Questions We Can Help You To Answer

Paper instructions:

Question: This discussion is preparation for your assignment in Unit 6: Advocacy Training, for which you will prepare a presentation as an advocate, focusing on the senior life enhancement of an individual. Focusing on advocacy in its many forms as well as exploring multiple programs that are in place across the nation focused on enhancement of senior living, will provide you with relevant material to help you create this training on strategies for senior life enhancement.

Reflect on what you have learned about the ladder of inference. Using the process indicated, review the brief scenario below and consider how you might form misrepresentations when working with colleagues of various backgrounds, educational levels, and economic status within a care facility for the healthy elderly.

Consider the following scenario:

Harold, an active, energetic, well-dressed man lives in a wealthy retirement community requiring a minimum of $600,000 in savings before being assured of admission. As a recent widow, he has been seen in the company of many lovely women, just as affluent as he is, holding hands and appearing to be presumptuous in their relationship. You, coming from a middle-class background, with no hopes of ever entering a community like this, find yourself questioning his presumptuousness and pompous approach to the ladies. As he requests a ride for a lunch out, you find yourself putting that request to the back of your mind, giving him excuses for not completing the task with the proper administrative sources. 

You are required, as a staff member, to provide support for the residents, but you feel that others may deserve your time more.

How will you justify your decision to focus more on other residents, to your staff? 

Use the ladder of inference to form your ideas on this situation.

For this discussion, assume the role of a staff member of the community responsible to arranging transportation and volunteer activities.

In your post, include the following:

Using the ladder of inference, what did you find out about your own responses to Harold?
How would the situation change from one of biased, unrealistic understandings that are personally impacting you- to a greater awareness of the realistic responses that are occurring and could result in a different outcome?
Is advocacy for his needs possible?
How will understanding your personal responses within professional collaborations lead to a stronger understanding of the power of advocacy and leadership?


 

unit reading:  Leadership And Advocacy
INTRODUCTION

Male hand pressing culture key button. © istockphoto.com Quote: 'Leadership is not about speed, ideas, efficiency, or power...It is about knowing your own limitations and celebrating the gifts of others.' - https://nurturingfaith.wordpress.com/
There are multiple ways of defining advocacy and various types of advocacy used for this population. "Vigilant efforts by, with, or on behalf of older persons to influence decision-makers and structures of imbalanced power and to promote justice in providing for, assisting with, or allowing needs to be met," defines advocacy according to authors Huber, Nelson, Netting, and Borders (2008, p. 4). With such a detailed definition, it is easy to understand the need for focusing on multicultural knowledge as necessary to fully comprehend the differences impacting seniors based on where they are located and in which they fulfill their life goals.

Advocacy at many different levels and in many different capacities requires attention to needs indicated by the vulnerability of this age group. To be able to encourage seniors to self-advocate and understand the need for collaboration and support, demands recognizing what Huber, et al. call a power differential. They explain the need for questioning what seniors want and how the collaboration efforts and the service providers who are involved can support these needs. Self-advocates and collective self-advocates, as the authors identify, adopt various goals and organizational structures to address issues and guide this population. Legal provider advocates are also identified by these authors helping us to recognize the various ways and forms advocacy may take. Understanding the group to which one is tied and their cultural perspectives and positive attributes, will support the effort to advocate effectively for this population (2008).

Leadership for this age group has become a strong focal point for training organizations. Training differs, supporting leadership of the elderly, who are frail or healthy and engaged as adults, as well as their family and significant others. Leadership within the professional community  requires training in skills of communication and empowerment. Holm and Severinsson (2014) describe the need for protecting vulnerability of patients considered as individuals, and not as groups of individuals.

The focus on this will continue throughout the course as we discern ways to protect the integrity and enhance development and self-esteem of the aging individual. It is essential to communicate effectively.  We must recognize the contributions of various individuals, focus groups, and organizations for enhancing the life quality of a resident of a continuing care community or one who lives independently, as well as value the support of the family, which requires a balancing act for any leader.

From a counseling perspective, positive regard for all contributing parties becomes an expectation. Building relationships that create alliances with other contributing forces to care (Huber, Nelson, Netting, & Borders, 2008) as well as team building are integral aspects of leadership that is effective, responsive, and conciliatory. This unit will give us an opportunity to view multiple leadership roles and to consider their response to change as well as their options for enhancing empowerment from all contributing forces.