Clinical Assessment
Latoya Blakley
HSM/270
May 24, 2015
Richard Ferguson
Clinical Assessment
What other information would you like to learn during the interview with the family? What questions would you ask? Many questions popped into my head after reading this brief description concerning Clara. I would start off with her history, why was she put up for adoption, or was she removed from the home? Are there any medical issues that I should know about? Do the adoptive parents know any background information regarding Clara biological parents? I would then move forward to the adoptive parents. What is their background? Do they have any children of their own living in the household? How long has it been since they adopted Clara? When did they start noticing the changes in her eating and sleeping habits? Lastly, I would want to know more about Clara’s present history. Have there been any school incidents? How well does she interact with the other preschoolers? How is she with her teacher? Does she participate in the class assignment? Does she socialize at school? There are many questions that would need to be asked, her social, school, environment, and home arrangements, past as well as present would be essential and most importantly help with future treatments.
In addition to the clinical interview, what other clinical assessment tools should you consider? Why?
Clinicians use different tools and assessments to help their clients. These may include, clinical interviews, tests, as well as observations. The appropriate assessments that should be considered in this situation are the drawing approach under “draw a person (DAP) tests. This will give Clara a chance to draw out people in her life or household. She may even draw out how she feel of what or who bothering her. Since she doesn’t do too much talking, this approach would benefit to her issues. Another approach that may be useful is observation. Dr. Mason could observe interactions with Clara and her adoptive parents. This may help Dr. Mason pinpoint certain details he observe, and may have different techniques her the adoptive parents to try at home.
Although you need more information to begin treatment, what factors might you take into consideration in designing an effective intervention for this family? When designing an effective intervention for this family, considering the environment determinants as well as reliability and validity. These things must be taken into consideration, an accurate assessment will read the same result, in the same situation no matter what. This will show consistency in the measures of the assessment, steps must be administered, and accuracy is a must. I would also consider factors about any past medical conditions Clara may be