Question

Case Study-Independent Life

Betty and Clayton Ross always dreamed of retiring to upstate New York to escape the hustle and bustle of the big city. Their dreams of a serene retirement were dashed when Clayton was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at age 55.

At first, Clayton continued to work and was able to deal with the tremors; however, working soon became unbearable, and he could no longer continue as the pastor in the church he founded. Clayton retired at age 59, and Betty was able to provide all the care he needed at home for the next 15 years.

When Clayton reached age 74, the debilitating effects of his disease became too much for Betty to handle by herself. At that time, Betty and Clayton moved to rural Pennsylvania to be near one of their daughters and her family so that Betty could get assistance. For almost ten years, their daughter Sandy and her husband, Wally, provided assistance, including transporting them to all physician appointments and social outings. Sandy also visited each day to help her father with his activities of daily living. Wally oversaw their financial portfolio and often helped meet shortfalls related to the couple’s dwindling funds. This arrangement worked well for almost ten years; however, it put a strain on the family relationship.

The next shoe dropped when Betty, at age 83, was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a progressive lung disease that made breathing difficult. Betty and Clayton were at a crossroads, and they discussed the dilemma with their daughter and her family. They maintained their desire to live at home rather than to be institutionalized; however, they knew they could not live without assistance.

As a result of the stress of caring for Sandy’s parents, Sandy and Wally’s marriage and family life had suffered; they were feeling trapped. After all, Sandy and Wally had three children to take care of and often had to forgo family outings and miss their son’s after-school activities. The family had tried to help the best they could, but when Wally was offered a job in another state, he could not turn down the opportunity for a promotion and a fresh start on the family’s life. As a result, Betty and Clayton were left to fend for themselves. They had always been able to live independently with the help of their family, but now what would they do?

The couple knew one thing: They wanted to be together and remain in their home. Their desire to live in the community was emphatic; however, their savings had been almost entirely depleted, and they could no longer rely on their family’s financial support because the family had other financial obligations.

Case Study Questions

1. Define the concept of living independently for life.
2. What options are available to help Betty and Clayton stay in the community?
3. In light of their financial condition and their desire to live at home together, what are the best option for Betty and Clayton?
4. What could Betty and Clayton have done to plan better for the circumstances that they are currently facing?

Answer 1

The concept of living independently for life can be defined in various ways. There is pretty vast concepts behind it. Although the term independent living (IL) is a common term, it has developed into a new concept emphasizing direct consumer control, assistive services, and improvement in the community environment. It stresses that persons with severe disabilities must control their own lives if they are to become independent. It also a point out that community environment plays a major role in the success or failure of independent living. In the IL model that has developed from this new focus on consumer control, staff plays a variety of roles, including peer, coaching, assistive service, and community advocate. Furthermore, services are organized around the consumer's general IL needs or whatever other needs an individual may have in order to live independently in the community. Changes in the traditional IL concept were made by leaders who were frustrated by numerous barriers that restricted independent living. They were distressed by the few services available for persons with severe disabilities. In effect, IL leaders developed a functional IL concept to deal with these inadequacies. They implemented and tested the concept in a new model that focused on new methods. Today, the IL field that has resulted from these developments thrives and continues to evolve. It is important to recognize that the IL concept, model, and methodology were developed for persons with severe physical disabilities, including cerebral palsy, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, poliomyelitis, spinal cord injury, and other orthopedic-related disabilities. Proponents believe that the IL concept and model (developed for persons with severe physical disabilities) has application for human services and can serve persons with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities. However, there is a challenge to refine the concept and model for persons with severe developmental disabilities.

Earlier he was the pastor in the church he founded, daughters and her family (Sandy the daughter and her husband, Wally), couple’s dwindling funds for the financial supports for 10 years apart from that the transportation, physician appointment and outing were managed by the daughters family.

Institutionalization was the option which was best left out for them to be there in the Community.

Followings are the planning the could have done in better way to over come or make better the circumstances whatever theyl are facing currently:

They could have gone through life pension scheme after disability.

Human service organizations Development.

Establishment of rehabilitation centres.

Seeked help from the Govt. INGOs and NGOs.

Would have created public awareness as Community Option Development.

Technical assistance

Could have seeked for or used a variety of service methods including peer counseling, advocacy, information and referral, skills training, and general assistance, housing, etc.