Having a clear focus during a home visit
Learning Objectives
After considering this resource, you should understand the importance of having a clear purpose to a home visit, and of maintaining a strong focus throughout.
Conducting a home visit can be overwhelming. There are a number of things that need to be kept in mind if a home visit is to be successful and thorough as a site of assessment.
Some of the most high-profile inquiries into social work practice have highlighted missed opportunities where problems in the home could have been detected and prevented if a more thorough assessment had taken place. It is therefore essential to have a clear idea about the purpose of your visit and communicate that to the service user.
In some circumstances it can be a challenge to fulfil what you set out to achieve if conditions within the home overwhelm you. As Joanna Nicolas explains, this can very easily cause you to lose your sense of focus. But it is your responsibility as a social worker to plan as much as possible for these circumstances, to keep calm if they arise and maintain your professionalism.
Reflective Questions
- Have you ever felt overwhelmed and distracted by certain circumstances during a home visit? How did you deal with this situation?
- How would you react if a service user was reluctant to let you past the front room and prevented you from carrying out a thorough assessment?
- What else could Joanna have done to avoid being distracted by the family's dog?