Practicum Meeting Reflection: Limitations And Community Needs

Social justice and social services have always played a vital role in my life. From leading canned food and toy drives in middle school to volunteering in school settings and soup kitchens, I am dedicated in assisting others to meet their goals and removing obstacles that may present as a disability or create discrimination. Through the experiences of engaging with individuals from different populations, I have realized the importance of working on a macro-level of social services. An individual’s presenting problem often develops from a systemic issue. From a social work perspective, disabilities are a result from society’s understanding of a person’s impairment or level of functioning. Adults with developmental delays have atypical experiences due to their interaction or lack thereof with their environment. Institutionalized discrimination or negative myths can prevent not only the person or consumer from achieving their goals, but large groups that are similarly labeled may face the same issue.

My practicum was a good learning experience of practical public health work and exposure to how zoonotic disease is handled by multiple public health departments. I appreciated my experience giving me the knowledge of day-to-day public health work and what it means to be epidemiologist. My classes in epidemiology prepared me well for understanding terminology and the process of outbreak response. Particularly, my Applied Epidemiology course provided me with the critical thinking skills to evaluate published literature. In reviewing my work I used multiple public health competencies including biostatistics, epidemiology, communication and informatics, leadership, professionalism, and program planning.

It is here that these individuals can feel excluded and different from the socially acceptable environments. In order for these individuals to succeed, we need to find a way to abolish this stigma of mental illness being unacceptable. By targeting community leader and faith organizations to include individuals with disabilities, we can provide better support (Farone, 2006). By providing social interactions that provide various interests and rewarding outcomes allow for individuals with schizophrenia to feel connected (Farone, 2006). For those who may not be able to support themselves on their own there are ways for them to feel a part of the community in their residencies. Peer run organizations is a way to help with connections and allow a sense of inclusion instead of treatment (Farone, 2006). Allowing individuals to choose what they want to participate set them up for success. By dissolving stigma’s around disability with influential leaders and allowing them to participate in a society built of acceptance not changes allows for a sense of

Our organization, Nami-Wisconsin, is a non-profit that is tax exempt under the Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Our organization strives to serve individuals in the community we strive to be an inclusive organization serving African American, Hispanic, Latino and youth communities. Nami-Wisconsin served those who suffer from mental illness. Nami is a grass rooted advocacy organization; our goal is to effectively engage members from all backgrounds in order to ensure that we are the voice on mental illness. Our priorities over the last year and a half have recognized that NAMI’s growth and strength depend upon our ability to meaningfully engage all communities in Wisconsin, especially those who are underserved. It is a heavy responsibility,

Addressing inadequately served mental health needs is a multifactorial issue related to inadequate social understanding of the problem, funding, supply of providers, and integration of services. There is no one solution to the problem, and the recommendations here will focus on addressing several of these important aspects of the mental health issue.

Comprehensive Mental Health Services (CMHS) is an organization in Kansas City, Missouri dedicated to serving those with mental illnesses, ranging from both low- to high-functioning. This group has a for-profit and non-profit side. The for-profit side utilizes doctors, nurses, and a pharmacy to aide in the non-profit side. Case workers, therapists, addiction recovery, and group homes are all funded via the organization. With diverse staff involvement, CMHS has a multitude of positions ranging from full-time salary doctors, to full-time hourly case workers, to volunteers. Volunteers vary between other organizations that CMHS collaborates with, including Harvester’s food pantry, and even patients who want to donate their time to some of the less-fortunate. While those with mental illnesses are oppressed, this report is not about their oppression, rather their open-mindedness on the oppression of those around them.

Discussing this topic at length have allowed different ideals to come to light that will aid in fixing the broken mental health system. My personal commitment to the issue is to reinvent the system. Change is the reinvention of a previous problem. There must be a reason for change something. The issue must become so great that open the eyes of others in order for the issue to look into.

It has been my goal since beginning in the field of social work to begin addressing some of the disparities surrounding mental health that exist within varying communities. It is common knowledge that communities with a high rates of poverty are not considered a priority when receiving the help that is needed when addressing the mind's health. This is evidenced by the state of the healthcare system that exists within this country. Though healthcare has seen drastic changes over the past few years under the Obama administration, there still remains a gap in care to people who need it.

Describe your experiences in working with children or youth with disabilities, and indicate their significance to you.

Tacachale Center is a community for adults with developmental disabilities. I learned about Tacachale from a classmate and was compelled to visit the community after learning about its mission to promote independence and the individual potential of the residents. As a volunteer, I did crafts with the residents and helped serve snacks. I learned from the staff that most residents were abandoned by their families and that visitors were not common. Although most of the residents are unable to clearly communicate, it is easy to realize how much they appreciate the volunteers and enjoy interacting with new people. Through this experience, I learned that I posses a strong interest in working with underserved populations. I am drawn to people that

We should work to help our clients understand that having a mental illness doesn’t translate to them being less then or irrelevant. This population should still be given the opportunity to be hired for a job if they are able to complete the tasks assigned to them. They should be able to participate in community activities without being excluded. They should not be discriminated against or put down.

As I note in BIO posted on the class wall, I come from the corporate security world. When I left, I found myself working for a non-profit organization as an advocate for adults of all ages with all types of developmental disabilities. My team and I work with our amazing clients on a daily basis to make sure that they are able to enjoy and live the fullest lives possible in the mainstream community they reside in. We provide, advocacy, education, housing, employment, medical assistance, transportation and pretty much any other basic life tool or skills training needed to be a productive member in their communities. While, folks in the mainstream community are more accepting of my clients with developmental disabilities, they sometimes not as

Working for MHCD for the last 3 months has taught me so much about health-care funding for underserved populations (or lack thereof). However even if it has made me ever-more melancholy about some people's access to mental health care, it has only invigorated my passion for mental health and the benefits it brings to people's lives. It is hard to overstate the impact that having access to proper psychiatric medicine has on an individual

It is sad that in our society, conformity and assimilation have led to schisms in our communities. The Calgary Case Study is one such example. Mentally ill people who are marginalized face a myriad of struggles that are belittled and poorly understood. Those of us who are in a position to make a positive contribution to the lives of mentally ill community members, would rather choose to spend our efforts on more esthetically pleasing “charities”. It seems that mainstream society would rather see the issues surrounding the mentally ill simply go away and remain ignored. As social workers, it is our responsibility to make certain that this does not continue. In the following pages we will explore the

Evidence based instruction is a collection of practices that have been tested and show a record of success and improvement. Evidence based instruction is based on information that is reliable and with verifiable as well as valid evidence that shows when this practice or program is implemented, there is a moderate to substantial chance that students will make strides in achievement. Research based means that there has been researched, but does not definitely imply success or achievement.