Mrs. C, an 82-year-old widow, lives in an assisted-living community in her own apartment and has the reassurance of knowing that her medical and functional needs will be taken care of by the facility staff should the need arise to have more paid assistance. Currently, she has a care helper who comes in five days a week to assist her with the heavy house chores, showers, and meals when she chooses not to go to the community dining room in her building. She has a cafeteria-type plan with the proprietors of the assisted-living community so she can add more home assistance if she chooses to pay for it.
Mrs. C moved into the small apartment within the assisted-living facility alter she and her husband were in a car accident 2 years ago in which Mr. C was killed by a drunken driver. Mrs. C was thrown through the windshield and suffered several broken ribs, a fractured pelvis, and several ruptured discs in her back. She now suffers from chronic pain, depression, and fatigue. The pain is rated as a 8 on most days by Mrs. C. Though she refuses to take anything more than Tylenol, Mrs. C admits that she may be overdosing on the Tylenol and worries about side effects since she only has one kidney. Mrs. C denies any other knowledge of significant family or medical history prior to the car accident and says she was bom with only one kidney. Mrs. C. has consistently refused surgery and dislikes going to her physician. She instead prefers to treat herself with ancient Chinese herbs. The pain interferes with her quality of life, especially her ability to sleep and enjoy her food. She is no longer able to perform her Tai Chi exercises and shares that she has lost the heart to even try anymore. Mrs. C currently weighs 92 pounds (down from 130 pounds one year ago). She admits she has lost muscle mass and feels she looks like a very skinny scarecrow since she is 5’5″ tall. However, Mrs. C says she has no appetite and nothing really sounds appealing. Mrs. C is concerned that she has anorexia and wonders if her overwhelming fatigue is somehow related.
Mrs. C. misses her husband very much. She expresses sadness that they had no children and after 60 years together they were inseparable. They both were raised in a Christian orphanage in China (neither of them has living relatives that they are aware of and both their parents died when they were both young children) and met there. The couple eventually married and came to the United States through the sponsorship of a Christian church and were very happy together. For months, Mrs. C has not felt like reaching out to others even though her church friends and pastor, as well as other family friends, do call to check on her. Before her husband’s death, the couple was active in a local Chinese art club as well as their ethnically diverse church and service clubs. Mrs. C. has many paintings in her home that she and her husband painted. Mrs. C. and her husband taught art for years at a local university and are considered fairly renowned artists. The arts and Chinese culture were a very important part of their lives and they enjoyed sharing their cultural gifts with the community around them Part A: Review the case of Mrs. C., whose case is found in this week’s course content. Identify the model, theory. and/or framework that is most relevant for you in holistically assessing, developing interventions, and managing the care of Mrs.0 for at least one of her diagnoses and its associated symptoms.
Part B: Explain why the model, theory, or framework you have chosen is well-suited to support your approach and work with Mrs. C in assessing, intervening, and managing the particular diagnosis and associated symptom you have chosen to address from a holistic care model application?