Week 7 Flashcards
Upstream Thinking
Examining the community surrounding the individuals, insight can be gained and greater effectiveness in helping can be achieved.
Define community
A number of people who share a distinct location, belief, interest, activity or other characteristic that clearly identifies their commonality and differentiates them from those not sharing it.
Community Agency
Any institution designed to provide social and psychological services to the community.
Change Agents
Play an active role in creating community programs from the bottom up.
Community Workers
Human service and community health workers, with diverse education and training, whose primary duties revolve around serving their community.
Community Orientation involves
*Designing interventions that go beyond the office and the individual
*A shift in thinking of the community as the client.
Helping only the individual = _______
What does this lead to?
maintaining the status quo
this can lead to reinforcing social injustices, inequalities, and discriminatory treatment of certain groups of people?
When did the community mental health movement begin?
1950s
Community Mental Health Movement is based on the idea that
human problems are rooted in failures in the social system
The community mental health movement is specifically relevant to
marginalized, oppressed and underserved communities.
____________ must be met first
Basic human needs
____________ > Exploration
Stabilization
Someone who is homeless and struggling to find food, is not likely at a point to benefit from self-exploration and personal growth.
7 Points to Become a Skilled Community Practitioner
- familiarity with resources
- basic knowledge of cultural background of clients
- strength based perspectives
- alter interventions and strategies to client needs
- implement programs and concepts that apply to a broad range of people
- teach clients to be their own advocates
- connect
6 Roles of Community Worker
- Advocate
- Change Agent
- Consultant
- Advisor
- Facilitator of Indigenous Support Systems
- Facilitator of Indigenous Healing Systems
Advocate Role of Community Worker
- Speaking on behalf of marginalized communities.
- Help clients to effectively deal with institutional barriers that impede personal, social, academic and career goals.
- Getting involved in social and political activism.
Change Agent Role of Community Worker
- Confronting and bringing about change within the system that contributes to the problems that clients face.
- Assist clients in developing power to bring about change in the client’s social and physical environment.
Consultant Role of Community Worker
- Encourage people from diverse cultures to learn skills to interact with forces within their community.
- Help design preventative programs to reduce the negative impact of racism and oppression.
Advisor Role of Community Worker
- Initiates discussions with clients about ways to deal with environmental problems that contribute to personal problems.
Facilitator of Indigenous Support Systems Role of Community Worker
- Encourage clients to make use of the resources in their communities (ex. Community centers, church, extended family, advocacy groups, etc).
Facilitator of Indigenous Healing Systems role of community worker
- Recognizing mistrust that exists between some individuals and traditional mental health practices.
- Refer clients to healer of their choice or from their culture.
4 Types of Community Interventions
- Direct Client Services
- Indirect Client Services
- Direct Community Services
- Indirect Community Services
Direct Client Services
- Focus on outreach activities in a population at risk for developing mental health issues.
Indirect Client Services
- Focus on client advocacy.
- Works to empower disenfranchised groups.
Direct Community Services
- Focus on preventative education, geared to the population at large,
Indirect Community Services
- Attempts to change the social environment to meet the needs of the population as a whole by influencing public policy.
Define outreach
- Not waiting for people to come in seeking help,
- Must be practical for the community, not just the practitioner.
