Social Work Case Study: Suzie

Discussion Board

Suzie is a 40 year-old woman that has been living in a homeless shelter for the past year. She is single and has never had children. She is trying to find work in order to move out of the shelter and obtain health insurance. She has not had a well-woman exam in several years and has never had a mammogram. I chose Suzie from the client list because I am honestly unsure which HSC concentration I would like to ultimately pursue. I do know that I am and always will be passionate about philanthropic endeavors and helping those in need. That being said, I think that medical care is a social determinant factor that can relate to my concentration regardless of what path I choose. The social determinant factors that I see to be affecting Suzie in this situation include: environment, socioeconomic status and medical care.
The underlying problem in this situation is that Suzie has not been receiving basic care for some time now.
The Susan G. Komen website states that, “Mammography in women ages 40 to 49 may save lives, but the benefit for younger women may be less than for older women” ("Susan G. Komen for the Cure | Understanding Breast Cancer | Early Detection & Screening | Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations for Women at Average Risk," 2010). However, a mammogram is only a fraction of the overall well-woman exam. After doing some research, I found that Suzie would be eligible for our very own Arizona Department of Health Services’ Well Woman HealthCheck Program! She meets the criteria of: being an uninsured woman resident of Arizona, she is 40 years of age so she is eligible for a breast cancer screening along with cervical cancer screening. That being said, I think that Suzie should focus less on finding a job and more on her personal health and preventative care so that she can live a longer, healthier
life.

I believe that the stakeholders involved in Suzie’s situation would be herself as the consumer and state government in the form of the Arizona Department of Health Services –specifically the Bureau of Health Systems Development sector. The ideal outcome of this situation is that Suzie does enough research to identify these types of free healthcare programs aimed at helping uninsured and impoverished women and that she has the courage to ask for help and follows through with the application process for the Well Woman HealthCheck Program. Her health care history would be updated and hopefully nothing would be found wrong so that she can continue on with preventative care rather than curative treatment. Something that could have been done better is better education of the residents of the homeless shelter from its owners about such health opportunities. Knowledge is power and education about these types of beneficial programs could be the difference between life and death for some individuals.

REFERENCES
Susan G. Komen for the Cure | Understanding Breast Cancer | Early Detection & Screening | Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations for Women at Average Risk. (2010, June 9). Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Retrieved February 18, 2014, from http://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/GeneralRecommendations.html

Well woman HealthCheck program. (n.d.). Bureau of Health Systems Development: Well Woman HealthCheck Program Eligibility. Retrieved February 17, 2014, from http://www.azdhs.gov/hsd/healthcheck/wellwoman/eligibility.htm