Assignment 2: Case Study
Instructions:
Assessment type: Case study
Length: 1500 words (+/- 10%)
This case study is adapted from Bob’s s story, which you can watch here :
https://youtu.be/ZE0zinlDmFs. You may also refer to the videos and full transcript on the PCC4U weblink.
Bob is a 64-year-old gentleman. Bob was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) just over a year ago, and because of his work as an electrician, it was deemed too dangerous for Bob to keep on working. Bob has no other medical past history and had been fit and well prior to diagnosis. Bob and his wife Margaret initially didn’t know what motor neurone disease was, as such Bob’s neurologist referred Bob and Margaret on to the MND association. Bob found the MND information pretty confronting at first. Bob found the MND brochures to be very frank about what happens.
Bob reflects on his diagnosis
“MND is a cruel disease. I was really angry for a few weeks and you immediately think ‘why me’, ‘why now’. I didn’t take it very well; I really took it out on the family. Everyone’s different of course but you’ve just gotta do what’s best for you. I found others that were coming to terms with issues like ‘what it’s like to not be the bread winner anymore’ and you know that sooner or later you’re going to have to relinquish some of your responsibilities, but you just can’t do everything. These were some of the hardest adjustments I’ve had to make, but it’s hard when you think people just aren’t listening to what you want. Everyone seems to be an expert on what you should be doing.”
Three months later Bob’s illness progresses. Bob has severe weakness in his arms but is still able to walk around. Bob has been referred to a physiotherapist and occupational therapist to determine what can be done to improve his physical and social functioning. When the physiotherapist visits Bob, she finds Bob is increasingly experiencing speech difficulties and is becoming frustrated by his decrease in independence.
You are required to write a case -based essay that answers the following questions. You are not required to discuss Bob’s specific medical diagnoses; the focus of this essay is to explore the role of advance care planning in the context of Bob’s chronic illness progression.
Using The Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act which came into effect on March, 2018 http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/Domino/Web_Notes/LDMS/PubStatbook.nsf/f932b66241ecf1b7c a256e92000e23be/B4D3EBB66E52E98CCA25807A0014F70D/$FILE/16–069aa%20authorised.pdf
- Discuss the possible benefits of Advance care planning for Bob and Margaret
- At what point throughout Bob’s illness trajectory might a conversation on advanced care planning be initiated with Bob? There may be differing opinions on this within the literature, please describe these.
- What sort of information should be included in the advance care plan? Discuss any supporting documents (relevant in Victoria) that may be included in the Advance care plan.
- When would the advance care plan be reviewed and activated?
When you plan your essay, consider a person-centred approach to support your discussion. You need to support your discussion with high quality, peer reviewed literature. Your essay needs to draw from legislation that is relevant to Victoria, as laws and legislation vary both nationally and internationally.
In your essay:
- Identify Bob, his relevant past history and how it applies to the progression of his chronic illness to set the context for your discussion.
- Include an introduction, body and conclusion in your essay. Use headings to indicate the topic you are discussing.
- Ensure you have clear and logical transitions between the introduction, body, and conclusion.
- Discuss why advance care planning is important in relation to person centred care, and informed decision making by drawing from your research sources and their arguments. You are required to use peer reviewed, scholarly articles to support each point you make. You may use Australian government or other authoritative websites as a point of reference, however the use of web- based sources, or any non -peer reviewed sources is not acceptable (ie Better Health channel, Wikipedia).
- Make sure that any statement of fact is supported by evidence, correctly referenced intext and in the reference list. When using evidence, paraphrase where possible, and always cite sources.
- Conclude your essay by summarising, not simply restating the essay but by readdressing it considering the evidence provided. Never add any additional and new information in the conclusion!
Assessment Criteria:
1) Have you reviewed the case study, Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act, 2016, discussed any supporting documents that may be included in the process 2) Is your discussion clear, concise and defined?
- Have you answered all the essay questions?
- Resources (Research). Have you used appropriate literature to support your discussion?
- Writing
- Clear expression
- Clear and logical structure
- Logical transitions between sections
- Clear paragraphs (topic sentence, evidence, analysis)
- Academic language use e.g. appropriate vocabulary
- Spelling and grammar
- Punctuation
6) Referencing
- APA 6 La Trobe style is consistently used
- In-text referencing is used
- A reference list is included
- References are correctly formatted and listed
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
- Design appropriate chronic disease management plans or interdisciplinary team care arrangements based on the lived experiences of persons with chronic illness.
- Evaluate chronic illness management methods to determine strategies that promote active engagement of persons, families and carers with health services.
- Generate evidence-based recommendations for how to improve the sustainability of chronic illness management approaches in terms of their impact on natural, economic, social, political and cultural systems. __________________________________________________________________________________
