Jane is a 57 yr. old African-American female. Her medical diagnosis includes Type II Diabetes and Hypertension. Jane’s hypertension caused irreversible kidney disease that led to the need for dialysis. She attends in-center hemodialysis three times a week. Jane is single and resides alone in public housing. Jane has limited support from her adult son. Her son is a truck driver and is often on the road. Jane graduated high school and worked in fast food until her need for dialysis. She is now unemployed and receives SSDI monthly. She is insured with Medicaid and Medicare. Despite constant education from her physician and dietician her blood pressure remains elevated as well as many other controllable lab values. She averages at least 1-2 missed treatments a month. As the social worker for the dialysis clinic, you are asked to assess the situation and provide assistance as needed.

After reviewing your text, resources, and the above case scenario answer the following questions.

1. What social determinants of health care or health discrepancies may affect this patient and her health outcomes? 

2. Many times when patient outcomes are not in goal, the automatic thought process or assumption is the patient is blatantly non-compliant with treatment. As the social worker, what can you do to further explore the reasons for her outcomes not being in goal? 

3. When reading the scenario did you have sudden assumptions or judgments regarding this person not being compliant with treatment and medications? It is okay to admit you did! Being self-aware and checking your biases is a crucial part of working with individuals, in any setting. What elements of the NASW Code of Ethics could you employ to ensure your findings are not judgmental or negative assumptions?