Reference no: EM133646980
Case: Sarah is a 42 year old mother of 3 children. She has presented to the community mental health unit where you work, asking for help. Between looking after her own family and working for a local professional couple, cleaning their house 3 days a week, Sarah is exhausted. Sarah tells you that there are an uneven number of chairs in your office and asks you if you could please remove one. She states that all her children have 4 letters in their name, and that when she hangs out the washing, if there are an uneven number of pegs left in the basket then the washing in there has to wait until the next load is hung out. All the dinner plates are placed on the table exactly the same way and all of the family members know not to turn the plate around! Her house is immaculate, and she is very proud to say how happy her husband is with her. She states she cleans from the moment she wakes up and once she has finished the whole house, she starts again.
This ritual continues until she falls asleep from exhaustion.
The same is happening with her job. She feels she is taken advantage of because of her illness. She arrives to an absolute disaster zone each day she works, and knows she is unable to leave anything out of place or untouched as her anxiety levels become too much to deal with. When she leaves for the day, she has performed duties way above and beyond her job description and pay. She feels she is unable to leave. Once she was accepted into a specialty OCD clinic, only to find that her husband forbid her to go. "I think he likes me like this, everything is in order and I don't have time for anything else". As she talks, Sarah continues to count the holes on the patterned wall and straightens the paperweight on your desk.
How could you as the mental health professional prepare Sarah for assessment so that she feels comfortable to share her experiences, hopes, expectations and needs?
What do you see as the extent of Sarah's social and support network? Are there any indications of social exclusion or inclusion?
Explain how you would promote and support Sarah's self-advocacy.
Develop a Recovery Plan for Sarah that includes:
Prioritising Sarah's needs
Identifying partner organisations and support networks that may be appropriate to meet Sarah's needs
Outlining briefly how these partnerships may contribute to assisting and supporting Sarah
Working with a client who has complex needs and whose care involves a number of different services can be challenging. Explain how you might work effectively with other services to establish common goals, identify gaps and integrate and coordinate care.
Explain how you would identify potential incidents or risks for Sarah and how you would respond to de-escalate these or promote safety.
How would you monitor and review Sarah's Recovery Plan to ensure that it remains flexible and responsive to her changing needs? What strategies could you use to actively inspire and foster her ongoing involvement in her recovery?
Why is thorough documentation so vital in mental health services? What is the role of informed consent in this process?
If you identified that Sarah was from a different cultural background to your own, how may this impact the way you communicate with Sarah and what might you do to ensure effective cross-cultural communication?