Case Study of Mr Beckbie

Mr. Beckbie is a 77-year-old widowed construction worker, who was referred to your care by his family physician. The doctor had concerns over his worries and increased pre-occupation with his own health and finances. Mr. Beckbie attended his practice 6 times over the previous 3 months, complaining of feeling ‘not quite right’. He reported that he had been a pessimist and a worrier for much of his adult life. He had difficulties making decisions and thought very little of himself.

Despite difficulties Mr. Beckbie managed to finish college, and with the help of his wife, he was able to lead his own business until retirement. After his wife’s passing, he moved in with his son and they shared expenses. However, he did not feel comfortable living with his son, he believed that his son was unable to live his social life with him being around all the time. Mr. Beckbie just moved into an apartment building, and remained to be concerned about his financial situation.

When Mr. Beckbie became quite ill with the flue several months ago, he started to worry about losing control and getting sick again. Mr. Beckbie got angry more and more often, and gained about 20 pounds over the past year. The doctor indicated in his referral that Mr. Beckbie abused Vicodin after a back injury on a worksite about 20 years ago. At that time, his wife came forward and disclosed her suspicion that led to a treatment of Mr. Beckbie’s addiction problem. However, at the time of the most recent assessment conducted by the family physician, he denied using any substances.

Write up the screening and assessment strategies (relevant topics with example questions) you would use in order to assess and understand Mr. Beckbie’s situation and possible use of substance. Please, remember that past experiences need to be acknowledged and acted upon, they will contribute to both assessment and treatment.

Your approach should be nonjudgemental and supportive, so your questions should reflect that approach. More attention is required in regulating the flow of the assessment according to need, with special consideration for pace, comfort, problems (if there is any) with understanding and communication, as well as potential underlying cognitive impairment. Think about reluctance, stigma, lack of awareness, risk and protective factors, warning signs, sources of additional information, etc.

Please, build a systematic assessment strategy that helps to identify and understand what could be going on in Mr. Beckbie’s life. Consider how the information you gather potentially could relate to unique topics of aging. Please, choose a treatment approach based on the assessment result you describe in your assignment document. Consider the therapeutic alliance and unique needs of case management, if applies.