Chapter 8. Counseling Homebound Clients and Their Families

Abstract

This chapter has as its focus the means by which social workers and other health care professionals counsel homebound clients and their caregivers. Counseling techniques are presented through a discussion of four case examples which have been chosen to illustrate different social scenarios. The four situations are: (1) a frail elder who wishes to live alone; (2) a terminally ill frail elder whose caregiver is an aged sister; (3) a frail elder with Alzheimer's disease whose family caregiver is her daughter; and (4) a woman with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis whose caregiver is her husband. The case study format is meant to show the hand of the counseling professional, to describe exactly how that person intervenes in each scenario. At the end of each case study is a summary of counseling and other interventions. Throughout the chapter, reference is made to the following: counseling the homebound elderly individual, counseling the caregivers, effects of specific illness states, special issues the counselor must address, and always, the necessity for a reasonable availability of concrete services in order for counseling to make any difference in the lives of the homebound elderly.