Practice Case—by Lisa Boris
Eddie was a 70 year old African American male.
Eddie was seeking assistance with several issues but most importantly was finding housing. He was residing in the nursing facility when I met him and he had just lost his apartment due to financial difficulties. He wanted to find a low income apartment but he also had some medical issues that he needed to address before he could leave the nursing facility. Eddie stated “I want to get better and go home and I need help finding somewhere to live”. Eddie also admitted to having anxiety when his needs were not immediately met and being in a nursing facility with other residents that also had needs made him very anxious. He told me that he was highly intelligent and that he did not belong in a nursing facility because he did not have “brain problems” like “these old people have” but he also recognized that he was in the facility because he needed to get physical therapy following a toe amputation as a result of diabetes. Eddie also discussed how he felt about his medical issues and admitted that he was non-compliant with his diabetic diet. Eddie was living in the nursing facility when I met him. He was unsure if the placement at the nursing facility would be long term or short term and knew it depended on his progress in physical therapy, his medical condition and his housing situation. He had an apartment but was evicted due to not paying his rent for several months. He had a brother and a niece that are involved but he was never married, no children and no other siblings. He had a few friends that visit on occasion. His brother was supportive but does not want him to live with him as he does not feel he can provide the care he needs and he says they had lived together years ago and did not get along. Eddie was in a nursing facility in a middle-class suburb. The apartment from which he was evicted was in an inner-city apartment complex and he liked the neighborhood which he described as “safe and fun”. The area that he wanted to pursue for low income housing options was in the same general area as his previous apartment and was about twenty minutes away from the nursing facility where he was residing. The neighborhood was known to have some individuals that dealt in drugs and there was a higher amount of crime in that area than in some areas near there but Eddie insisted that he wanted an apartment in that area. Eddie had not experienced