ENGAGEMENT AND ASSESSMENT. LITERATURE REVIEW. Based on the scenario below, please add to the existing information regarding engagement and assessment, and a Literature review to back the assessment and engagement. In the assessment portion, please include establishing a will and power of attorney. Engagement and assessment- 2-2.5 pages:  -Project provides an excellent description of techniques a social worker would use to engage with this family and assess the presenting issue. Project demonstrates excellent critical thought in explanation of cultural factors.  Literature Review- 2-2.5 pages:  -Project provides an exemplary literature review. Project accurately identifies evidence-based interventions used for the population. Project presents research from peer-reviewed journals. Articles used are no more than 5 years old. Project contains multiple, appropriate and exemplary sources expected/required for the assignment.  SCENARIO: The Smith’s, an Italian-American middle-class family of five, consists of 75-year-old, Martha and 76-year-old, John, who have three adult children. Martha and John live in a suburb 15 munities from downtown Chicago, Illinois, and live in the same home they raised their children in. Martha and John raised their children with within a strong Roman Catholic tradition. Sarah (53), the oldest of the three siblings, has a husband and 2 children of her own. Sarah, her husband, their 15-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter live in the same middle-class suburb of Chicago as her parents, and frequently visits her parents. They attend church services every Sunday with Martha and John, and Sarah’s daughter is currently attending Sunday School. Jack (50), the middle sibling, is a divorced father of three, currently lives in Kansas City, Kansas, and has distanced himself from his Martha, John, and his siblings over the years. The youngest sibling, 45-year-old Lucas, is a single and successful businessman that lives in downtown Chicago. Lucas visits his family as he is able but is often out of town on business trips. Although he does not attend church regularly with the family, he does attend Christmas and Easter Mass with his parents, Sarah, and her family when he is in town.   Recently, the Smith parents have had increased health concerns. John, a retired factory worker, suffers from severe hearing loss and mobility limitation due to arthritis which has made daily tasks difficult. Martha, a retired school teacher, has recently began showing signs of dementia, and her daily functioning and independence is beginning to deteriorate. As John and Martha have gotten older, Sarah has typically been the sibling who has helped with anything the Smith parents needed, mostly due to her proximity to the family home. However, Sarah’s husband has recently been laid off of work which has made it necessary for her to increase her own work hours. However, her job is suffering as she is frequently distant from her job responsibilitie.

1. ENGAGEMENT AND ASSESSMENT. LITERATURE REVIEW.
Based on the scenario below, please add to the existing
information regarding engagement and assessment, and a
Literature review to back the assessment and engagement. In the
assessment portion, please include establishing a will and power
of attorney.
Engagement and assessment- 2-2.5 pages:
-Project provides an excellent description of techniques a
social worker would use to engage with this family and assess
the presenting issue. Project demonstrates excellent critical
thought in explanation of cultural factors.
Literature Review- 2-2.5 pages:
-Project provides an exemplary literature review. Project
accurately identifies evidence-based interventions used for the
population. Project presents research from peer-reviewed
journals. Articles used are no more than 5 years old. Project
contains multiple, appropriate and exemplary sources
expected/required for the assignment.
SCENARIO:
The Smith’s, an Italian-American middle-class family of five,
consists of 75-year-old, Martha and 76-year-old, John, who
have three adult children. Martha and John live in a suburb 15
munities from downtown Chicago, Illinois, and live in the same

2. home they raised their children in. Martha and John raised their
children with within a strong Roman Catholic tradition. Sarah
(53), the oldest of the three siblings, has a husband and 2
children of her own. Sarah, her husband, their 15-year-old son
and 10-year-old daughter live in the same middle-class suburb
of Chicago as her parents, and frequently visits her parents.
They attend church services every Sunday with Martha and
John, and Sarah’s daughter is currently attending Sunday
School. Jack (50), the middle sibling, is a divorced father of
three, currently lives in Kansas City, Kansas, and has distanced
himself from his Martha, John, and his siblings over the years.
The youngest sibling, 45-year-old Lucas, is a single and
successful businessman that lives in downtown Chicago. Lucas
visits his family as he is able but is often out of town on
business trips. Although he does not attend church regularly
with the family, he does attend Christmas and Easter Mass with
his parents, Sarah, and her family when he is in town.
Recently, the Smith parents have had increased health
concerns. John, a retired factory worker, suffers from severe
hearing loss and mobility limitation due to arthritis which has
made daily tasks difficult. Martha, a retired school teacher, has
recently began showing signs of dementia, and her daily
functioning and independence is beginning to deteriorate. As
John and Martha have gotten older, Sarah has typically been the
sibling who has helped with anything the Smith parents needed,
mostly due to her proximity to the family home. However,
Sarah’s husband has recently been laid off of work which has
made it necessary for her to increase her own work hours.
However, her job is suffering as she is frequently distant from
her job responsibilities, taking additional time off, and missing
work deadlines due to all of her familial responsibilities. Her
children are active in extra-curricular activates as well: her son
is a Drum Major in the high school marching band and is
frequently needing to be dropped off and picked up from
practices, and her daughter has weekly youth-group meetings at

3. their church in addition to Sunday School. Although Sarah’s
husband is out of work, he has recently been diagnosed with
depression after being turned-down from multiple job
opportunities. This has also led her husband to be more distant
and emotionally unavailable, and he also has increased his
drinking which has made him unavailable to drive the children
to and from their activities. Despite the financial burden it may
cause on the family, Sarah is contemplating reducing her work
hours to in order to better support her family and parents.
As a result of these familial circumstances, Sarah has come to
talk with a therapist at a local outpatient clinic after being
referred by a close friend from her church. Sarah explained that
her friend noticed her exhausted and stressed appearance, and
after getting coffee after church and hearing about the strains in
Sarah’s life she suggested Sarah come in to seek assistance.
During the intake, Sarah expressed feeling as though she was
“trying to keep too many things afloat at once” and noted that
she did not feel much support from her husband nor her brothers
when it came to family needs and the needs of her aging
parents. She expressed that it was hard enough raising a family
of her own, and that the age and rapid deterioration of her
parent’s functioning required more than she was able to provide
for all of them. However, she displayed a great sense of
responsibility and loyalty to her parents as well as pride
regarding their care, noting a cultural significance to the need
of taking care of her parents. Sarah went on to add that although
she felt a strong moral obligation to take care of her parents,
she expressed frustration towards her brother’s lack of effort
and support for their family.
The above case example describes a woman who is
considered to be part of a Sandwich Generation, also known as
multigenerational caregiving. Shallcross (2015) describes the
Sandwich Generation as a generation of people who are caring
for their aging parents while supporting their own children (p.

4. 1). This definition is descriptive of Sarah’s situation and the
challenges she is facing as a result of this situation. General
stressors for multigenerational caregivers include difficulties
sleeping, fatigue, lower social functioning, inter-family
conflict, stress, difficulties at work, and an overall negative
impact on physical and mental health of the caregiver (Aazami,
Shamsuddin, & Akmal, n.d.). As we learn more about Sarah and
the stressors she is facing we begin to see these areas of
disruption arise in the case.
Although multigenerational caregiving can affect both men and
women, significant burdens have been expressed for women in
these roles in particular (Aazami, Shamsuddin, & Akmal, n.d.;
Evans, Girdler, Falkmer, Richmond, Wagman, Millsteed, &
Falkmer, 2017). For example, Stiner and Fletcher (n.d.) note
five themes that women in the role of a multigenerational
caregiver generally face: physical care, sounding board or the
emotional aspects of caregiving, not having enough time in the
day, questioning whether or not they are adequate caregivers for
their children, and transitions and variations in caregiving.
Different aspects of these themes highlight the emotional strain
caregivers may feel and add weight to some of the additional
concerns individuals in this role are challenged with. Aazami et
al. (n.d.) note another challenge being the increase in work-
family conflict for women who have job obligations along with
increased family responsibility. Shallcross (2015) also
acknowledges career strain with multigenerational caregivers,
as those individuals are often forced to cut their hours and
decline job promotions they would have otherwise accepted.
These examples of challenges for multigenerational caregivers
are descriptive of the challenges Sarah faces in this case study.
References

5. Aazami, S., Shamsuddin, K., & Akmal, S. (n.d.). Assessment of
Work-Family Conflict Among Women of the Sandwich
Generation.
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Wagman, P., Millsteed, J., & Falkmer, M. (2017). Viewpoints of
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