Social Dimension Singapore

SOCIAL WORKER TOOLBOX: Strengths Assessment Form

 

The attached Strengths assessment form was developed by Rapp (1998) as a way of identifying client competencies in 6 life domains where their personal and environmental assets are defined.

 

1. Daily living situation
2. Financial
3. Vocational/Educational
4. Social and Spiritual Supports
5. Health
6. Leisure/Recreational

 

These domains correspond to life areas that clients are most concerned about. The social worker would actively identify the strengths, talents and resources their clients would have in each of these domains, and link them to the vision of what they would like to see. The form assists in formulating collaborative outcomes, and also seeks to tap on the history of experience, to identify occasions where things went according to what they desired. Clients then prioritise the areas that they would want to work on collaboratively with the social worker.

Although initially crafted for clients suffering from mental illness, the form has been experienced to be useful for clients with general issues, as a means to move towards effective contracting and to identify important strengths to reframe problematic situations. 

Reference

Rapp, C. A. (1998). The Strengths Model: Case Management with people suffering from severe and persistent mental illness. New York.  

 

SOCIAL WORKER TOOLBOX: Mental Health Awareness Video

by Aricia Ho Xin Yi

 

Mental health can be an issue fraught with stigma and challenges when working with families. The use of interactive tools and videos can be a valuable aid in raising awareness amongst families about issues pertaining to mental health

The following video can be a useful resource for social workers in their work with families.

 

 

 

Aricia was a student from Ngee Ann Polytechnic's Diploma in Psychology and Community Services. 

 

SOCIAL WORKER TOOLBOX: CLIENT GENOGRAM FORM

The SOCIAL WORKER TOOLBOX was created in the spirit of knowledge sharing in the social work profession. Far too often we have been limited through copyright laws with regards to using forms, templates and scales that are useful to clinical practice. The TOOLBOX is a platform for social workers to share such tools in the community for free.

The client genogram form is a tool the social worker can use to map out the family systems as well as the relationships within family members. Through charting of the family system intergenerationally in the genogram, complex data can be organised and studied. Patterns and themes in the family system (that may aid in the intervention formulation) may then become visible (Hartman and Laird, 1990). 

Having a genogram plotted of the family aids the social worker in assessment formulation; as well as assist in the sharing of information through case conferences and discussions. The genogram can also be shared (with client's permission) across different professions to facilitate dialogical conversations to support the needs of vulnerable clients in the community. 

Instructions in using the form

Following instructions on the right column, plot out the family tree in a map of three or more generations of a family that you are working with. This map can chart major family events, occupations, losses, as well as relationships between different family members

The genogram is best complemented with an ecomap which also charts the relationship of the family with the external systems, as well as the relationships between the systems. 

 

Download Client Genogram Form_Social Dimension

 

SOCIAL WORKER TOOLBOX: CASEWORK ACTIVITY LOGSHEET

 

The SOCIAL WORKER TOOLBOX was created in the spirit of knowledge sharing in the social work profession. Far too often we have been limited through copyright laws with regards to using forms, templates and scales that are useful to clinical practice. The TOOLBOX is a platform for social workers to share such tools in the community for free.

 

In this post, Udhia Kumar shares the casework activity logsheet, with explanation on how to use the template.

 

The form can be downloaded below

  Download Casework Log 170210

 

 

Guidelines of use for Casework Activity Logsheet 

Form Purpose

• To capture casework related activities enacted for case 
• Casework Activity can be any activity done with respect to the case which includes, case recordings, calls made, research done for case, reading time spent for case etc.  
• For monitoring purposes for PES and other agency accountability systems

 

How to Use Form

• To log in all activities as they occur starting from date, type of activity, time spent on activity and brief notes for activity.
• For some activities if case notes are not required, the remarks space can be used to capture the information. This will save time for the staff in not needing to write a complete case note which may not be needed. 
  
• For each month, the type of activity and time spent can be easily calculated using the column Total for Month

 

Created By

Udhia Kumar

SASW NEWS: CURRENT UPDATES TO SOCIAL DIMENSION

 

 

Dear Valued Readers,

Thank you for your kind patience thus far, and we apologize that we have not been posting articles regularly on our blog this year. We have been in a process of collating articles from the Social Service Community and have also interviewed a number of key social work professionals to gain further insights into their views of the social work profession.

For the coming weeks, SOCIAL DIMENSION ONLINE start to churn out regular articles. We would also need your support to submit your articles (Be it commentaries, research, or creative literature) for publication.

Also, look out for our new segment: the SOCIAL WORKER TOOLBOX! Social workers and helping professionals will be sharing forms and templates they have found useful in clinical work. Information shared is copyright free (unless otherwise stated). The aim of this endeavour is to set up a platform where social workers can share useful ways of working with their clients in various settings.

We are also looking for interested volunteers to be part of our editorial team. Tasks would include writing reports on social work related events, commentaries of social policies, interviews with professionals and key stakeholders in social service, and to source out articles from the social service community (social workers, helping professionals, social work students, etc).

Feel free to submit your articles or indicate your interest to volunteer to me at [email protected]. We look forward to your continuing support.

 

Yours Sincerely,

Mohamed Fareez

Chair, Publications,

Singapore Association of Social Workers