Recording in Social Group Work
"Record" means any document or other source of information compiled, recorded or stored in written form or on film, or by electronic process, or any different manner.
According to Marry Richmond, the records are the basis for her study of practice. Moreover, the recording has always been helpful for the social group worker to coordinate and evaluate the service needs and the result. Writing a record is generally accepted as a best practice in various social work settings. The worker has to keep an accurate and reliable account of the process within the group environment. Recording extends and supplements enough scope for review and memory recall.
The Social Work Dictionary (1995) defines "recording" as the process of putting in writing and keeping on file relevant information about the client system; the problem; the prognosis; the intervention; the progress of treatment; the social, economic, and health factors contributing to the situation and the procedures for termination or referral.
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Importance of Recording in Social Group Work
The record helps the group work understand the group and allows the worker to understand the group as a whole. The record provides evidence of growth and change in the members and the group worker himself and helps the worker do a more effective job with his groups. Through records, the worker can see merging and changing of interests of individual members and the development of skills and social attitudes of members. A record also helps the group worker gain knowledge of particular problems in the group and provides the content of supervisory conferences. It also acts as a source of future planning and information for other workers. Another importance of records is it gives a permanent and continuous register of facts for the agency (Rengaswamy).
Principles of Social Work Recording by Lindsay
Purpose of Recording in Social Work
Structure of Recording in Social Work Practice
Types of Recording in Social Work Practice
Process Recording
Process record is one method by which you can record the content of an interview. It involves a written record of all verbal and nonverbal communication (based on the worker's best recollections) and a record of the worker's feelings and reflections throughout the interview. Audio or video recordings can also be used for the caseworker to (a) identify the client's feelings during the interview, (b) assess the client's feelings, or (c) present summary comments.
The process is continuous development involving many changes. It is a series of actions, changes or functions that bring about an end result. Process recording tries to record this development and activities. These developments are directly or meaningfully related to understanding the person in a situation and the intervention process. It is selective in its recording. Interactions with directed bearing or meaning for intervention are recorded, and the rest of the details of interactions are discarded. The focus is not on the development of the events but on the development related to understanding and intervening in the person's psychosocial life. In process recording, the process of helping is recorded, which includes the relevant conversations, observations and reactions of the worker in the developmental sequence. It gives an idea to the supervisor if the caseworker has used his knowledge of human behaviour and social situations, if his reactions to the client's verbal and non-verbal communication are appropriate and if planning for the future is consistent with the presenting condition. The usefulness of the process recording depends to a considerable extent on the ability of the worker to recall exactly what had happened and in what order and to look at the facts objectively to get at underlying feelings and meanings. Process recording is time-consuming, so it should be used carefully.
Process recording is a form of recording used frequently by the caseworker. It is one method by which the caseworker can record the content of an interview. It involves a written record of all verbal and nonverbal communication based on the worker's best recollections and a record of the worker's feelings and reflections throughout the interview. In this type, the interview process is reported and is a rather detailed description of what transpired with considerable paraphrasing. It preserves a sequence in which the various matters were discussed. It includes what both the worker and the client said and significant reactions of the client, and changes in mood and response. In this method, the interview and observation go hand-in-hand. It may be verbatim or non-verbatim reproduction.
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Problem-oriented Recording
Problem-oriented record (POR) is a method of client case record-keeping that focuses on specific problems The components of the POR are: (a) database, which contains information required for each client regardless of diagnosis or presenting problems, i.e., all history, physical findings etc.; (b)problem list, which contains the significant problems currently needing attention; (c)plan, which specifies what is to be done about each problem; (d)progress notes, which document the observations, assessments, future plans.
It is a specialized form of documentation used to delineate problems identified and treatment goals in interdisciplinary settings. This system requires the recorder to identify the problem areas, assess them and then state what he plans to do about each problem. The ideal use of the problem-oriented recording is for all disciplines to record in the same interdisciplinary record on the same form. One of the primary purposes of recording in interdisciplinary settings is for documentation, but it is also intended to provide a means of exchanging information.
A problem-oriented recording is a method that focuses on specific problems. The components of this method are (a) database, which contains information required for each client regardless of assessment or presenting problems, (b) problem list, which contains the significant problems currently needing attention, (c) plan, which specifies what is to be done concerning each problem, (d) progress notes, which document the observations, assessments, and future plans.
Summative Recording
Summative assessment summarises all the formative assessments carried out over a long period and makes statements about the client's progress. Practical assessment involves evaluation or decisions about the client's progress and gives us the information we need to plan for the next steps. This is called assessment for learning: it is the formative assessment, based on observations and other forms of evidence, which informs or guides everyday planning.
It is an entirely different writing style and is preferred for intake, transfer closing and other particular aspects of official agency records. The summary recording is selected for ongoing social work practice because it is much more briefer than process recording. Hence, it is much less time-consuming to write and record. However, summary recording requires more thought and planning on the worker's part because he must decide what to record and what to omit. Regular progress notes, periodic summaries (i.e. intake or transfer report) and special reports are usually written in summary style.
Summary records are short and easy to use when considering the whole service process. It tries to summarize the main events and avoid the details of all events. It includes entry data, social history, a plan of action, periodic summaries of important information, action taken by the worker and a statement of what was accomplished as the case gets closed. Summery recordings save time and labour when process recording comparatively is very time-consuming.
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The summary recording is a suitable device for organizing and analyzing facts. It points to the meaning and the relative importance of the materials gathered. A detailed summary at appropriate intervals reduces bulk writing, clarifies direction and saves the worker's time. The summative recording summarises all the formative assessments carried out over a long period and makes statements about the client's progress. It is commonly assumed to be a review or recapitulation of material that has already appeared in the record. I typically arranged or may occur as a condensed chronological narrative.
Mrs Sheffield has defined summary in social casework recording as "A digest of significant facts in the client's history which has previously been recorded". A summary can be an assessment, a periodic summary or a closing summary. The closing summary is a summary made at the time the process of casework is terminated. To be most effective, it should be written by the worker who was responsible for the intervention at the time of termination. The periodic summary is simply the summary of information previously recorded and is made at more or less regular intervals or at the end of more or less definite episodes in the family history.
Contents of summary recordings are as
follows:
a) Full name of the client
b) Identification number
c) Date of the interview
d) Date of the recording was done
e) Name of the worker
f) Purpose of the interview
g) The content – what occurred during the
interview?
h) A description of any problem areas
identified by the social worker and/or the client
i) A description of the services provided by
the social worker
j) The practitioner's professional analytical
assessment of the meaning of what has occurred during the interview is usually
under the diagnostic summary.
k) Plans (Goals and treatment) for future
contacts or follow up.
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Diagnostic Summary
A unique analytical statement assesses what is known about a client and sets forth a specific treatment plan. The diagnostic summary provides an opportunity for the worker to set down his/hers professional impressions, reactions and concerns about their client. Put into writing, these ideas can be helpful to other staff who work with that individual at a later date and the person making the entry. A diagnostic summary enables a supervisor to learn quickly about the needs of the clients their staff are serving.
It should include:
1. The problems and needs as seen by Client
2. The problems and needs as seen by the
worker
3. The member's feelings about the client's
situation
4. The appropriateness of the clients'
feelings and behaviour
5. Efforts initiated by the clients to
solve the problem.
Goal-Oriented Recording
Under this type of recording,g basic social
history and background information is gathered and recorded. However, there is
considerable emphasis on including the client in the assessment process, setting goals, and developing specific plans to reach the identified purposes.
This approach leads to uniformity in social workers' recording and statistical reporting
practices and forces staff to include the client as an
active participant in the planning phases.
Verbatim Recording
It is the reproduction of factual data in the individual's own words. It is commonly used in casework because of its accuracy and objectivity. However, it should not become a mechanical reproduction of information because casework as art requires an intelligent selection and rearrangement of material. As a part of the worker's training, verbatim recording may be of value in developing objectivity.
Non-Verbatim/Narrative Recording
In the narrative recording, everything that has happened is recorded as it has occurred, whether positive or negative. It consists of all the statements, observations and comments of the worker. It is the narration of all the happenings and detailed accounts of the events in the narrative recording. The attempt of narrative recording is to reproduce all the situations.
The narrative recording has been and still is a predominant style of recording. It is the style found in newspapers and magazines. It is the way we speak of the day's events, it is the way we write letters, and it is the way we keep diaries. A narrative form of recording is preferred for reporting acts of practical helpfulness, events and most collateral visits or conferences. It may be used for the interview contents in all instances except when the process itself and the use of the Relationship have special significance.
Role Recording
It is the refined version of process recording. It is highly selective in its approach and focuses on the caseworker's role in his interaction with the client from time to time.
Factors that Influence the Keeping of Process Records
Purpose and Functions of Social Work Recording
7 Contents of Social Group Work Records
A social work record refers to a written or electronic document that contains client information, professional observations, clinical decisions, intervention strategies, and outcomes generated throughout the delivery of social work services.
Identifying information about the group
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§ Member's Observation;
Member's participation by name
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Description of the group as a whole
§ General atmosphere in the group – Formal, Informal, Competitive, Co-operative, Hostile, Supportive, Permissive, any other;§ Quantity & Quality of the work completed by the group;
§ Participation of group members – mostly all /few members talked and participated, supported others, took sides /dominated group etc.;
§ Positive & Negative responses;
§ Members feelings about their group;
§ Groups status in the agency
Description of the group problems
§ Conflict or fight –Nature, Type, Reason, Involvement level;§ Apathy –Nature, Level and possible causes;
§ Inadequate decision making
The Relationship & the role of the group worker
§ Material provided by the worker;§ Arrangements made;
§ Agency help taken;
§ Suggestions given;
§ Techniques used for a problem- Worker's Worker's participation in group process
Special Assistance Member's Member's name;
§ Problem;§ Nature of assistance
Evaluation
§ Evaluation of program activities;§ Evaluation of group members participation;
§ Evaluatiworker'se worker's role