Category: Social Work

  • 100. Case: Chatting About Hopes and Goals

    You are a social worker who is part of a rehab team.  During lunch, the conversation turns to one of the patients that you and your team is working with. The patient was in a scooter accident and suffered multiple fractures. They are struggling to regain their ability to walk and can often be heard…

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  • 91. Case: Franklin Isn’t Safe at Home

    Franklin Pictou is a 68 year old with limited mobility receiving post-surgical follow up care in the home. He wishes to remain in his dwelling, which is not especially clean and poses hazards to him (uneven stairs, loose carpets, wood stove for heat, and mould) and to health care providers (bed bugs). He chooses to…

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  • 89. Case: Who Has a Right to Know?

    Kevin is a14-year-old admitted to hospital with persistent headache, muscle spasms, tremors, significant motor impairment, fever, cough and symptoms of liver damage. A diagnosis of lipoid pneumonia has been made and his clinicians are very suspicious that he has been inhaling nitrite compounds. Eventually they are able to confirm this when one of the team…

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  • 86. Case: Herbs in the Hospital

    Katrina Chen is a 23 year old with a history of severe anxiety and hospitalization after particularly acute panic attacks.  She has tried a variety of psychotropic medications and of these she believes that Prozac is the best at managing her symptoms.  She is concerned, however, with its addictive nature and doesn’t like taking “chemicals”.…

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  • 74. Case: Compulsive Hoarding – Mary

    Mary is a 72 year old woman who has been a compulsive hoarder for the last 10 years.  She can only move from room to room through pathways. She would like to move closer to her daughter and grandchildren, but she feels overwhelmed by the amount of stuff she has in her house. Despite the…

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  • 73. Case: Compulsive Hoarding – Bessie

    Bessie is 65 years old and is living with schizophrenia. She has recently been discharged from hospital, and is now receiving mental health support services at home.  For a while the team has attempted to visit Bessie twice a day. She initially refused to let the team into her apartment and has now allowed health…

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  • 58. Case: Harm Reduction

    Medical Officers of Health from British Colombia, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan have written to advocate for emphasizing harm reduction in the approach to cannabis and other illegal drugs (including possible legalization). “Evidence-based drug treatment programs are cost effective, and significant benefits should be derived, at both individual and societal levels, through an increase in scale.…

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  • 46. Case: Team Work?

    Judy, who had worked as a senior social worker in a mental health setting for 12 years, was hired as a team social worker in a community health care organization. Shirley, one of the team RNs, perceived Judy as hesitant and ineffective in patient care planning meetings. Other team members also found Judy to be…

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