Case Work Practice Study On The Resilience Improvement Of Family Caregivers With Mental Disorders In Narrative Therapy Model

This article discusses the issue of a large number of individuals with intellectual disabilities in China,and the inadequate care system as well as the influence of traditional culture’s emphasis on the family unit,resulting in family caregivers still being the main source of care for these individuals.Caring for someone with intellectual disabilities is a long-term and complex task that places varying degrees of burden on caregivers’ physical,psychological,economic,and daily life aspects.As a result,there is an urgent need for guidance and support for these caregivers.However,the literature on family caregivers has been relatively limited,primarily concentrated in medical and psychological fields,with social work research on caregivers of individuals with intellectual disabilities being particularly inadequate.With the development of research,however,there has been a gradual increase in social work studies on caregivers of individuals with intellectual disabilities in recent years,with "resilience" becoming a research hotspot.Therefore,the author chooses to study the resilience of caregivers of individuals with intellectual disabilities in this context.Based on the H social work agency,the author collects relevant information and data on caregivers of individuals with intellectual disabilities through semi-structured interviews,questionnaires,and scale methods to understand their problems and reasons during the care process.The author evaluates their resilience level and caregiving burden and focuses on exploring the impact of protective and risk factors on resilience generation and improvement.In this process,the author chooses a caregiver of a cerebral palsy patient as the case service object.With the theoretical basis of the narrative therapy model,the author adjusts the intervention procedure of narrative therapy according to the situation of the service object,including problem externalization,deconstructing problems,constructing new narratives,finding shining moments,and strengthening new narratives.Through this practical intervention process,the author alleviates the service object’s problems,excavates their potential,and helps improve their resilience level.Research shows that case work in a narrative therapy model has a certain effect on improving the resilience of service recipients.For example,during the intervention process,it can help service recipients relieve care pressure and alleviate negative emotions in the short term.However,due to problem narratives being deeply rooted in the lives of service recipients for more than 20 years,and the lack of practical experience and solid professional knowledge on the part of the author,the service effect is not significant.Through the comparison of pre-and post-measurements,it was found that the level of resilience did not change significantly,and the burden of care remained severe.The positive effects generated during the intervention did not have a good continuation,and the overall service effect was not satisfactory.The author reflected on the insufficient response to the real-life survival problems of the service recipients,inadequate collection of preliminary data,and unprofessional practical processes as reasons for the insignificant effect.Finally,the author returned to the issue of the entire group of caregivers of people with mental disabilities and proposed three suggestions: changing the traditional gender division of labor concept,building a community assistance network,and adjusting social policy direction.It is hoped that this study can provide experience that can be referenced by future researchers of caregivers of people with mental disabilities,explore the strengths of other types of caregivers of people with mental disabilities,improve their resilience,and increase positive care experiences.