Essay on Social Worker as an Advocate

Social workers play a very crucial role in the community in terms of providing social services to the public. They bridge the gap of deprivation that exists among the vulnerable people in the society. For instance, they are involved in providing relief aid during the times of catastrophes. Additionally, they act as the link between the disadvantaged members of the society and the providers of social services like health, cash transfer, welfare, and general wellbeing. They are the first responders to challenges affecting the poor, the old, orphans, and the sick. In some cases, some social workers possess professional skills of teaching, nursing, and other knowledge that may be necessary at the social level. One of the important roles that social workers play in the society is advocating for the needs and rights of the elderly people. In rural and some urban settings, the elderly may not access welfare and other social services especially if they do not live with or in close contact with their children or grandchildren. A social worker is thus very pivotal in linking the elderly to the health services, especially since old people in the countryside encounter various challenges in their lives.

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As the body ages, it becomes vulnerable to a plethora of diseases and senility-related health challenges. The teeth fall as a result of gum recession. In the process, they become unable to feed on some foods that require thorough mastication. Gum infections also become common as their immunity reduces. The psychomotor skills of old people deteriorate and may render them unable to walk unsupported on execute some body functions that need intricate muscular control like writing letters and signing documents. Their intellectual function also slows down. Eventually, they lose the ability to drive vehicles and therefore, their mobility reduces significantly. Old people may also lose the ability to deal with psychological problems like stress, anxiety and depression. As their veins grow old, the lumen decreases, plague deposition intensifies and they get predisposed to coronary heart disease, heart attacks, deep venous thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism. Their blood coagulation mechanism loses the homeostatic functionality and they become prone to coagulation disorders (Kirst-Ashman & Zastrow 660).

In a rural facility caring for the old people, there are different health needs that the facility ought to meet on a daily basis. Some rural facilities host men and women with old age-related illnesses like Parkinsonism and Alzheimers disease (Fischer et. al., 35). Furthermore, the rural community may not have the capacity to sufficiently nourish its aged population. Consequently, the old people in a rural facility may be malnourished, weak, and vulnerable to infections. Due to their significantly reduced or distorted physiological functions, the elderly require regular medical checkup, physiotherapy services, counseling, and comfort.

In an underfunded rural facility for the elderly, health and other social amenities may not be adequate or responsive to the needs of the residents. Social workers can therefore advocate for justice in such a facility. Since social workers are in close and direct contact with their clients, they hold a better position in advocating for spiritual, financial, cultural, legal and medical injustices that they face (McLaughlin 52). Social workers may assume the form or functional advocacy (McLaughlin 53). Form advocacy refers to the intervention by paid professionals working in the child welfare or mental health. Functional advocacy, on the other hand, refers to the situation where a citizen volunteer assumes a non-paid role of an advocate for social justice (McLaughlin 55). Any type of social advocacy is necessary in a rural facility dealing with old people, since both paid and non-paid social workers serve these facilities.

Social workers can advocate for a case or a cause (McLaughlin 54). In case advocacy, social workers aim at redressing imbalances and enable the old people to enjoy their full rights (McLaughlin 54). Case advocates in a facility can ensure that the residents actually receive what they are entitled to. For example, they can assess the needs of each resident against the provision offered by the government or any other body. In case there is discrepancy between the two, case advocates present an appeal to the service provider that would see the client receive all their supplies. Social workers identify the needs of their clients and address them appropriately. In a senior citizens facility, social workers may discover that the clients need recreational facilities like the gym or a hydro pool. After identifying this need, social workers would then make a proposal to the relevant bodies, make presentations, and convince the body to fund or avail the missing amenities.

Social workers advocate for justice for old people residing in a rural facility. They identify or assess the needs and take the necessary action depending on their findings. They can act as case or cause advocates. In case advocacy, they evaluate the requirements of old people living in the residency against the actual supply. In a rural facility, they ensure that old people receive the appropriate medical needs that befits their age. Social workers are thus very crucial in a rural facility hosting old people in terms of advocacy

Works cited

Fisher, Abraham, et al., eds. Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases. Vol. 4. Karger Medical and Scientific Publishers, 2007.McLaughlin, Anne Marie. "Clinical social workers: Advocates for social justice." Advances in Social Work 10.1 (2009): 51-68.

Zastrow, Charles, and Karen Kirst-Ashman. Understanding human behavior and the social environment. Cengage Learning, 2006.