SSSC H3012: John Is A 48yr Old Male Who Has Recently Moved To Residential Care: Family Studies Assignment, NUI, Ireland

John is a 48yr old male who has recently moved to residential care in an intellectual disability service. John has Downs Syndrome and has attended the day service in this organization since his late teens. John’s parents were both older- his mother Joan is 89 yrs and his father Frank died last year at the age of 90 yrs.

John talks about his father frequently, referring to him as the boss who would help him shave every morning and choose his clothes, and would drive him to the day service. His mother Joan was very reluctant regarding John moving into residential care but agreed it was the best thing for him as she cannot do as much for him as she and her late husband could in the past- she never learned to drive. Joan visits at least once per week and John phones her every evening- he also usually goes home for one overnight at the weekend, where he especially enjoys being in charge of the TV remote control.

John usually asks his mother to bring him clean clothes and things he likes to eat when she visits him. John says his mother is a great cook and the house is “spick and span”. John has two older siblings. His elder sister Maria (51 yrs) is divorced and has one adult child, Sarah (25 yrs). John sometimes refers to Maria’s ex-husband Eddie as being a hard man, though John also enjoyed going to soccer matches with him and misses this, since Maria separated from Eddie.

Sarah who lives at home has recently come out as being gay- her partner Celine has been known as Sarah’s friend to all the family for many years, and they now all say that they always knew there was something going on between them. John really likes Celine, who has recently moved in with Sarah; she had helped him set up an Instagram and a Facebook page. Maria says that her parents had John spoilt as they always thought they would be there to look after him-Joan still refers to John as the “little fella”.

Maria works full-time outside the home and says she would have liked to have John living with her and believes her mother expected this and is disappointed but will not say anything. John’s brother Seamus (50yrs) lives in Mullingar with his wife Helga. He has intermittent contact with John and his family. Helga is from Iceland and she has spoken about never really hearing about Downs Syndrome as it is not common there. John says that Helga speaks to him like he is a child and she always wants to leave early when Seamus and her visit.

He once heard his father say that Helga “wears the trousers” and he wondered where Sean learned to be a good housewife. On the few occasions he has been in their house, John noticed that Seamus did the cooking and it seems he does lots of the housework. John enjoys his day center and especially the other “lads”. He says that one of the female service users annoys him- she is always reminding him to clear up after himself. He enjoys computer classes, drama, and some art activities. His favorite staff person at the moment is Mark who is great craic, according to John.

 Question: with the case study provided above.

 (a)Provide an ecomap for this service user(s), highlighting current and possible sources of support.

• Do a clear comma
• And under the comp. elaborate on the point referring back to Johns case
• I would like you not to forget about John’s grief to his father to be one factor, also his relationship with his mother and siblings. and his brother’s wife what can we do there to educate her and support their relationship. Look at Johns’s interest and how can we support him there also look at his needs; feel free to add any other points I have missed.

(b) Briefly outline how a functionalist approach and a feminist approach are relevant to the case example.

• Give a quick introduction of what a functionalist approach to family is
• Relate it to john’s family and what a function would say about his family
• Give a quick introduction of what a feminist approach is to family
• Refer it back to Johns’s family and what a feminist will say.

(c) As a keyworker, outline the key aspects of a relevant intervention for this service user(s) which you would develop in partnership with the service user(s) and their family/ support systems.

• A care plan should include the rationale for the intervention; (looking at all Johns needs) and why the goals of the intervention and how it will be achieved;
• who is responsible for implementing the plan and the anticipated timescale.
• I would like you not to forget about John’s grief to his father to be one factor, also his relationship with his mother and siblings. and his brother’s wife what can we do there to educate her and support their relationship. Look at Johns’s interest and how can we support him there also look at his needs; feel free to add any other points I have missed.