Much like child abuse and neglect, elder and dependent abuse and neglect are topics that we can say with confidence will show up on your ASWB social work licensing exams. Last month's child abuse and neglect question proved itself to challenge many of you and we had lots of great discussion with our customers about this topic as a result. Let's see how you did on yesterday's FREE practice question on elder abuse and neglect. Are you ready to correctly and confidently answer these questions on your LCSW and LMSW exams? Find out by reading our question, answer, and rationale below!
Elder Abuse and Neglect Practice Question
A nursing home social worker works and meets with an 82-year-old woman who is a new resident. Towards the end of their first session, an employee comes in informing the client that her daughter has arrived to visit her. The client becomes upset and repeatedly states "please don't let her in here. Don’t let her near me.” What should the social worker do NEXT?
A. Contact the client's daughter to inquire why she doesn’t want to see her
B. Inform the daughter she needs to leave and escort her from the premises
C. Explore with the client why she doesn’t want her daughter to come in
D. Make an Adult Protective Services report on suspicions of abuse
The correct answer is C, explore why she doesn’t want her daughter to come in.
- We cannot contact the client’s daughter to inquire why the client doesn’t want her to come in (A), as this would be breaking client confidentiality.
- Our NEXT step would not be to inform the daughter that she needs to leave (though this could happen at some point), as we would first want to talk with the client about why she doesn’t want her daughter there. More so, escorting the daughter off of the premises would likely be unnecessary and outside our role as the social worker.
- While we will do D if the client reports that her daughter has abused her in any way, we would not make a report just yet. There could be other reasons for her not wanting to see her daughter (for example, an ongoing strained relationship, the client not wanting her daughter to see her in a nursing home, etc.). The best place to start is by inquiring why the client doesn’t want her daughter near her.
Exam Preparation
Did you answer this question correctly? Does this question and rationale align with your knowledge of elder abuse and neglect reporting, or did this teach you something new about the topic? Know that if you have any additional questions, you are welcome to check in with a TDC coach. Our coaches are here to answer your questions and provide support as you get ready to PASS your ASWB licensure exams with confidence!
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