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Paula Cortez\u00a0Identifying Data:<\/strong> Paula Cortez is a 43-year-old Catholic Hispanic (the best nursing writing service, a studybay for your papers) female residing in New York City, NY. Paula was born in Colombia. When she was 17 years old, Paula left Colombia and moved to New York where she met David, who later became her husband. Paula and David have one son, Miguel, 20 years old. They divorced after 5 years of marriage. Paula has a five-year-old daughter, Maria, from a different relationship. Presenting Problem:<\/strong> Paula has multiple medical issues, and there is concern about whether she will be able to continue to care for her youngest child, Maria. Paula has been overwhelmed, especially since she again stopped taking her medication. Paula is also concerned about the wellness of Maria.\u00a0Family Dynamics:<\/strong> Paula comes from a moderately well-to-do family. Paula reports suffering physical and emotional abuse at the hands of both her parents, eventually fleeing to New York to get away from the abuse. Paula comes from an authoritarian family where her role was to be \u201cseen and not heard.\u201d Paula states that she did not feel valued by any of her family members and reports never receiving the attention she needed. As a teenager, she realized she felt \u201cnot good enough\u201d in her family system, which led to her leaving for New York and looking for \u201csomeone to love me.\u201d Her parents still reside in Colombia with Paula\u2019s two siblings. Paula met David when she sought to purchase drugs. They married when Paula was 18 years old. The couple divorced after 5 years of marriage. Paula raised Miguel, mostly by herself, until he was 8 years old, at which time she was forced to relinquish custody due to her medical condition. Paula maintains a relationship with her son, Miguel, and her ex-husband, David. Miguel takes part in caring for his half-sister, Maria. Paula does believe her job as a mother is to take care of Maria but is finding that more and more challenging with her physical illnesses.\u00a0Employment History:<\/strong> Paula worked for a clothing designer, but she realized that her true passion was painting. She has a collection of more than 100 drawings and paintings, many of which track the course of her personal and emotional journey. Paula held a fulltime job for a number of years before her health prevented her from working. She is now unemployed and receives Supplemental Security Disability Insurance (SSD) and Medicaid. Miguel does his best to help his mom but only works part time at a local supermarket delivering groceries. Paula currently uses federal and state services. Paula successfully applied for WIC, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. Given Paula\u2019s low income, health, and Medicaid status, Paula is able to receive in-home childcare Helpance through New York\u2019s public Helpance program<\/p>\n In this course, you will be asked to select one case study and to use it throughout the entire course. By doing this, you will have the opportunity to see how theories<\/a> guide your view of a client and the client\u2019s presenting problem. Although the case may be the same, each time you use a different theory<\/a>, your perspective of the problem changes, which then changes how you go about asking the assessment questions and how you intervene.<\/p>\n The first theoretical approach you will use to apply to a case study is systems theory<\/a>. In other words, your theoretical orientation\u2014your lens\u2014will be systems theory as you analyze a social work case study.<\/p>\n Different theories<\/a> can be used to take a systems approach. For example, Bertalanffy\u2019s General Systems Theory<\/a>considers how a system<\/a> is made of smaller subsystems<\/a> that influence each other<\/a> and seek homeostasis<\/a>, whereas Brofennerbrenner\u2019s Ecological Systems Theory<\/a> focuses on how an individual\u2019s experience is influenced by different system levels (micro, meso<\/a>, exo<\/a>, macro<\/a>, and chrono). Systems theory<\/a> is commonly used to understand the interrelationships of the systems (e.g., family, community, organizations, society) of the client. If you are working with families, communities, and organizations, it is also beneficial to use systems theory to get a holistic picture of all the interrelated parts of the system.<\/p>\n To prepare: Select and focus on one of four case studies listed in the Learning Resources. You will use this same case study throughout the course.<\/p>\n Turner, F. J. (Ed.). (2017). Social work treatment: Interlocking theoretical approaches<\/em> (6th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n\n