Interview with an addiction counselor

Q1. What motivated you to pursue a career in the field of addiction counseling? 

I grew up in an environment where drug and substance abuse were common. At a young age, I did not understand how something that was used willingly could affect people’s lives to a point where it affected their health, relationships, careers, and sometimes even resulted in death. I always believed that people who abused drugs and other substances could easily decide to quit if they wanted to. My misplaced opinions regarding drug use as I started viewing those that abused negatively especially because I could not understand why they could not regulate their drug use and avoid the negative consequences that arise from drug abuse. 

           It was not until later on in life that I got to learn about addiction and how some substances result in some form of dependency that makes it difficult, if not impossible for the user to quit. The realization opened up my eyes to the harmful effects of drugs and substance abuse as well as the difficulty that users face whenever they try to quit and abstain from consuming the harmful substances. I also learned that drug addiction, despite being a serious problem in society, is something that can be regulated. I, therefore, decided to pursue a career in addiction counseling to help people cope with their situation and discover ways to not only stop abusing drugs but also ensure that the patient does not go back to the same habits later in life. My career path has equipped me with the skills and general knowhow needed to help people deal with drug and substance abuse as well as help addicts break from the cycle of their addiction.

Q2. What is your educational background?

After completing my course in addiction counseling, I volunteered at the local drug and substance abuse centre where I got to work alongside an experienced addiction counselor and gain valuable experience and insight on how to be a good addiction counselor. The voluntary work as per the requirement where addiction counselors must complete specific experience requirements as part of their coursework. I also have a master's in psychology and a bachelor's degree in addiction studies. Also, I have a Board-Certified Behaviour Analyst certificate.

Q3. What are some of the experiences you have had while in the field of addiction counseling? 

           When pursuing my bachelor’s degree, I realized that a significant number of students in my school and those I interacted with outside school relied on drugs and alcohol to help them cope with the challenges of a demanding curriculum. Most of the students I interacted with found it difficult to balance their academic and social life. Drugs were considered helpful in relieving the stress resulting from school and students relied on different drugs and substances to help cope with school life. Drug and substance abuse in school however created more problems especially for those that got addicted. 

The prevalence of drug abuse to cope with school-related stress led to my decision to start a group to help come up with ways to prevent drug and substance abuse in our school. The group consisted of five individuals and we would present public speeches and class presentations to educate other students on the negative effects of abusing drugs and other substances. we also collaborated with the guidance and counseling department where I got to learn more about addiction and how to help people addicted to drugs and alcohol fight their addictions and abstain from drug and substance abuse. 

           After school, I became a licensed professional counselor and also a certified advanced drugs and alcohol abuse counselor. I have worked in different co-ed outpatient facilities and methadone clinics where I have helped men, women, and young adults learn more about drug abuse and how to go about preventing addiction to drugs and other substances. my experiences in the field for more than seven years has equipped me with the skills and knowledge needed to help clients with their addictions and how to break their dependency on drugs and other substances. 

Q4. The current position in the field of addiction counseling

At present, I work as an addiction counselor 1 and my duties include functioning as the primary counselor for assigned groups and individual clients. I also provide individual and group therapy as well as facilitate social and vocational activities that are designed to help my clients fight their addictions. I am also responsible for monitoring clients to assess their compliance with the treatment methods used and their commitment to abstaining from drug and substance abuse. 

Q5. What advice would you give to people who are entering into the field of addiction counseling

           Addiction counseling, like any other field in counseling requires the counselor to set aside personal opinions and observe professionalism when helping patients. Those entering the addiction counseling field should therefore ensure that they have enough knowledge and experience on how to help clients manage their addictions. Knowledge in the field is crucial as it helps the counselor to determine what approach to take and how to handle different clients. Possession of such knowledge will make it easier to keep personal opinions and attitudes from interfering with the advice given to clients on how to abstain from drugs and other substances. 

           I would also encourage them to develop a passion for learning and improving their skills and knowledge and addiction counselors. With the prevalence of drug and substance abuse, addiction counselors have to seek out more effective ways to discourage people from drug use as well as help those addicted to breaking from their addiction. Counselors must therefore develop a habit of learning and constantly seek out information relating to drug and substance abuse, how to fight addictions, and also how to avoid reliance on drugs and other harmful substances.

           Lastly, addiction counselors should learn to strike a balance between their career and personal life. Although the counselor should come up with different ways to keep in contact with the clients, it is advisable to set aside time for activities that constitute the counselor’s personal life. It is therefore advisable to restrict counseling sessions strictly to office hours unless it's an emergency. Addiction counseling tends to be rather demanding especially when dealing with clients that require constant supervision or counseling. As addiction counselors, restricting sessions to office hours ensures that the counselor has time to take care of other responsibilities while still allowing the client to put previous sessions into practice. The goal should always be to help the client cope with their situation on their own without constantly seeking assistance from addiction counselors in the future. 

Report on Simulated Intervention

The five-stage counseling session is made up of a relationship, story and strengths, goals, restoration, and action. In stage one, the main focus is on relationship building whereby the counselor establishes a rapport with the client that is founded on trust, understanding, respect, and care. Sessions are bound to be productive when there is a strong relationship between the counselor and the client. In this stage, the counselor is genuine to the client, shows empathy, listens to the client, and shows that they understand them and they are ready to go through the journey with them. This starts by welcoming the client and introducing yourself to them and making them feel comfortable (Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquett 2018). Offering them anything that they would like to have to show hospitality is important at this stage. You should make the client feel known by addressing them using their name and to reduce any anxiety that they may be feeling, having a social conversation will be helpful. You should allow the client to talk and tell you the reason he/she has decided to open up and make them feel that you are interested in helping them. Being patient and sensitive to the client is part of building a relationship.

Stage two: stories and strengths

In this stage, the counselor conducts the problem assessment. This involves gathering information about the client and finding out how those problems impact their lives. It also involves finding out how long the problem has existed. This can be done by using closed and open-ended questions. Closed-ended questions require specific answers and this helps the counselor to gather specific information (Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquett 2018). Open-ended questions allow the client to speak more and dwell a little bit on the question giving the counselor plenty of time to gather more information. In this stage, the counselor gathers information about the client’s personal and family history, their age, contacts, and other important data that may be helpful to the counselor. The counselor at this stage should make the client feel like they are engaging with someone who wants to know who they are, how they feel, and not feel like they are being interrogated. Through the assessment, the counselor can make a summary of whether is a connection between the problems the client raised and the information gathered.

Stage three: collaborative

This is the stage where goals are set for them to have a focus. Goals help in giving direction during the sessions. The counselor’s focus is on the problem, the counseling process, and the overall goal which is leading the client towards change (Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquett 2018). The goals should be clear and attainable and should be associated with the desired result that the client is seeking. When setting the goals, the counselor helps the client to identify specific ways to move towards change. It helps them to structure their lives in a manner that makes reaching the goals more practical.

Stage four: Restoring

In stage four, the counselor summarizes the problem and identifies a strategy for solving the problem. This is the stage where intervention is selected and implemented. While making the summary, the counselor should consider questions such as how the problem makes the client feel, their desire to change, what behavior the client exhibits amid the problem, and how this behavior sustains the problem (Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquett 2018). The counselor should also consider the thoughts that are going in the client’s mind, their relationships, and if family relationships have an impact on the problem.

Stage five: action

This is the stage where the client applies the conversation and goals that they set to their current life situation. In this stage, the goals that were agreed upon by the counselor and the client are achieved or the problem in question becomes more manageable or is resolved. This is an important stage because the aim of the counselor which is helping the client to get to a place where they can depend on themselves is reached. The action stage is a great and hopeful stage for both the client and the counselor (Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquett 2018). I chose the five-stage counseling because, through the five stages, the counselor gets to know more about the client. Through the stages, the client develops trust and a strong relationship with the counselor which is important in the counseling process because they feel comfortable and safe.

I used the micro-skills technique which included attending, empathy, observation, focusing, questioning, and reflective skills. These specific skills help the counselor to enhance their communication with the client. The attending skill allows the counselor to develop a rapport with the client encouraging them to speak out about their problem. This skill allows the counselor to create an environment that the client feels safe to share what they are feeling. Empathy skill which is composed of cognitive and affective empathy helps to understand the client better. Through empathy skill, the counselor understands the client’s emotions by getting to know their emotional state (Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquett 2018). Observation skills help the counselor to notice any irregularities through the client’s conversation and how they express themselves. Through this skill, the counselor can make observations on the client’s facial expressions, body language, and the tone they use when communicating. Focusing skill is used by the counselor to focus on specific information such as the client’s demographics, history, and the reason for seeking help. The questioning skill which is composed of open and closed types of questioning allows more clarification to information. Open questions encourage the client to speak more while the counselor gathers information. Closed questions require the client to give specific answers to questions. The reflective skill enables the counselor to understand what the client is feeling by capturing emotional tones and phrases.

My practice strengths are genuineness, active listening, empathy, and creating rapport with the client. Being genuine to myself and the client makes the client feel that you care about them hence feel comfortable to share their problems. Active listening allows the client to talk and as the counselor, I can gain a lot of helpful information. Building a relationship creates an environment where the client feels safe to share all their sentiments and with empathy I can emotionally connect to the client (Ivey, Ivey & Zalaquett 2018). I need to practice growth in the area of stepping out of my assumptions and include the client. Sometimes what I might think is helpful may not fit all the clients. I need growth in becoming aware of my vulnerability to better connect with clients. Being able to become vulnerable as a counselor makes the client not feel alone which is a humbling process.

References

Ivey, A. E., Ivey, M. B., & Zalaquett, C. P. (2018). Intentional Interviewing and Counseling:

Facilitating Client Development in a Multicultural Society. Boston, MA: Cengage.

INTERVIEW OF AN ADDICTION COUNSELOR WHO IS CURRENTLY WORKING IN THE FIELD

 What motivated you on addiction counseling?

At first, I studied Community Health and Development. After completion, I started working as a health worker in analyzing health problems and implementing solutions in the community. While interacting with community members, I learned the health behaviors of individuals and found that adolescents and young adults in the community had mental health issues due to substance use. Young people between the ages of 16-24 were suffering from depression and anxiety yet they could not seek professional help. Since these young people were from a rural population, they raised concerns about transportation, confidentiality, stigma, and others believed that the treatment won't help. As a community health worker, I realized that young people need social encouragement, trusted relationships, and a positive attitude for them to seek help. That said, I realized I need to take an active role to eliminate the barriers to accessing help. This motivated me to specialize in addiction counseling and specifically focus on drug and alcohol issues and help individuals recover from addiction. In the community, young people had developed repetitive behaviors that contributed to pain and suffering. I also realized that young people were not aware of the impact the drugs and alcohol have on their lives. I felt that these people need support since they could not control addiction on their own. Changing my career from community health workers to a substance abuse counselor has made a difference in individuals' lives. Young people are now able to cope with addiction, and they have also changed their destructive behaviors. I have a personal passion for making a real difference in people's lives.  I interact with young people from diverse backgrounds and this means that I have a firm understanding of multicultural issues.

What is your educational background?

 I graduated with a bachelor's degree in addiction counseling.  A degree requires a time commitment to get rewarding employment opportunities. As I had said, people are motivated by different factors to study additional counseling. Some might have struggled with their addiction and are willing to help their fellows and others like me have a deep commitment to helping community members who struggle with addiction. That said, for an additional counselor to help young people reduce their destructive behaviors, he or she must have a good entry-level.  I did not pursue this degree for a paycheck but I did a research to ensure that I acquire the needed education and experience that will enable me to assist individuals to modify behaviors and recover from addiction. As adolescents and young adults struggle with addiction, counselors play a significant role in serving them with competence and compassion. I am a qualified addiction counselor and I would say that this degree had helped me develop necessary skills such as computer skills, organizational skills, customer service skills, and teamwork skills.  Since the cornerstone of the CT CLEARINGHOUSE is to promote wellness and recovery, this course has enabled me to do my best in treating substance use disorder. My bachelor's degree has helped me interact with people from diverse populations by showing critical thinking and empathy. I have a foundational knowledge that helps me control addiction and provide effective therapy. Education also plays a significant role in helping me face challenges that come on the way.  I employ situation-appropriate strategies to promote personal connections.

Tell me about your work experience

  I have a 10-year experience in working as a community health worker, and I have assisted community members to access community-based services. I provided community members with clinical services such as understanding patients' health and assessing vital signs. I also ensured that community members get access to literacy support and vocational training.  Finally, I provided health education through motivational interviewing and health coaches to promote care coordination. Then, I furthered my education to become an addiction counselor and I worked as a resource specialist where I welcomed the general public to the CT CLEARINGHOUSE and provided them with resources and information online and in Plainville, Connecticut.

Currently, I work as an addiction counselor at CT CLEARINGHOUSE and my role is to develop knowledge and understanding about alcohol and drug addiction among the general public. I accommodate families and young people and share information related to mental health disorders. In particular, I attend conferences and community events where I talk about drug awareness and prevention program. Membership who visits CT Clearinghouse has the added benefits of not only taking information materials but also educate them about mental health since I have an understanding of mental health. As I said above that stigma is a barrier to accessing mental health services, I ensure that I talk about mental health issues to people attending the library. I have realized that sharing information is a strategy that is providing individuals with an opportunity to discuss struggles. As an addiction counselor, I provide individuals with materials and information that would help them address frustrations. I would say that I have a positive work experience since I have helped young people deal with disruptive behaviors and practice self-care.

What would you advise people who are entering into the field of addiction counseling

 First, drug and alcohol addiction is a devastating disease. Thus, an addiction counselor should be confident to be able to cope with the new challenges and create meaningful connections. From my work experience, I have realized that drug and alcohol addiction require a therapeutic alliance. This means that the counselor should be aware of the biases that may arise and manage the feelings. While working with clients, I have always ensured a strong therapeutic alliance to ensure that clients change behaviors. One thing I have noted is that society does not empathize with people who struggle with mental illness. They perceive them as weak and indolent. The truth is that these people need support and addiction. Counselors should create and maintain a constructive rapport.  Another advice that I would like to give to the addiction counselors is that counselors who are motivated by their own experience have a narrow focus while addressing individual needs. They do not virtually meet the client's needs simply because they do not put an effort to explore other theories. Counselors who are motivated to enter into the field due to the experience of others lack connection of what the addicts have experienced in life and therefore they use their theoretical framework. What I would advise in addressing mental problems is that addiction counselors should act in the best interest by understanding all theoretical frameworks. They should apply the theories to a particular client.  They should also be willing to consider different theoretical perspective and the broadly based framework which is thoughtfully and respectfully assessed will yield positive results.  

Article Summary and Comments

Thinking About Ethnicity in Early Modern China

The article focuses on the issues that are associated with the historical origins of minority nationalities concepts in China. More to that are the ethnic group's concepts in the West and the impacts of the social and cultural history of modern ethnicity in China. Sinicization made the Chinese culture seem rigid and exclusive and eradicated contacts with other worlds (Crossley 2). The concept of sinicization reflected their charisma which attracted people from other cultures. China’s social history as mobilization has been economic vitality and diversity. The study of China with the questions of imperialism, localism, and popular culture has been directed to the history of the Chinese of the early modern period.

“Speaking Chinese and catering to Chinese tastes could be commercially advantageous, and it is not miraculous that many border peoples with no other very profound interest in Chinese culture adapted in limited ways “(Crossley 4). The Chinese have a unique and interesting language which is rare to find a person who is not of that culture studying and this aspect makes it marketable. Chinese have different and again unique preferences in their meals, learning how to prepare their meals will be advantageous because they live and travel all over the world.

The Modern Origins of Ancient Religions.

The article concentrates on the Greeks, Romans, Mesopotamians, and other people who have a long history concerning an ancient religion. The Greeks and Romans religions were among the earliest Christians whose gods were regarded as demonic minions of Satan. Others believed that the Greek and Roman gods were heroic old humans (Nongbri 2013). There is a great difference between the typical modern conceptions of religion and the ancient religion. The ancient religion seems very strange to the modern notions of religion but their histories are from a similar lineage.

“Like Greek and Roman religions, ancient Mesopotamia religion turns out to be very much a modern entity “(Nongbri 150). The Greeks and Roman religions are the earliest religions to have ever existed and therefore match up to many of their practices. Ancient Mesopotamia religion, on the other hand, came into existence later and therefore the norms were different from the Greek and Roman religions.

References

Pamela Kyle Crossley. “Thinking About Ethnicity in Early Modern China. “Late Imperial

China, 11.1 (June 1990): pp. 1-35.

Brent Nongbri. ”Seven: The Modern Origins of Ancient Religions in Before Religion: A History

of a Modern Concept. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013, pp. 132-153.

Teenage pregnancy

Parents have a responsibility to bring up their children morally and also teach them to discern right from wrong. Although parents operate under the assumption and belief that their children will heed everything they are taught, mistakes are part of growing up. Part of child upbringing must therefore allow room for mistakes as this encourages the young to try out new things on their own. Parents must therefore learn to overlook some of the mistakes that their children made and use them as teaching moments. On serious issues such as pregnancy however, decision making is made difficult as the parent has to look out for the interests of the child and the new born on the way. If a teenager becomes pregnant, the parents should encourage the teenager to keep the baby and offer support during the pregnancy and upbringing rather than adopting the child themselves.

            Teenage pregnancies raise a lot of concerns especially because of the challenges involved when raising a child. Most parents believe that they are better at taking on responsibilities of raising a baby because majority either have first hand experience or have been around enough children and responsibilities to know how to go about taking care of a baby (Dowshen, 2016). While a general knowhow is important when looking after a new born, taking the baby away from the mother simply because the parents have experience denies the mother the opportunity to learn and take care of children in future. The new mother deserves the same opportunities offered to older parents to raise her child and make decisions about their future (Dowshen, 2016). If the parents were to assume all responsibilities involved in bring up the new born, it would deny the new mother the opportunity to learn how to take care of children. The lack of first-hand experience is likely to cause more problems in future as the teenager will be forced to rely on the parents if she happens to conceive another child.

            Allowing the teenager to keep the child could help create an environment where the teenager learns from the parents instead of abandoning all responsibilities. Instead of adoption the baby, parents should instead come up with ways to help the teenager cope with the pregnancies as well as prepare for the challenges that are involved in raising a new born (Michigan Medicine, 2018). The parents should therefore try to find ways to improve communication with the teenager as well as come up with ways to prepare the child for life as a parent. Since the new born is teenager’s responsibility, the parents should use the experience as a teaching moment to educate the teenager about consequences that follow the decisions people make and also how to be a good parent regardless of the challenges that come about in the process.

            An argument can be made that allowing the parents to adopt the new born is the best approach. The belief is based on the notion that teenagers are ill equipped for parenthood and are likely to make mistakes that could threaten the safety of the child. While it is true that teenagers do not have much experience at being parents, adoption could do more harm than good as it will get in the way of the relationship between the teenager and the child (Sawhill, 2001). Although the parents are more equipped to take care new-borns, the knowledge can be taught and shared with the teenager and prepare her for life as a parent.

Being a parent requires more than experience and general knowhow. Mothers develop a bond with their child throughout the process and most find it easier to take care of their children regardless of any challenges that may arise. For teenagers, emphasis should be placed on helping the new parents take care of their children rather than taking on all responsibilities of raising the child. The experience not only encourages responsible sexual activity but also creates an opportunity for all parents to be responsible regardless of the age they conceived.

References

Dowshen S, (2016) “When your kid is having a baby” Kids Health, retrieved from,             https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/teen-pregnancy.html

Michigan Medicine, (2018) “Should states support pregnant teens and their babies? Most adults in national poll agree that their states should provide health-related support for            pregnant teens but with limitations”. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from    www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180416085947.htm

Sawhill V, (2001) “What can be done to reduce teen pregnancy and out-of-wedlock births?”        Brookings, retrieved from, https://www.brookings.edu/research/what-can-be-done-to-  reduce-teen-pregnancy-and-out-of-wedlock-births/

 Human Rights from B.C to Present Day

Introduction

Human rights are the basic rights and liberties that belong to every person in the world. They are rights that are essential to every human being regardless of their race, sex, ethnic group, religion among another status that one may have. Examples of human rights are the right to liberty, life, liberty from oppression, and torture. It also includes the freedom of having an opinion and expressing oneself. Among others are the right to education and work and every individual is entitled to this and any other kinds of freedoms without being discriminated against. Human rights have shown a lot of change in terms of individuals having more civil, social, and economic rights from b.c to present times.

Civil rights are an extensive important set of rights that are developed to protect people from prejudicial treatment. They are rights targeted towards people being treated equally in settings that include education, employment, and housing, among others based on being legally protected. Historically, the civil rights movement which was a planned determination by the black Americans to culminate racial inequality and achieve equal civil rights under the law worked towards accomplishing equality for the African Americans in all aspects of the social world. The movement began in the late 1940’ ending in the late 1960s. By then, the civil war had eradicated oppression but failed to finish inequality against black people especially in the South. They continued to experience racism and eventually, the black Americans felt that they had endured enough bias and violence from them (Pantin & Lynnise 2018). In conjunction with many white Americans, they started an exceptional contest for equality that extended for a very long time.

For the period of reconstruction, the blacks got leadership responsibilities and worked in the civic office seeking judicial alterations for equal opportunities and the voting right. When the constitution was being amended, the law protected the black people equally. The other amendment gave African Americans the voting right which did not excite many white Americans especially those from the south. The laws of Jim Crow that were established in the 19th century included keeping black people separate from the white people (Somin & Bernstein 2004). The blacks were not allowed to use the same public amenities as the whites, live in the same cities, or attend similar educational institutions. It was prohibited to have an interracial marriage and most of the black Americans were not allowed to vote because they failed the voter literacy assessments. In the northern states, these laws were not adopted but black people still faced discrimination at their workplaces, access to houses, or education. Some states passed laws that limited the voting rights of black people.

Before World War II most of the black people had low paying jobs such as farming, worked in factories, and worked as domestic workers. In the early 1940s, work linked to war was flourishing but the Blacks were offered the low paying job opportunities and were also disheartened not to join the army (Lutz 2008). This is when the black people conveyed their will to march to Washington demanding to be given equal work rights and the president gave an order opening the national security works and other government jobs to all Americans irrespective of their race or color. Black women and men worked heroically during World War II. During the start of the cold war, the president then introduced a civil rights strategy to finish discrimination in the military. This paved way for initiatives to pass equality legislature and provoke the civil rights program.

The civil rights act was signed into law in 1957 and it permitted federal prosecution for anyone who prevented the other to vote. That did not stop discrimination against black people even in schools and public transport. This drove the civil rights movement to continue seeking equal rights and this led to the march on Washington (Jones 2013). In 1964, the civil rights act was signed into law and the law assured equality in employment opportunities for every person and restricted the use of voter literacy assessments. This law also permitted state authorities to make sure that public amenities were combined. The voter rights act that was signed banned the voter literacy assessments. The fair housing act was also signed into law and it barred against housing discrimination based on ethnicity, nationality, sex among other characteristics.

The case of previously colonized countries that got independence after World War II was that the African Americans had little gain for the poor people. Those that gained were the ones that were more advantaged in terms of education and class (Lutz 2008). The American civil rights legislature became the foundation of progressive action. Some programs improved the chances for many black students, workers, women, disabled persons, and other people that were people that had been discriminated against. Former civil rights protesters launched professions in democratic politics and black elected executives became more influential. These elected officials helped to promote the public welfare through legislation that was developed to satisfy the interests of the many citizens that were neglected.

By the 21st century, more officials worked together towards achieving legislative initiatives that involved the development of minority businesses and expanding opportunities regarding education. The civil rights registration generated a continuing change of the legal position of the African Americans and other people who were discriminated against. It improved the role of the government to impose civil rights regulations. In the 21st century, the ruling of an African American president reflected a change in American society with consequences from the civil rights movement (Jones 2013).  Civil rights have transformed greatly from the past and this has enabled people to have an entitlement to their rights and freedom. Rights to education, housing, property ownership, health have been impacted by the civil rights legislation.

Conclusion

Human rights are essential to every human being regardless of race, sex, or ethnic group among other characteristics. Civil rights are established to protect individuals from unfair treatment and discrimination. Historically the black people were discriminated against a lot because of their color, and social class. This led to the development of a civil rights movement which was intended to raise awareness about discrimination and as well end it. This movement caused civil rights acts to be signed into law defending the black Americans against discrimination. They also were given the right to vote without undergoing the literacy voting tests. African Americans were also allowed to join the government and the elected officials helped to push for other civil rights legislation ensuring that the blacks were given an equal opportunity in terms of education, housing, health, and employment.

References

Jones, W. P. (2013). The March on Washington: Jobs, freedom, and the forgotten history of civil

rights. WW Norton & Company.

Lutz, A. (2008). Who joins the military?: A look at race, class, and immigration status. Journal of Political and Military Sociology 36 (2): 167-188.

Pantin, P., & Lynnise, E. (2018). The Legacy of Civil Rights and the Opportunity for

Transactional Law Clinics. Tenn. J. Race Gender & Soc. Just., 7, 189.

Somin, I., & Bernstein, D. E. (2004). Judicial Power and Civil Rights Reconsidered.

Combating Obesity for Hispanic children living in Solano County

Obesity is a largely preventable disease that has been affecting over a third of the world’s population to this day. It is defined as excess body weight for height that increases the risk of developing chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (Hruby, 2015). The rise of morbid obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States Hispanics population. Numbers have doubled and still continue to increase in the United States. 37.1% of children, ages 2-19, were reported to be overweight, and 16.9% were obese. Besides reducing one’s overall quality of life, the more severe consequences of this disease can result to cancers, hypertension, and early death (Fakeeh et al., 2019). Lower socioeconomic status families are linked with a higher prevalence of obesity in these adolescents due to the unequal distribution of social and economic resources. Access to recreation facilities, health food markets, and receiving food education all play a factor in obesity.

Nature and Extent of the Problem

Priority Population

The priority population will be focused on Hispanic children, ages 10-17, living in Solano County. According to the California Department of Education and Physical Fitness testing research files, in 2018, 41-46% of Solano County children in 5^th-9^th grade were obese. Obesity is twice as prevalent among 6-11 year old Hispanic children compared to non-Hispanic White children (Isasi, 2016). During this time in their life, children are also still working on their social and behavioral development. It’s important to establish healthy eating behaviors and physical activity levels while their habits are still growing. The development of obesity in Hispanic children is caused by insufficient eating behaviors and lack of consistent daily exercise being influenced by food education, parental diets, food availability, poverty and environmental factors.

Location

Solano holds a high percentage (17%) of children, ages 1-17, living in poverty compared to the other counties in the Bay Area, which include Santa Clara (9%), Napa (10%), San Mateo (10%), and San Francisco (12%) (Solano County Public Health Epidemiology Unit, 2017). Children living in a socioeconomic disadvantaged environment invite exposure to nutrient-poor foods and unhealthy sugary drinks. Inversely, children that are socioeconomically advantaged were associated with lower body mass index (BMI), accessible food markets, and more neighborhood parks and playgrounds (Juonala et al., 2019). Children living in poverty and/or low-income communities are at a disadvantage due to accessibility of affordable healthy foods. According to the 2019 Solano County Health Status Report, the median household income for Hispanic or Latino is $58,273. On the report of the Census, the median household income in 2018 was $77,609. The reduction in income can limit the amount or decreases the quality of foods being purchased in the household.

Factors Contributing to the Problem

Individual Factors

Lifestyle behaviors such as lack of physical exercise or poor dietary choices contribute to unhealthy weight gain. The imbalance between caloric intake and consistency of physical exercise causes many chronic diseases that lead to premature death and adulthood mortality (Lee & Yoon, 2018). With advancements in the digital world, more children are glued to TV and computer screens. High levels of screen exposure can reduce the amount of time parents can interact with their children. Commercial TV has been reported to increase overall food intake due to exposure of unhealthy food commercials and over-snacking (Canadian Paediatric Society, 2017). Although, not all screen time is negative, as parents can utilize videos that incorporate physical activity to encourage their kids to be active.

Socio-environmental Factors

Family relationships are important to consider since it’s common to have children be fed by someone other than their parents. It’s common for both parents to work in the current days because of the high cost of living. The result of this is parents being more likely to lean on their relatives for support. The people that children surround themselves hold a great influence because it’s a gateway to developing good or bad habits. Grandparents looking after their grandchildren sometimes have care-taking practices that are outdated. It may impact the child’s feeding practices, body mass index (BMI), and amount of physical activity provided to the child (Metbulut et al., 2018). Past traditions play a factor in reinforcing that behavior. Certain families may also have different standards that define a healthy child, or how to raise a child, which may be another barrier in reducing obesity.

Environmental Factors

The prevalence of food deserts and food insecurity in Solano County create a barrier in having access to quality food. Food deserts occur when urban neighborhoods or rural areas don’t live near food markets that provide fresh, nutritional, affordable foods. (Ghosh-Dastidar et al., 2017). This forces families to rely on local fast food joints or convenience stores, affecting them negatively due to the limited number of healthy food options provided. In rural areas, any distance greater than 10 miles to the nearest grocery store is labeled as a food desert (Kelli et al., 2019). Solano County currently has eight zip codes that live in food deserts. Weak access to healthy food creates more poor diets, leading to higher levels of obesity and diabetes. In 2013, there were 63,390 people who were food insecure. That makes up 15.2% of people in Solano County (Solano County Public Health Epidemiology Unit, 2017).

Impact of the Problem

Children that are overweight and obese aren’t only at risk for chronic diseases, but also have the risk to experience negative physical, social, and mental health. Children ages 10-17 are most vulnerable during those years because their cognitive and socio-emotional skills are still developing (Alderman et al., 2017). Excessive body fat that children gain commonly persists into their adulthood is associated with lower cognitive and school achievement. A continuation in nutritional deficiencies and overeating has also shown to have higher incidences in the use of mental health services in their later years (Carlsey et al., 2018).

The Road for Improvement

Over the years, there have been various interventions that promote healthy eating and more exercise. An asset and strength of Solano County is their strong efforts in community-based programs for nutrition education. They are ambitious and driven to reaching more than 300,000 people to improve their community’s health (Richards & Cox, 2015). The Food Agriculture & Nutrition Network of Solano County (FANNS) aims to provide better access to fresh fruits and vegetables and healthier beverage choices. They increase CalFresh awareness for those experiencing food insecurity and encourage water consumption through education. The CalFresh program increases the importance of healthy eating and physical activity among low-income populations.

Solutions

The schools children attend have a big influence on their everyday activities since a lot of time is spent there. The constant interaction between educators and their students provide a good opportunity to teach the importance of consistent, daily physical exercise and health eating. A common roadblock educators have is the lack of necessary health education to implement in their teachings. A study on school districts showed that only 67.8% of schools required teachers to be certified in teaching health education (Birch et al., 2019). An option can be teaming up with CalFresh can be beneficial in allowing teachers to engage in nutrition education. We must ensure teachers obtain proper health certifications/licensure in order to well prepare students in health knowledge and skills to live a safe and healthy life.

By relaying the information learned at school to life at home, implementing healthy eating and nutritional knowledge can benefit both the parents and their children. Studies have shown that adolescents that engage in preparing food for their family has led to improvement in eating patterns and quality diets (Berge et al., 2016). Eating patterns refer to how frequent breakfast is eaten, fast food consumption, and the amount of family meals. A quality diet refers to an increase in fruit and vegetable intake and lowering of sugar-sweetened foods and beverages (Berge et al., 2016). This way, family members and the child are positive influences on each other.

Cost and availability of foods play a crucial role in obesity. Fostering policies to eliminating more fast food joints to be replaced with more affordable, healthy food stores is a good step in the right direction. Many fast food places tend to serve double the size of what USDA serving size recommends. These large portion sizes naturally encourage overconsumption (Schwartz et al., 2020). It’s common for parents to result to fast food establishments due to it being less costly, but the energy-dense foods that also come with can be a gateway to increasing body weight. Foods with a higher fat content, such as fried food, increases the energy density in comparison to foods, like vegetables or whole grains, which lower the energy density (Stelmach, 2016). Eliminating these unhealthy food in a child’s diet will dramatically reduce high fat intake, providing more opportunity to intake healthier foods.

Conclusion

Obesity is a preventable disease that Solano County hasn’t successfully combatted. It’s vital to first identify children who are at risk of becoming obese or is currently living with the health issue. It is important to acknowledge the behaviors that contribute to unhealthy eating and lack of physical exercise, such as social or environmental factors. Utilizing schools to implementing educational classes for children and parents may help the family understand the importance of healthy eating behaviors and being more physically active. Schools can play a huge involvement in assisting children with maintaining a healthy BMI, as many hours are spent there. It also gives an opportunity for a class to be taught in physical or nutrition education. Outside of school, policies should be put in place to allow easier access to healthy, affordable food markets. This will lay the foundation in the success of reducing obesity in Hispanic children living in Solano County.

References

Alderman, H., Behrman, J. R., Glewwe, P., Fernald, L., & Walker, S. (2017). Evidence of Impact of Interventions on Growth and Development during Early and Middle Childhood. In D. Bundy (Eds.) et. al., Child and Adolescent Health and Development. (3rd ed.). The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank.

10. Kerzner, K., J. Jingxiong, U., Farrow, C., Kerzner, B., D. Musher-Eizenman, S., M. Roberts, S., . . . JO. Fisher, L. (1970, January 01). A comparison between the feeding practices of parents and grandparents. Retrieved October 05, 2020, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00431-018-3244-5

Berge, J. M., MacLehose, R. F., Larson, N., Laska, M., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2016). Family Food Preparation and Its Effects on Adolescent Dietary Quality and Eating Patterns. The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 59(5), 530–536. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.06.007

Carsley, S., Tu, K., Parkin, P. C., Pullenayegum, E., & Birken, C. S. (2019). Overweight and obesity in preschool aged children and risk of mental health service utilization. International journal of obesity (2005), 43(7), 1325–1333. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-018-0280-1

California Department of Education & Physical Fitness Testing Research Files. (2018). Retrieved September 11, 2020, from https://www.kidsdata.org/topic/725/student-weight-current/table#fmt=1026&loc=341&tf=108&ch=623,624,625&sortColumnId=0&sortType=asc

Canadian Paediatric Society, Digital Health Task Force, Ottawa, Ontario (2017). Screen time and young children: Promoting health and development in a digital world. Paediatrics & child health, 22(8), 461–477. https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/pxx123

Cox, J. (2015, March 31). Making Solano County a healthy place. Retrieved October 05, 2020, from https://www.dailyrepublic.com/all-dr-news/solano-news/local-features/local-lifestyle-columns/making-solano-county-a-healthy-place/

Fakeeh MI, Shanawaz M, Azeez FK, Arar IA. (2019). Overweight and obesity among the boys of primary public schools of Baish City in Jazan Province, Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study. Indian J Public Health 2019;63:330-3

Ghosh-Dastidar, M., Hunter, G., Collins, R. L., Zenk, S. N., Cummins, S., Beckman, R., Nugroho, A. K., Sloan, J. C., Wagner, L., & Dubowitz, T. (2017). Does opening a supermarket in a food desert change the food environment?. Health & place, 46, 249–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2017.06.002

Hruby, A., & Hu, F. B. (2015). The Epidemiology of Obesity: A Big Picture. PharmacoEconomics, 33(7), 673–689. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40273-014-0243-x

Kelli, H. M., Kim, J. H., Samman Tahhan, A., Liu, C., Ko, Y. A., Hammadah, M., Sullivan, S., Sandesara, P., Alkhoder, A. A., Choudhary, F. K., Gafeer, M. M., Patel, K., Qadir, S., Lewis, T. T., Vaccarino, V., Sperling, L. S., & Quyyumi, A. A. (2019). Living in Food Deserts and Adverse Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients With Cardiovascular Disease. Journal of the American Heart Association, 8(4), e010694. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.118.010694

Juonala, M., Harcourt, B., Saner, C., Sethi, M., Saffery, R., Magnussen, C., . . . Sabin, M. (2019, June 14). Neighbourhood socioeconomic circumstances, adiposity and cardiometabolic risk measures in children with severe obesity. Retrieved October 05, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1871403X19300687

Savage, J. S., Fisher, J. O., & Birch, L. L. (2007). Parental influence on eating behavior: conception to adolescence. The Journal of law, medicine & ethics : a journal of the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 35(1), 22–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-720X.2007.00111.x

Solano County Public Health Epidemiology Unit. (2017). Retrieved September 12, 2020, from https://www.solanocounty.com/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=28113

Stelmach-Mardas, M., Rodacki, T., Dobrowolska-Iwanek, J., Brzozowska, A., Walkowiak, J., Wojtanowska-Krosniak, A., Zagrodzki, P., Bechthold, A., Mardas, M., & Boeing, H. (2016). Link between Food Energy Density and Body Weight Changes in Obese Adults. Nutrients, 8(4), 229. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8040229

Schwartz, C., Lange, C., Hachefa, C., Cornil, Y., Nicklaus, S., & Chandon, P. (2020). Effects of snack portion size on anticipated and experienced hunger, eating enjoyment, and perceived healthiness among children. The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 17(1), 70. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-020-00974-z

 U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Solano County, California. (n.d.). Retrieved September 12, 2020, from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/solanocountycalifornia

The Balancing Act of Life

 In the last decade, I have been lucky enough to experience travelling to far off destinations, write articles for different online platforms and schools due to my interaction with numerous reading literature material. One simple thing to note about these experiences is that they are only valuable if they are shared. One thing I wish people would try is celebrating huge wins in life I love it when people notice my achievements. Whether it is personal or work-related, people should set aside time to celebrate their achievements with 100 percent joy. When I used to study at the library, I would ensure that I take note of any milestone I have crossed throughout the week. Once in take note of any personal milestone I would take some time to reflect on it and turn it into notable achievement. It is awesome to celebrate attained goals as they motivate one to go for more.

            The second issue is chasing your passion enthusiastically. May be if you just put in more effort, your dream may workout for you. But even if it does not bear any fruits, it will be a learning lesson which will shape you into a good person. Most successful people are faced with huge obstacles on their way to success but after years of persistent effort they emerge victorious in their life journey. The answer lies in never giving up and always chasing your dreams until the end.

 Another important thing is smiling and complimenting other people. I used to be a gloomy boy and I could not even find time to smile at waiters. However, one day, I made up my mind to change my habits. The world gives you want you reflect. You see, I was never invisible, but people treated me as if I was invisible. Well, reciprocating what another person does is a fine way of ensuring that people get to see a brighter side of your personality. One actually burn calories whenever he or she curves a smile from the corner of his or her mouth. A welcoming smile will never hurt one’s chances to prosper or even scale new heights. Thus, the best way to improve your self-esteem is through complimenting other people’s actions or appearances. More so, it takes minimal effort to compliment another person’s attire or even achievements.

Apart from the two factors mentioned above people need to gather courage needed to change their lives. Change is the only constant in life. Ability to change rather than conform to numerous perceptions of the world shows courage. Such courage and fearlessness can only be acquired through reading and learning new behaviors. Learning and schooling never stops and people should always try their best to foster healthy relationships with one another. This way the balancing act of life becomes easier as one moves from the classroom to other activities.

            The learning process in most learning institutions is passive and calls for more active forms of learning. I have to admit that balancing life and other aspects of my life was a challenging affair. I had to abandon my sedentary life and engage myself in sporting activities. For instance, my football skills were upgraded and sharpened as in moved from the classroom to the football pitch. In addition, I had to look for lecture classes that offered psychological assistance to students who found it hard to balance different aspects of life. The need to compellingly convince my parents that playing football would stabilize my emotions and cater to my human needs than reading and writing created a conflict of interest. Discovering the balance between learning and other co-curricular activities. Co-curricular activities tend to shape and give people the energy needed to acquire more knowledge in the making of knowledge. Besides, curricular activities gave me the chance to explore new academic opportunities such as physical science. In the long run, balancing reading and writing also pulls together time management skills. Once on allocates time for other activities, then other things such as reading and writing fall into place because the learner should handle both things one at a time. In addition, the expansion and growth of any human being are based on how well the can actualize activities they have learned all over the years. Therefore, passive learning aspects are to be combined with active curricular activities in order to come up with a holistic approach to learning. Also, the social aspects of reading and writing are not to be taken for granted. Hence, there is always a need to form groups with people and also sharpen my learning skills by discussing and conversing with other people. As time lapses people tend to contend with not only reading and writing but also initiating community projects in order to cater to the needs of the community members. Subsequently, scholarly work has to remain within the pretexts of functioning subject matters and applicability in the future.

IFSP Interview 1 and IFSP plan

Introduction

Covid19 disrupted and redefined the normal way of life. The onset of COVID-19 pandemic led to an unparalleled decrease in economic operations hence forcing the study to rely on a prerecorded interview. An individualized family service plan (IFSP) is both a procedure ones goes through and a manuscript which an individual and a group of experts generate in order to help a child and his or her parent. In other words, an IFSP plan directs and supports one’s effort to improve a child’s growth. From a professional perspective, the IFSP maps out one’s family participation with early intervention services. It evidently outlines particular services a person’s child should get and the expected outcome. A key aspect of early intervention is that the services takes place within domestic surroundings- this is where the one’s child and parent or guardian feel safe. In this particular interview, the IFSP took into account the child needs and ability to function normally. This way, the IFSP focused on the family needs and the best way to support the child. Furthermore, the IFSP built on personal advantages of family members in order to personalize the final family plan.

The Factual Family Background and Characteristics

Jennifer is in her 40s.She has just moved from Pennsylvania to a small town outside Massachusetts in order to be closer to her family. She has two children and a dog. Her husband is a banker while Jennifer is a marketer. She works part-time and spend most time outside her home so that she can assist her children (IFSP Interview 1, 2020). During the interview, her child would play in between the interview and Jennifer’s sometimes calmed her down. Her child’s disability was suspected about a year ago and forced Jennifer and her husband to their son to the hospital.

 The parents noticed the child’s disability because he was having tremors and seizures. As a result of the partial seizures and tremors, the child zoned out from time to time. The first thing that his parents did was to initiate a primary care and then the child was sent to a neurologist who carried out an electroencephalogram (EEG). After the EEG results, the child underwent an MRI and CAT scan to ensure that he had no brain tumor. During the child’s testing, the parent involvement was minimal. At some medical check points, the parents were asked to leave the medical facility so that the child would be one on one with the testing kits. The test results showed that the child was diagnosed with benign epilepsy and ADHD. After the confirmation of the medical results IFSP personnel. In this point in time, the role of the IFSP was to provide early interventions services.  Early intervention services entailed improving the child’s motor skills and other regular developments. In other words, since the child was diagnosed with benign epilepsy and ADHD, the family has received services from doctors, speech therapy and occupational therapy. In terms of the relationship between the medical IFSP service providers relied on the personality of each service provider. For instance the social worker was not as interested in the case as the family had hoped she would. More so, the social worker was handling numerous cases which desensitized her to the needs of the child’s medical needs.

 Subsequently, the entire experience left the family emotionally drained due to the uncertainty involved in dealing with a mentally ill child in public. Also, communicating with a mentally ill child is difficult and creates a disconnection between the parent and the child. For instance, the parents did not know how to handle the child’s meltdown in public spaces. More so, the child does not look like he has any disability hence these meltdowns sometimes draws negative reactions from members of the public. On the other hand, while the child is in the house, he throws tantrums and he always quarrels with his sister. More so, relatives did not immediately understand the predicament the child’s parents were facing. Therefore, relatives thought that the children were misbehaving and that the parents were neglecting their parental duties.

Family Interaction

In fact, learn through under normal conditions and socialization with family the members may lead to an interrupted lifestyle.  Some of the relatives might think that mentally ill children are being mistreated by the parents. Therefore the children are often separated from the rest of the community due to misunderstood perceptions revolving around the conditioned might be suffering from. Moreover parents are forced to deal with awkward social norms such a child misbehaving in public or being rude at an early age. The interaction between the family members and other community members become constrained and delayed.

Children with ADHD and benign epilepsy needs constant regulations which they can comprehend and adhere to. Behavioral regulations for the family should be simple and straightforward. For instance, Jennifer worked closer from home so that she could assister her children with simple chores and activities.  Hence, the parent writes down the regulations which help parents regulate he children behavior. As the parents constructs these regulations, the child behavior is controlled due to the predictable boundaries set by the regulations placed. More so, the child needs to know the difference between each and every actions he performs so that he complies with the set regulations. In this particular context, Jennifer’s son normally quarrels with his sisters. Sometimes it takes parental intervention to stop the fights from occurring. While some characteristics of mentally ill children might be predictable some are not hence the need to keenly observe the child and cater to all their needs.

The Family Characteristics

 Jennifer is 40 years old married woman who lives with her two children. A nuclear family consists of close family members. Thus, the immediate family members make up the family without close relatives. Therefore, the elementary parts of a family makes up this particular family. As a result, the mother and father of the family cater to the needs of the children. Within a nuclear family setting, one has to keep up with the necessities the children. Both parents play a role of keeping up with a children’s needs. Another characteristic entails living together- the mother, father and children live under one roof and take care of each other. More so, Jennifer’s family is unique because her son was diagnosed with ADHD and benign and she got help from IFSP programs.

Family Functions

While keeping up with legalistic requirements, parents are expected to motivate and facilitate early intervention procedures. Even though including parents seems like the best thing to do, the parents should always form a relationship with a professional in order to ensure that the medical process are designed to meet the immediate needs of the family. The timely involvement of the parents and the services offered through professional partnerships helps in shaping the early intervention procedures. Secondly, parents needs to share a child’s progress and note any inconsistencies so as to establish if the program is working and the extent of its effectiveness. For instance, Jennifer immediate knows that the social worker is not interested in catering to the needs of her son. Noticing any weakness or strengths helps the child recover and gives the people a chance to gauge the process of the child over a certain period of time. The nature and needs of the child are kept first place and the presence of the parents help to cater to the emotional needs of the child. As long as the people around the child play their role well, the parents can always supplement some of the aspects of the medication through love and care. More so, the participation of both the parent and the professional informs on decision making and helps the child recover or steadily progress to the next level. In order to satisfy the legal requirements families have to offer more than materialistic essentials, they have to create a conducive environment which meets the medical requirement of the child. For instance, during some medical checks, the parents had to remain outside so that the child could be offered a one on one checkup. Thus, the parents should never be a stumbling block to the child’s progress. In the meantime, one can always collaborate with the workers in order to bring out the best operative options.

Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP)

Role of IFSP Personnel the Observed Priorities

In Jennifer’s case, the role of the IFSP personnel assisted the child regain his motor and speech skills.  In the process, this helped the child nurture basic growth actions which were interrupted due to epilepsy and seizures (McWilliam, 2010). The IFSP personnel facilitate each activity which ensures that a child the attention he or she needs after the diagnosis is made. A well written plan insists on assessing the challenging and rewarding aspects of living with a disabled child. The chance and place of the IFSP personnel is taking note of any progress the child makes. This ensures that the treatment plans are in line with the objectives and that each needs is being met. More so, the personnel have to hold meetings, formulate objectives on all the detailed information, raise concerns and resources pertaining the child condition. The assessment of a child and the outcome are discussed in terms of the family needs. Thus, the first contact point is through a meeting organized by the IFSP personnel.

 Before preparing a meeting the service coordinator consults with the family, on how they would like to conduct the meeting, setting the agenda and time place of the meeting. The role of the coordinator will be to schedule events and notify family members. Meetings are conveniently, placed within the suitable location for the family. In case of a rescheduling, all the members should be notified on time (McWilliam, 2010). The chance of interacting with family members and the disabled child. Considering the immediate medical needs will help inform on the child’s information and then share the information with parents or guardians. On the other hand, the parent needs to inform the personnel on what his or her child needs to learn. In the end, the family should will witness and increase in motor skills and speech skills of the child.

Recommendations

 The family needs another interested social worker. The present social work is not interested in meeting the needs of the child because she is overburdened by numerous duties. Exchanging the social worker. This situation where the social worker fails to accomplish the tasks assigned to her, reporting the case (Boavida, Aguiar, & McWilliams, 2014). During the early intervention services, the child needs all the attentions he can get as he hopes to regain a normal state of the mind. The inclusion of personal issues tend to hinder proper delivery of social services within a certain period of time. in addition, the family needs to pay more attention to the medical needs of their son so that the seizures episodes can reduce with time. Also, apart from the IFSP service providers, the family should come up with more people to supplement the already provided services. At this point in time, the most thing is getting accurate results. The child needs to develop both physically and educationally. More so, the parents needs to take care of their daughter because she has a mild form of mental illness. Therefore, the approach to early intervention should be holistic in order to cater to social and financial needs of the entire family. In the event of an emergency the family should learn how to handle the intricacies of the challenges before calling outside interventions.

References

Boavida, T., Aguiar, C., & McWilliam, R. A. (2014). A training program to improve IFSP/IEP goals and objectives through the routines-based interview. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 33(4), 200-211.

IFSP Interview 1 (2020) https://www.wevideo.com/view/1635179198 (Links to an external site.

McWilliam, R. A. (2010). Routines-based early intervention. Supporting Young Children and Their Families. Baltimore: Brookes.

The Article, a Community Empowerment Approach to Addiction in Turkey

Summary of the article

The article, a community empowerment approach to addiction in Turkey is both an educative and informative piece giving insights on how the community can be engaged in trying to curb addiction. The article clearly articulates the recommended procedures that should be followed in order to have the community involved at large. The procedures outlined in the article starts by identifying a group of learned individuals who take part in addressing the addiction problem with the victims’ one on one. The other crucial procedure followed is by ensuring maximum utilization of the locally available resources, establishing proper channels of service delivery and redefining the operating systems for ultimate performance. Social relation between the organizers and the community has been priotized for better service delivery. The choice for the location is appropriately selected. The organization is operated in turkey, an area prone with drug addicts hence making an impact is flexible due to readily available subjects. Relevant selection of the local medics is done and this ensures that bridging of the processes will be effective as the locals are well vast with the area. Further to this, open communication between the organizers and the locals is established. The whole process is divided into phases ensuring total adherence in every stage.

My reaction

One of my reaction to this article is how I saw crucial selection of the parties to be involved. The organization begins by reselecting the staff to be involved and also giving them induction to the area. The chosen staff members are further subjected to learning activities to ensure they are well vast in their areas of operation. Adding to this, local personnel are also incorporated into the system. All this shows the magnitude set in order to fight addiction. I conquer with reselecting activity done as this ensures the right people are involved and hence the required way of doing things will be met. Different areas of operation favors different people due to weather change. Incorporating locals into the system allows for comprehensive service delivery as the locals are well vast with their areas operations. Involvement of the local communities and the leadership system officiates the organization making it genuine for people to trust.

My other reaction is the choice of setting up the organization. The organization is carried out in Turkey an area that has low pseudo-science interferences. This ensured low interference in the operation and hence appropriate finding of solutions. Turkey has an open democratic governing system and this offered undisputed opportunity for the organization to be set. Absence of a comparable outpatient facilities made it necessary for the locals to uphold establishment of a local treatment area. Establishing this facilities opened an opportunity for thorough treatment of the victims and formation for basis of contrast in the mode of treatment and diagnosis rendered to the patients. With proper and competitive institution set, appropriate medication would be offered to the patients. Turkey has in the history used corrupted justice system to fight drug abuse. Setting up of the facility would therefore be of great impact to the locals and treatment would be offered effectively and efficiently.

My third observation is on how the program was set to operate. First, necessary proposals are made, this include; identifying representatives from the community(qualified medics), induction meeting amongst them and the community representatives, gathering of information and identifying contact persons. All this processes outlines the efforts in fighting the addiction to its roots. Gathering information regarding the subjects helped in making the necessary treatment plans for the victims from their medical records. I strongly uphold this move as it helps in making the proper diagnosis to the patient and also helps in keeping track of the patient’s recovery journey. The move to have an inductor meeting makes it even more important as friendly working area is established. A friendly working area ensures that no barriers hinders service delivery and a mutual relation is developed between the patients and those treating them. Social interactions at an early age of addiction shortens the recovery process and the victims are able to explain their grievances early enough and a solution established.

My major observation in the article is in how the program was structured. The program is structured in phases whereby all the phases run dependently. Phase one of the program entailed selecting community personnel who would aid in identifying the addicts. After the addict are identified, awareness is created and the treatment plan is made. I strongly agree with this structural organization as it helped in identifying and picking addicts from their dens and rehabilitation process done. The general achievements of the program is that on rehabilitating the victims, they are educated, cautioned and given hope to more life. The victims with employability skills are introduced to the labor market where they can make life out of their hard work. Local government is included in the process in the verge to salvage the victims.

This particular article got the best of me in the way it has highlighted the processes an addict can be salvaged. It has sharpened my mind in that I have learnt distinctive processes adverse victims should be taken through. In my journey to console and motivate other veterans, I am in a position to comprehensively explain to the veterans the possible ways to deal with addicts, the facilities to take them to and the care they might be in need of. The article has also expanded my thinking by outlining the necessary bodies that should be involved as one walks through addiction. The article has motivated me into having hope for a better future after addiction as it has outlined of victims recovering and securing jobs. Through the article, I have learnt the impact and importance of non-governmental organizations in a community. The article has also inducted me with the necessary factors and considerations I should put in place should I think of starting a program to help other people.

In conclusion, I would strongly recommend victims of addiction to read the article as it has comprehensively outlined the relation of the victims to their families and to the community at large. The article has put to light the importance of cordial relation amongst various bodies and the victims of addiction. The article enlightens one against the myths and misconception about addiction and gives hope of a successful recovery journey from addiction. The article has also outlined the role of every individual in the community. The article has strongly upheld the concept of being a brother’s keeper by outlining the recommended steps to take when dealing with a victim of addiction.

References

Counselor Magazine – Counselor Magazine. Counselormagazine.com. (2020). Retrieved 26 September 2020, from https://www.counselormagazine.com/.

("Counselor Magazine – Counselor Magazine", 2020)

https://addictionandbehavioralhealthalliance.com/articles/acommunityempowerment(article)

Rational Decision Making

Rational decision making is a step by step procedure that is logical, and objective and is used to make selections between different options. This approach follows a path of a process which includes first formulating an objective and then recognizing the principles for making the decision. The next process is ascertaining the alternatives, carrying out an analysis, and then making the final decision. Rational decision-making helps to make good decisions because the choice of deciding rationally makes it possible for the decision-maker to address issues by breaking them down hence coming up with structured decisions.

           Rational decision making is an important topic because not everyone makes decisions rationally and not everyone uses a process to make decisions. People who make decisions rationally evaluate the long-term impacts of their decisions (Uzonwanne 2016). Another type of decision making such as intuitive decision making is made quite fast and made with inadequate facts and often altered if the instinct was in error. This type of decision making is very likely to be more inclined to error and is unreliable. This may cause indecision and lack of confidence for the decision-makers which is risky, more so in a business setup. Because the decision is prone to errors, the consequences can be quite high in an environment where finances are involved. This makes rational decision-making processes have better consequences because it involves careful, methodological steps that involve choices that maximize benefits and minimizes costs.

Rational decision making is defined by the decision-makers adhering to the careful process, using logical and data-focused ways of following the stages of that procedure. Though the process can consume a lot of time and could be costly, it is worth and useful for making big decisions that have an impact on many people (Halabi 2019). Rational decision-making helps to make good decisions because the path followed is orderly which is translated from a problem to a solution. The chosen solution in this type of decision making is in agreement with the likings and opinions of the decision-maker and fulfills situations of logical dependability. Decision making is objective, unbiased, and is usually based on facts. During the decision-making process, information is assembled for analysis, and future outcomes are put into consideration for every decision option. Organized questions are used to ensure thorough scrutiny of the issue that is necessitating a solution.

Being rational helps to make good decisions because one can break down the issue and the solutions to come up with a conclusive decision. Being rational helps to characterize the issues and the objectives to ensure that all the needs and desires are addressed. Rational decision making involves a process that is aided by structured methods, mathematics, and computers all that work towards getting the best decision for a situation (Uzonwanne 2016). Making a rational choice helps to come up with good decisions because the decision-making techniques and tools have been proved to be useful and they help obtain good decisions. Being rational gives the decision-maker the capability to evaluate and analyze information that acts as a guide because it is based on facts. However being rational leaves out consideration of an individual’s personal feelings, emotions, experience, and ethical principles among other factors that are of value.

Factors such as emotion are said to be left out in rational decision making and have shown to influence the decision-making process. Decisions involve doubt and a person’s lenience for risk becomes an aspect. Hence being afraid of negative consequences could forbid choices whose benefits overshadow the probability of something going wrong. On the other hand, being rational remains to have a great impact on good decisions because sometimes emotions can cloud a person’s reasoning, especially when they are needed to do something that could cause internal pain. In situations such as ones that you are required to give constructive criticism or move away from something that you are attached to (Alvino & Franco 2017). In this case, being rational helps to make logical sound decisions even in similar situations where emotions can easily blur or lead to biased decisions. Being rational when making decisions results in satisfactory consequences and of great benefit according to the choices they have available.

Theories of rational decision making have an assumption that people always want to make the best selections whenever something valuable is at stake. An example is a fact that people want to buy a product that they desire and when they find it they gather information to make sure that they get their investment worth (Alvino & Franco 2017). Another assumption is that people are motivated by money and making profits which have permitted it to build formal and prognostic models of human actions. Another assumption is that a person is cognitively able to search and gather important facts that help them in making their final choice. A person can get the time and the resources needed for rational decision making to accomplish a solution that is effective and functional.

Being that a rational approach to decision making puts more emphasis on the significance of systematic analysis of the problem, followed by choice and realization, it makes rationality to relate closely to theories and models. Examples of these models which are adaptable by businesses include normative decision making which is rational because it assumes that the decision-makers use a set of rational standards to make a decision. Absolute rationality in a business is supposed to lead an organization to sufficient consistency in objectives by defining definite goals which are adequate for the situation in the long term. Another model type is the heuristic model that is based on the assumption that it is not possible to define rationality clearly without the use of a value system that is used to evaluate it (Alvino & Franco 2017). Research shows that the actual decision-making processes maintain that not every outcome can be considered and all the preferences cannot be well-defined. The heuristic model is based on the concept of bounded rationality which has the assumption that the capabilities of humans are imperfect and constrained and information is not impeccable.

Bounded rationality maintains that decision creators don’t have access to all the data that is important in making the decision. Another limitation that this theory has is that decision-makers have inadequate logical and computational capabilities and that they cannot judge their information perfectly (Halabi 2019). It maintains that the decision-makers unavoidably make a poor judgment in the assessment process. The decision creators are also said not to have limitless time to create decisions and real life circumstances provide time limitations in which decisions have to be made. Hence the suggestion of the bounded rationality which maintains that the decision creators have to be prepared to adjust to their rational methodology.

 The rational decision-making approach follows precise steps hence come up with good and reliable decisions. First, the problem that needs a solution is verified and defined. This is important because the decision creator might end up doing too little or too much if the problem is not well understood (Uzonwanne 2016). Then there is the establishment of the decision criteria where the decision creator is needed to decide what is pertinent in creating the decision. A gap analysis is carried out to help understand the gap in the middle of the issue and the solution. Options, facts, and alternatives are gathered for guidance e in the decision making. The options consequences are evaluated to decide the most effective and well-designed option and in this step, enough time should be allocated to get the best options. When the best option has been selected, the decision is accurately implemented and thereafter the outcome is evaluated to know if it was successful.

Being rational helps to make the best decisions because it involves a process that is logical and objective. However, not everyone makes decisions rationally and not everyone uses a process to make decisions making the topic a topic of discussion. This brings the development of other types of decision making. Despite the limitations and critics of being rational, the processes in rational decision making enable a decision-maker to make the best decisions because of the orderly manner it follows. This enables the decision-maker to assess and analyze information that guides in the decision-making process.

References

Alvino, L., & Franco, M. (2017). The decision-making process between rationality and

emotions. International Journal of Scientific Research and Management, 5(9), 7074-7092.

Halabi A. (2019) The factors that effect on rational decision making. International journal of

Applied research 2019; 5 (5): 365-369

Uzonwanne, F. C. (2016). Rational Model of Decision Making. Global Encyclopedia of Public

Administration, Public Policy, and Governance, 1-6.

The Trials of Life: Talking to Strangers

1. Cooperative communication is when it mutually beneficial to both the sender and receiver in terms of fitness gains. An example is the communication between the honeyguide and man. The sender is the honeyguide and the receiver is man. The bird guides man to where bees are and when he retrieves the honey, he can then share some with the honeyguide.
2. Deceitful communication is one where the sender benefits and the receiver loses. An example the communication between a ringed plover and a predator such as man who may be out to steal its eggs. The sender is the ringed plover and the receiver is the predator who may be out to plunder its eggs (Attenborough, 2007). The birds run away from its nest and pretends to be hurt to divert the attention of the predator away from its eggs.
3. An example acoustic or auditory channel is the skylark. The skylark uses the acoustic channel to communicate the primary function of claiming ownership of the ground below. The bird sings for hours using a lot of energy to communicate the message. It is also counterproductive since it risks attracting the attention of its main predator, the merlin. Amazingly, they never stop singing even when they are being chased to communicate that they are fit and the merlin would probably not catch up.
4. An example visual channel of communication is between the gazelle and wild dogs. When the gazelle spots a pack of wild dogs it does not run immediately but starts by well-orchestrated leaps into the air to send a message to the wild dogs they are strong and they will not probably catch up (Attenborough, 2007). The wild dog receives the message and goes for those that do not leap the highest.
5. An example tactile channel of communication that of the hairy molerat. The animal communicates by striking the ground with head in a rhythmical manner to let the others know of its precise position. However, during seasons of mating it becomes antisocial and does not want its tunnel to intersect with another. So it sends a message for the other to back away whenever they do, and if they do not they fight until one dies.    

Reference

Attenborough, D. (2007). The Trials of Life ep 10. https://www.veoh.com/watch/v327156Jw4TJdqr