A Study On Social Support Network Construction For Caregivers Of People With Mild Mental Retardation

This paper is a practical intervention of case work on the construction of social support network for caregivers of people with mild mental retardation.China has a large population of people with disabilities,and the total population is increasing year by year.Previous studies mainly focus on the group of people with disabilities,but ignore the caregivers.Among all kinds of people with disabilities,the particularity of people with intellectual disabilities leads to the caregivers need to face the daily life of people with intellectual disabilities,treatment costs,mental pressure,social pressure and other issues.The quality of life of the caregiver also affects the quality of life of the caregiver,so the attention of the caregiver of the disabled is also very necessary.The research questions based on this paper are: firstly,to analyze the stress problems and demands faced by caregivers of people with mild intellectual disabilities;secondly,to evaluate the social support status quo of caregivers of people with mild intellectual disabilities.Third,a favorable social support network for caregivers of people with mild intellectual disabilities is established through case work methods.First of all,this article analyzes the problems and the reasons of mild intellectual disabilities,the main pressure they faced is economic pressure,social pressure,psychological stress,social support,the reason of those pressure is the insufficient of regulations and policies,the discrimination of the public caused intellectual disabilities caregivers multiple pressure,The systematic professional service agencies is lack too.Secondly,we evaluated the status quo and needs of social support networks of caregivers with mild mental retardation.The status quo of social support networks of caregivers is mainly that the formal support network is insufficient,the non-positive network is unstable and the strength is small.The main needs of caregivers are material and social assistance,family,friends and group activities,medical rehabilitation and education,rehabilitation and employment skills.Thirdly,this paper conducts an interview in Zhengning Road community to understand the problems faced by the caregivers of the disabled and determine the service target.Guided by social support theory and advantage perspective theory,the method of case work is used.In the process of problem analysis and demand assessment of the service objects,we know that the service objects are mainly faced with the problem of unsound social support network.In view of this problem to develop a service plan and practice intervention,this practice intervention was carried out for a total of six times,the specific content includes: release of bad emotions;Sorting out existing social support networks;Building new social support networks;Exercise the self-reliance of the caregivers;Discover the advantages of the client.It mainly involves the emotional level,cognitive level and action level of the object of service.Through process evaluation and result evaluation,the change of the object of service of the case work and the performance of the social worker are defined.The conclusions are as follows: the caregivers of the mentally handicapped need a sound social support network to reduce the stress of care in the long-term care process,and also need the attention of people from all walks of life.Both the caregiver and the cared for have their own strengths to discover.Finally,the author summarizes and discusses the case work.