THE HELPING/PROBLEM

SOLVING PROCESS IN
SOCIAL WORK
PREPARED BY GROUP 2
Steps In Helping Process

Assessment
Planning
Intervention or Plan Implementation
Evaluation
Termination
 Assessment
Max Siporin defines assessment as “a process and a
product of understanding on which actions is
based.”
This process involves the collection of necessary
information and its analysis and interpretation in order
to reach an understanding of the client, the problem,
and the social context in which it exist.
Assessment statement appears in most social work
literature and seems to also be the preferred term
in the field of practice today.

Information/Data gathering - a variety of sources or

available from which to obtain the information
necessary in order to have an accurate definition of
the client’s problem.

Primary source - is the main, original, and direct

information directly from the source.
Secondary sources - involve generalization, analysis,
synthesis, interpretation or evaluation of the original
information.

Existing data - means information that already exists

and can be used for various purposes.

Workers observation- is information gathered directly

by a social worker through personal observation and
assessment.
 PRINCIPLES OF DATA GATHERING
The client should be the main source of information.
Data to be gathered should directly relate to the identified
problems.
The client should be informed about the source being used for
data collection.
Data collection is a continuous process, but it is the collection,
organization and synthesis of such data that is especially critical
to the definition of the problem and setting of goals.
The type of client and the general nature of the problem can
guide the worker on the type of data that should be collected and
how much.
 The initial contact(s) with client/ intake
The initial contact between the client and the worker may
come about in different ways:

The client initiates the contact.

The client is referred to the worker or agency by some
interested or concerned party- a relative, neighbor,
teacher, etc.
The agency, through the social worker, reaches out to the
(potential) client and offers help.
THE INTAKE PROCESS AND THE
PRESENTING PROBLEM.
Intake is the process by which a potential client
achieves the status of a client.
On the client’s part, this involves the presentation of the
self and the problem or need as he or she is
experiencing it.
On the social worker’s part, this involves some
assessment of the client and the problem and whether
or not the agency is in the position to help.
 WRITING AN ASSESSMENT STATEMENT
Components of an assessment statement
Opening causal statement. This requires the worker to clearly
indicate who has the problem, and why the problem exists at this
time.
Change potential statement. A problem’s change potential is
dependent on three interdependent factors: problem, person,
and environment.
Judgment about the seriousness or urgency of the problem. Based
on available data, the worker should be able to answer this
questions: to what extent is this a life-or-death-matter for the
person(s) concerned?
 CHARACTERISTICS OF ASSESSMENT
It is ongoing .
It focuses on understanding the client in the situation and in
providing a base for planning and action.
It is a mutual process involving both client and worker.
There is movement within the assessment process.
Both horizontal and vertical explorations are important.
Assessment identifies needs in life situations, defines problems,
and explains their meanings and patterns.
Assessment is individualized.
Judgment is important in assessment because many decisions
have to be made.
No assessment is ever complete.
 Planning
Planning is the link between Assessment and
Intervention. Although it is often considered part
of the assessment process, it is so important in the
helping process that it should be discussed
separately.
Two major tasks are involved
during the planning stage:
formulating goals that directly relate to the
client’s need or problem

defining the specific actions or interventions

that necessary in order to achieve the goals.
GOALS
Goals give directions to the worker’s relationship
with her clients. Thus, to be useful, goals should
have the following characteristics:

Specific, concrete, and measurable.

Feasible
PLANS
If there are ends (goals), there should means to
achieve them, these would consist of the specific
actions or steps to be undertaken in order to
reach the goals.

Jointly, made by worker and the client, they

comprise what is called a helping plan, action
plan, or an intervention plan.
UNITS OF ATTENTION
An intervention or actions/ helping plan calls for an
identification of other persons who, in addition to the client,
have to be given attention because they are involved in the
situation, and work with them is essential to goal attainment.
These are called “units of attention,” meaning, “systems that
are the focused of the changes of the activity.” Thus,for
every goal and objective it is important to specify which the
appropriate units of attention are.
STRATEGY
Strategy is defined as “an overall approach to
change a situation.” it is a term which originated
from the military and refers to a battle plan.

It implies or orchestrated action that involves

different entities, each having a role to play in
order to achieve the defined goals.
THE HELPING CONTRACT
After having worked together in assessment and
action planning, what should follow is an agreement
between the worker and the client on what needs to
be done and who should do it.

This is called a “contract” in our setting, and having

verbal agreements Is the more common practice.
 Intervention
Intervention involves the rendering of all the
specific and interrelated services appropriate to
the given problem situation in the light of the
assessment and planning.
INTERVENTIVE ROLES IN DIRECT PRACTICE

Resource provider
Social broker
Mediator
Advocate
Enabler
Counselor/ therapist
INTERVENTIVE ROLES BEYOND
DIRECT PRACTICE
Mobilize of community elite
Documentor/ social critique
Policies/ program change
advocate
LIMITATIONS ON WORKER
ACTIVITIES
Time
Skills
Ethics
Agency function
 Evaluation
Evaluation is defined as the “collection of data
about our outcomes of a program of action
relative to goals and objectives set in advance of
the implementation of that program.”
 Evaluation
In social work, evaluation is a continual process
where the worker keeps on gathering data which
she uses in an ongoing reassessment of objectives,
intervention plans, and even the definition of the
problem. This is called ongoing evaluation
Evaluation in social work is
done on two levels:
on the level of direct practice
with clients

on the level of program

implementation.
Types of Evaluation
Summative evaluation – evaluation
that is concerned with outcomes
or effectiveness
Formative evaluation - evaluation that
is concerned with looking at the
process of the work
FORMATIVE EVALUATION
Formative evaluation forces the worker to find out whether
the intervention plan is being implemented as designed.

Intervention plans can be viewed on two levels

conceptual level - what the worker agreed
to do by way of a plan in order to achieve
her goals, which is usually inwritten form.
the operational level (what she actually
does, the activities she and the client
engage in to accomplish the goals).
QUALITATIVE & QUANTITATIVE MEASURES
Qualitative measures like case studies where she describes
the situation of the client before and after intervention can
be used. This will show the value of her approach. She can
use this technique to measure the effects of the individual
and group treatment on the individual.

Quantitative measures are among the more recent designs

for evaluating change efforts of social workers.
The following are needed which we will call
the “essentials” for doing evaluation:
A clear definition of the goals and objectives to be
attained. These should be written down so that the
direction being pursued is clear to both worker and
client. To put it simply, how can the worker tell if she
has been effective in helping if she was not clear in
the first place as to what it was that she wanted to
accomplish?
A clear definition of the intervention and change
activities to be undertaken. All the authors who have
written on the subject of evaluation, particularly
those who focus on the problem-solving approach
to practice underscore the need to be very specific
in stating interventive plans.

Documentation of the activities undertaken to achieve

goals defined. Records and other written documents
oftheactivities undertaken are necessary for
evaluation.
 TERMINATION
ending the helping relationship once goals
have been achieved.
Two terms were used in relation to
thetermination of the helping
relationship—the transfer and referral.
Transfer- is the process by which the client is referred by
his social worker to another worker, usually in the same
agency, because the former will no longer be able to
continue working with the client, or because she thinks
another worker is in a better position to work with her
client’s problem.
Referral - is the act of directing a client to another
worker/agency because the service that the client
needs beyond the present agency worker’s
competence or the client needs the additional
service which the present agency cannot provide
THE COMPONENTS OF
TERMINATION
Ellen pincus and Anne Minahan present three major
components of the termination process:
disengagement, stabilization of change and
evaluation.
On the client’s part, the following are
among the most common reactions that
have been identified:
Denial - is a defense mechanism that is
employed to avoid painful feelings. This is
manifested in such behavior in such behaviors
as ignoring or avoiding any discussion of
termination; or not keeping appointments after
termination is discussed.
Emotional reactions - fear of loss or fear of the
unknown can give rise to feelings of sadness or
of grief.
Bargaining - The worker should be understanding
but firm in terminating the helping relationship if
she is convinced it is time to do so.
Depression - listlessness, little energy, withdrawal,
sadness, helplessness, despair, absence of
motivation to go on are the manifestations
ofdepression. The client’s pain is real and evident.
Acceptance -The client manifests an increase in
energy, and is able to talk about the good and the
bad times and to think about the future. The client
returns to his level of functioning before the
depression and moves away from self-pity or self-
centeredness.
Clients react differently to termination.
The following are some of the factors
which influence their reactions:
Length of service
Attainment of client goals
Client-worker relationship
Modality of intervention
TERMINAL EVALUATION
Evaluation is an ongoing process part of the helping
process, hence, the word “periodic” or “regular”
evaluation. Periodic evaluation allows the worker
and the client to review and, if necessary, revise the
goals andobjectives, assess gains and/or failures,
negotiate conflicts and soon.
THANK YOU!