TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT (TMA)

This assignment is worth 35% of the final mark for SWK356 Social Work in Healthcare.

The cut-off date for this assignment is Thursday 6 March 2355hrs. Late submissions will be penalised.

Note to Students:

• You are to include the following particulars in your submission: Course Code, Title of the assignment (e.g., TMA01, GBA01 etc) SUSS PI No., Your Name, and Submission Date.

• Name your document strictly to this format: CourseCode_AssignmentCode_UserID_FullName

• The submitted assignment is limited to a word length not exceeding 2,500 words (excluding references). Do a word count and indicate the word length on the last page. It should be typewritten, double-spaced, with a size 12-font face and a 2.54 cm (one-inch) margin all round. All pages should be numbered.

• Plagiarism and/or collusion is a form of cheating and is not acceptable in any form in assignments and examinations. Please ensure your sources are correctly cited and references in APA style.

• You are not allowed to include any AI generated writing in this assignment. Students must keep copies of their original drafts, and all references or materials used in the writing of this assignment in a zipped folder.

Question 1 (50 marks)

Choose ONE of the three prevalent health issues faced in Singapore and answer the following

questions.
• Cancer
• Hypertension
• Low fertility rate

(a) Taking into consideration the healthcare landscape and sociopolitical context in Singapore, analyse and appraise how the issue is perceived and managed by the various stakeholders in the healthcare system. (20 marks)

(b) Discuss three (3) possible psychosocial implications that medical social workers can address in view of the issues of concern that you selected. Support and illustrate your answers with concrete examples. (15 marks)

(c) Using the concepts taught in this module, select any three (3) relevant social work and/or bioethics principles that need to be considered in the management of the health issue selected. Explain how you would apply each of them to help patients with the health issue. (15 marks)

Question 2 (50 marks)

Mdm Tan is a 60-year-old patient who has Diabetes since she was 40 years old. She has bilateral below knee amputation and is wheelchair bound. She is also partially blind due to retinopathy. Mdm Tan has a history of depression and had been admitted to IMH on a few occasions as she attempted to kill herself by overdosing with drugs and one year ago, she drank two cups full of detergent. She is non-compliant with her treatment and often laments that her
life is not worth living and saw no point in extending her life when she is dependent on daily insulin injections, medications, and her helpers with her activities of daily living. When you last saw her as an outpatient about 5 months ago, she told you that it is better if she dies so that
her husband can marry his girlfriend who has been with him for the last 10 years. She feels she is her husband’s girlfriend can fulfil his emotional needs better than her and laments that she is useless and a burden to her family. She said, “If I have the ability to lift myself up and onto the parapet, I will jump off the building to end the pain I am causing everyone.” She hopes that she will have a better afterlife and be reincarnated with better health.

Mdm Tan’s husband, Mr Lim is 67-year-old, and he is an odd jobber earning a meagre salary of about $2,000 per month. The exact nature of his work is unknown. Mdm Tan is looked by two domestic helpers employed by her sons in their Housing and Development Board (HDB) 4-room flat. Mdm Tan has two sons aged 29 and 27 years old, respectively. Both are graduates from local universities. Her older son, Eric is an engineer. He was working overseas in London until he returned home recently due to changes in the manpower in his company. Her younger  son, Eugene is working in a bank and is stationed in Guangzhou, China. He only comes home about once or twice a year but would regularly contribute to the household income. Both sons are doing well in their careers. Though they are contributing to the upkeep of the household expenses, they feel resentful that Mdm Tan brought this upon herself and the family because of her non-compliance. Eric has a girlfriend for the last 5 years; he decided to hold off his wedding plans as he is worried that Mdm Tan would feel abandoned when he shifts out to live in his Built-to-Order (BTO) flat.

Mdm Tan is now readmitted to the general hospital that you work in. She has been referred to you as the medical team found out that even though she is served her medicine regularly by her domestic helpers, she spits them out when they are not in sight, and she has again expressed suicidal thoughts in this current admission.

(a) Using the Rolland’s (1994) psychosocial typology of illness, map out the current and projected development of Mdm Tan’s medical condition. (15 marks)

(b) Using the Biopsychosocial-spiritual (BPS-S) model, assess the impact of Mdm Tan’s condition impacting Mdm Tan and vice versa. (20 marks)

(c) Assess the suicidal risk in Mdm Tan and discuss how would that affect your
management of this case. Discuss any possible ethical concerns that you may have in working with Mdm Tan and how you would overcome this concern.
(15 marks)