do my activities freely.
Me: What impact has the agency's services and services provided by other agencies had on the quality of your life?
Client: As I said earlier, I did not want to join this facility. I did after my family convinced me to do so. At that time, I could not walk well, and I had a problem of memory, a situation of dementia. Things have changed since I came here. Even though memory is still a problem, my physical strength and enthusiasm in life has been improved. I can walk alone and even get interested at reading and storytelling with other people.
Me: What do you think are some of the critical problems affecting older persons living in this community?
Client: Most of friends, at my age are suffering from memory loss while some from physical weaknesses. Also, I have a friend suffering from diabetes. These classes of problems are stressful. If you look around this facility, there are several people my age suffering from dementia just like me and incapable of moving well.
Me: What new services or additional resources are needed to provide for the unmet needs of the community's older population?
Client: During my active age, I liked playing indoor games such as chess. In my observation, I would be happy if they can improve on the structures and create an area of doing indoor games so that the old fox like use can get a chance to recall some of the things we used to do.
Student’s Assessment Section
At the look of things, the facility is well-organized and operations are coordinated effectively. Right from the top management to employees working to assist the patients, communication is efficient and service delivery is robust. As one client put it, inclusion of an indoor arena building for some interactive games would play an essential role at assisting elderly. Also, expansion to other states would be a sure way of expanding the facility to help more people suffering from the same class of problems.
One major of strength of the agency is that of organizational planning. Workers are well organized in every department and the manner in which they work in shifts is proper. An interaction with the patients is good and everyone seems happy. However, I noted the agency does not have a well-crafted method of promoting its service. Just in case they can venture in marketing tactic, I think they can have a stream of clients seeking their service. Currently, the agency is complete and the running of programs is efficient. Even though there is a department of counseling, I think including a service in which people can access from home and offer online based guidance and counseling programs can serve to help people beyond the surround of the facility.
If I were the administration in charge, I would include a robust online campaign to target patients who cannot access the facility and offer home based guidance to them. It can be performed through constant advice and follow-ups. Additionally, I would recommend the inclusion of social amenities to increase social activities of the elderly such as game areas. It would serve not only to provide social support but also physical health.
