Has anyone ever been working with a client and realised you know them outside of work? Perhaps you went to school with them, or you they are your neighbour, or you're friends with someone who's related to them? I imagine this happens more frequently in small towns and rural areas, or when you live in or grew up in the same community that you're working in.
I'm researching a piece for Community Care magazine, and I'd like to hear stories and advice from the professionals about how to handle these situations.
i have a classic!
when i was on my third year placement i went to visit a lady at home for an intial assessment, she has mobilty issues and severe anxiety which meant she was virtually housebound. she showed me into her front rooman went off to make a cup of tea.i looked at the photos on her wall and there was a picture of her wedding day, i was shocked to see that her husband was an old boyfriend of mine, i panicked.........i really did not know what to do, when she came in she spoke a lot i could hardly get a word in edgeways i think she was nervous and i did not want to but in out of respect . in my head i kept thinking i need to tell her but did not want to interupt her and was trying to think on my feet about how to tell her, and was getting more anxious as i kept thinking he may walk in at any moment and he was unaware i was now a social worker it had been a few years since we were together. anyway in the end i did tell her and we had a bit of a laugh about it. i asked her if she had a problem with working with me because of this link and she said not.
when i got back to the office my supervisor was in hysterics about it, the fact is we were about 50miles away from where we were when we were together and in the middle of a rural area it was bizarre he had ended up living in this tiny village and bizarre i had walked into his house and I was working in the same area
after reflection i realised i could not work with this lady and that was the end of that, however it did make me a bit on edge for a while every time i went to visit service users at home for the first time as i was never sure what or who i would meet.
when i got my first social work post it was in the area i grew up, i come from a family of 7 so often would meet people who knew a memebr of my family of went to school with one of us- luckily i have moved areas now -it all got rather complicated. i would never work with people i knew from before but if i was duty i sometime wouldend uptalking to these peopleon the phone if there was no one else and they were in crisis.
it also caused some ethical dilemmas for me as i would often know things about people or their families that would be helpful for workers to know as it would give a fuller picture of things but was never sure whether to share that information.
phew thank goodness i work 50minutes away now
Been there recently i was at a forensic medium secure unit for a CPA, sat in the ward office waitng for staff all of a sudden there's a banging on the glass, only a friend and relative of one of my cousins shouting my nickname to get my attention and telling the other patients how he knows me. All staff in the office staring at me. A perfect reminder why i no longer work in my own town.