Page 59 - The Deep Seated Issue of Choice

THE DEEP SEATED ISSUE OF CHOICE
WHAT MAKES NEW IDEAS DIFFICULT?
Social Work Accountability to Resident Self-Determination Is Clear
The history of social work in social change is addressed by Norton in The Power of Circles:
Social work pioneer Jane Addams would never have stood for it: Relegated to finding lost socks when a whole culture needs changing...Addams undoubtedly would have seen her role in long-term care a little differently than that. Many of the hurdles she helped new immigrants and the urban poor to overcome 100 years ago parallel those for nursing home residents today. That is, the struggle to survive and thrive in strange and often cold, indifferent surroundings. Addams and her associates established settlement houses to provide social services, educational classes, recreation, workshops, childcare nurseries and theaters in poor neighborhoods where immigrants lived. They not only brought their clientele into the mainstream of society by helping develop the individual skills and abilities of the poor, but also worked to create a sense of community and change in the environment in which they were living. (Norton, 2003)
The role of the social worker supporting resident rights and self-determination is reaffirmed in The NASW Code of Ethics, which serves as a guide to the everyday professional conduct of social workers. The Preamble opens with:
The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human wellbeing and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. A historic and defining feature of social work is the profession’s focus on individual wellbeing in a social context and the wellbeing of society. Fundamental to social work is attention to the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living. (NASW Delegate Assembly, 2008)
The Social Worker’s Ethical Responsibilities to Clients include, among others:
1.01 Commitment to Clients – Social workers’ primary responsibility is to promote the wellbeing of clients. In general, clients’ issues are primary...
1.02 Self-Determination – Social workers respect and promote the right of clients to self-determination and assist clients in their efforts to identify and clarify their goals.
1.03 Informed Consent – Social workers should provide services to clients in
the context of a professional relationship based, when appropriate, on valid informed consent. Social workers should use clear and understandable language to inform clients of the purpose of the services, risks related to the services, limits to services because of the requirements of a third party payer, relevant costs, reasonable alternatives, clients’ rights to refuse or withdraw consent...
1.14 Clients Who Lack Decision Making Capacity – When social workers act
on behalf of clients who lack the capacity to make informed decisions, social workers should take reasonable steps to safeguard the interests and rights of those clients.
The Social Worker’s Ethical Responsibilities to Colleagues include, among others:
2.03 Interdisciplinary Collaboration – social workers who are members of interdisciplinary
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