Community Mental Health with Andrew

This past week, I was fortunate enough to spend two days with Andrew, a Massey University Social Work graduate, who let me shadow him throughout his busy days.  He explained that they work with the recovery model, which refers to individuals and families/whanau developing skills and strategies that enable them to realize their potential despite the existence of mental ill health (Mental Health Commission, 1998).  He works with a caseload of about 30 people, and fills his days with phone calls to consumers, documentation, scheduling, visits to the home, calls to pharmacies, and partner agencies.  E likened himself to the the "sheep dog clinician" chasing after things, and rounding things up.

Ome observations I noticed:  In this field, knowledge of medications and their effects on someone is extremely important.  Not only did I see Andrew discuss with a psychiatric nurse and psychiatrist, the side effects he observed in consumers, but he also had to interpret what their advice and implications were.  He also provided a good deal of education about meds to the consumer and family during a home visit because they had questions about the tapering off of one medication and the increased agitation that he felt.  Andrew used the analogy of a car-meds are like air in the tire.  They help the car to go, but you still need petrol, motor, key, etc and they aren't the end all, be all.  I appreciated the analogy, and the message it represents.

I also noticed that Andrew was very organized to clearly present information and updates to the multidisciplinary team about his assessment and the risks that he felt concerning his consumers.  I felt really lucky to get a glimpse into a day in the busy life of this skilled Community Mental Health Social Worker.  I also know that I have lots more to learn to feel more confident in this field.