| Course | MSW 532 Social Work with the Aging and Their Families |
|---|---|
| Week | 7 |
| Paper type | Elder mistreatment write-up |
| Length | About 540 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Social Work (MSW) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MSW 532 Week 7
Elder Mistreatment Write-Up After a Home Visit to E.: What Was Observed Before Any Label, Every Category Weighed Including the Ones Set Aside, Money That Left Paper Behind, the Reporting Duty Stated Concretely and the Morning After
Student Name
Chamberlain University
MSW 532: Social Work with the Aging and Their Families
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Elder Mistreatment Write-Up After a Home Visit to E.: What Was Observed Before Any Label, Every Category Weighed Including the Ones Set Aside, Money That Left Paper Behind, the Reporting Duty Stated Concretely and the Morning After
What Was Observed
Home visit, November 18, 2 p.m. E. had two bruises on the left forearm, each about the size of a thumb, yellow-green. The refrigerator held milk past its date, three containers of takeout and no vegetables. D. was at work; the grandson, staying for a week, answered the door. When asked about the bruises, E. paused about ten seconds and said, "I bumped the table." When asked if anyone had hurt E., E. said no. A bank statement on the table, addressed to E., showed four ATM withdrawals of $300 each over nine days at a gas station near the grandson's apartment. D. later told the worker by phone that the bank had called her about unusual withdrawals.
Every Category Weighed
Physical abuse: the bruises are consistent with grabbing, but also with E.'s falls and E.'s blood thinner. E.'s explanation was consistent with the second. Not supported on current information; to be watched.
Neglect by a caregiver: the food suggests limited cooking this week, when the grandson, not D., was the caregiver. Possible for this week only.
Self-neglect: E. cannot shop or cook alone and is not expected to; self-neglect describes a person failing to meet their own needs with nobody responsible, which does not fit this house. Set aside.
Financial exploitation: four withdrawals totaling $1,200 near the grandson's address, during the grandson's stay, at times E. was at home. E. does not drive and has not used an ATM in two years, according to D. Supported for reporting.
Emotional abuse: no evidence observed. Set aside.
Money Leaves Paper Behind
Unlike bruises, money leaves records: the statement shows the dates, times and locations of the withdrawals. A national study found financial exploitation by family members was among the most common forms of mistreatment reported by older adults (Acierno et al., 2010).
The Duty, Stated Concretely
As an agency social worker, I am required by state law to report suspected exploitation of a vulnerable adult to Adult Protective Services. I called the state hotline at 4:10 p.m. on November 18 and gave the facts above; the intake number is in the file. I told my supervisor at 4:30 p.m.
The Morning After
November 19: called D. to explain the report and that it was about money, not about D.'s care. Asked D. to contact the bank about freezing the card and to have S., who holds the financial power of attorney, review the account. Scheduled a visit with E. alone for November 21 to ask how E. wants to handle the grandson's visits. Mistreatment is often under-recognized and best addressed with the older person's own goals in view (Lachs & Pillemer, 2015).
References
Acierno, R., Hernandez, M. A., Amstadter, A. B., Resnick, H. S., Steve, K., Muzzy, W., & Kilpatrick, D. G. (2010). Prevalence and correlates of emotional, physical, sexual, and financial abuse and potential neglect in the United States: The National Elder Mistreatment Study. American Journal of Public Health, 100(2), 292-297. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2009.163089
Lachs, M. S., & Pillemer, K. A. (2015). Elder abuse. New England Journal of Medicine, 373(20), 1947-1956. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra1404688
The Chamberlain MSW 532 Week 7 instructions
The mistreatment write-up opens with description and no label: what was seen, what was in the home, what records showed and what the older person said, including pauses. Then weigh every category, physical, neglect, self-neglect, financial and emotional, with the evidence for and against each, and say which you set aside and why. Remember that self-neglect has no other person in it. Note that money leaves paper behind, so records can support or rule out exploitation. State the reporting duty concretely: who you called, when and what you reported. Close with the morning after: what you did next with the person and the family.
How the MSW 532 Week 7 example is put together
The observation section records two yellow-green forearm bruises, takeout and expired milk, the grandson at the door, a ten-second pause before an explanation and four withdrawals of $300 near the grandson's apartment. The categories section finds physical abuse unsupported given falls and a blood thinner, neglect possible for one week, self-neglect not applicable, financial exploitation supported and emotional abuse unseen. The money section cites Acierno et al. (2010) on financial exploitation by family members. The duty section records the call to the state hotline at 4:10 p.m. and the supervisor at 4:30. The final section plans calls to the daughter and son and a visit with E. alone, citing Lachs and Pillemer (2015).
MSW 532 Week 7 rubric: what full points look like
The write-up loses most when it labels first and describes later, since the label then shapes what is noticed. Faculty look for every category weighed, including those set aside, with reasons. Credit goes to accurate use of self-neglect, attention to financial records and a duty stated as an action taken with a time. The morning after shows the worker kept the older person's goals in view. Sensitivity to the older person's wishes, including a request not to report, should be addressed honestly. Research on prevalence and practice, cited in APA, supports the reasoning. Identifying details should be limited to initials. Faculty also credit a plan that keeps the older person in the next conversation rather than around it.
MSW 532 Week 7 help: mistakes that cost points
Write-ups most often lose points by naming abuse in the first sentence and then collecting evidence for it. Another frequent mistake is calling a person who cannot cook alone self-neglecting when a caregiver is responsible. Some write-ups describe a duty to report without saying whether the report was made. Others stop at the report and never plan the next day. If the older person asks you not to report, the write-up should say what the law requires and how you explained it. A write-up built this way for your case will let a reviewer see each observation before any category is named. Keep each category to a few sentences.
Get a MSW-532 Week 7 example written to your instructions
Send the write-up instructions with the rubric and the case your section issued, and a custom example is returned inside 24 to 48 hours in the form your instructor posted. The first one is free. Everything produced here is built from classroom material, and a household a writer has actually sat with stays out of it.
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MSW 532 Week 7 questions, answered
He asks me not to report it. What does the write-up do?
It records the request and his reasons in his own words, states the duty, and then does the useful part: what he will be told about what happens next, and who tells him. A document leaving the request out has hidden the hardest fact in the case, and one treating it as a decision has misdescribed what a duty is.
A relative is spending his money. Is that always exploitation?
Not on its own. The write-up needs the arrangement behind it: whether there was authority, whether he agreed and when, what he received in return, and whether anything shifted after a hospital stay. Undue influence and an ordinary shopping arrangement can look identical on a bank statement, and separating them is what the evidence section is for.
The person I would be naming is the only one feeding him. Then what?
That paragraph belongs inside the write-up rather than outside it. Say who provides the care now, what a report may do to that, and what would have to be arranged meanwhile. The duty does not wait for a replacement to be found, and a document pretending the two are one decision loses on both of them.
Where can I find a free MSW 532 Week 7 sample paper?
The complete MSW 532 Week 7 elder mistreatment write-up after a home visit is published below, with margin notes on description and the reporting duty.
Which category does the MSW 532 Week 7 sample report?
Financial exploitation, because four $300 withdrawals were made near a relative's address while the older person, who no longer uses an ATM, was at home.