| Course | MSW 544 Social Work Practice - Assessment |
|---|---|
| Week | 8 |
| Paper type | Risk screening summary |
| Length | About 510 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 544 Week 8
Risk Screening Summary for V. Using the PHQ-9: The Instrument Named and Versioned, Each Item Paraphrased Close to Its Published Meaning, Answers That Were Not Answers, a Score With Its Meaning Attached and What a Screen Cannot Settle
Student Name
Chamberlain University
MSW 544: Social Work Practice - Assessment
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Risk Screening Summary for V. Using the PHQ-9: The Instrument Named and Versioned, Each Item Paraphrased Close to Its Published Meaning, Answers That Were Not Answers, a Score With Its Meaning Attached and What a Screen Cannot Settle
The Instrument
The PHQ-9 is a short questionnaire the client fills in alone, asking how often each of nine symptoms occurred in the last 14 days; items score 0 to 3 and totals run from 0 to 27 (Kroenke et al., 2001). V. completed the English paper version at session 5, February 16, 2027.
Items and Answers
Its nine items cover the familiar ground of depression: pleasure in things, mood, sleep, energy, eating, self-blame, focus, slowed or restless movement and, last, thoughts of death or of hurting oneself. V. answered 3 for low energy, 3 for sleep problems, 2 for low interest, 2 for low mood, 2 for concentration, 1 for appetite, 1 for feeling bad about oneself, 0 for moving slowly or restlessly and 0 for the final item about self-harm. Total: 14.
Answers That Were Not Answers
On the item about feeling bad about oneself, V. circled 1 and wrote "sometimes I guess" in the margin. On the final item, V. circled 0 quickly. A quick 0 is an answer, but a screen cannot tell whether it reflects no such thoughts or reluctance to report them.
The Number and Its Meaning
In the original validation, scores of 10 to 14 corresponded to moderate depression and 15 to 19 to moderately severe (Kroenke et al., 2001). V.'s score of 14 is moderate. In January, the referral recorded 17. A three-point drop is a change in the right direction, though small.
Follow-Up on the Final Item
Because V. answered the last item quickly, I asked directly: "Some people feeling this tired have thoughts of not wanting to be here. Has that happened for you?" V. said, "No. I'd never do that to my kid." I recorded the answer in V.'s words. The agency's protocol requires a direct question whenever the last item is above 0; I asked even at 0 because of the speed of the answer.
What a Screen Cannot Settle
The PHQ-9 does not diagnose depression or measure risk of suicide on its own. It does not capture V.'s worries about rent or the child, which drive V.'s sleep problems. A full assessment weighs the score with the interview (Hepworth et al., 2022).
Plan
Repeat the PHQ-9 every four sessions. Ask the direct safety question at every repeat.
If the score rises by five or more points, or if V. answers above 0 on the last item, I will consult my field instructor the same day and complete the agency's full safety assessment with V.
References
Hepworth, D. H., Rooney, R. H., Rooney, G. D., & Strom-Gottfried, K. (2022). Direct social work practice: Theory and skills (11th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. W. (2001). The PHQ-9: Validity of a brief depression severity measure. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16(9), 606-613. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x
What the MSW 544 Week 8 assignment asks for
The risk screening summary names the screener, its version and the date it was completed. Report each item and answer, keeping close to the published meaning of each item. Note answers that were not clean answers, such as margin comments or quick responses. Give the total with its meaning from the instrument's own validation, and compare it with any earlier score. If the screen asks about self-harm, say how you followed up, including the question you asked and the person's words. Close with what the screen cannot settle and the plan for repeating it. A positive screen requires a response described in the summary. Use only instruments your agency or section allows.
How this MSW 544 Week 8 example is built
The instrument section describes the PHQ-9's nine items and 0 to 27 scoring, citing Kroenke et al. (2001), and records completion on February 16. The answers section reports each item's score and a total of 14. A section notes V.'s margin comment on self-criticism and the speed of the zero on the self-harm item. The score section attaches the moderate band and compares 14 with 17 in January. The follow-up section quotes the direct question and V.'s answer about the child. The limits section explains that the screen does not diagnose or measure suicide risk alone and misses rent and child worries, citing Hepworth et al. (2022). The plan repeats the screen every four sessions.
Reading the MSW 544 Week 8 grading rubric
Faculty grade the summary on treating the instrument as an instrument. A summary that reports a score as a diagnosis loses the most. Marks go to naming the instrument and version, reporting items close to their meaning, noting partial or quick answers and attaching the published severity band. Follow-up on the self-harm item, with the question and answer recorded, is expected. Stating what the screen cannot settle shows judgment. Sources for the instrument should be cited in APA. Refusals and partial answers should be scored according to the instrument's instructions and noted. The threshold that would trigger consultation should be written into the plan.
Common MSW 544 Week 8 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Summaries most often lose points by reporting a total and a label with no item detail. Another common gap is skipping follow-up when the self-harm item is zero but was answered quickly. Some summaries quote copyrighted items at length when paraphrase would do. Others treat a moderate score as a diagnosis of depression. If your section names a different screener, describe it the same way: version, scoring, items, answers, band and limits. A summary that records the person's own words in response to the safety question will show a reviewer that the screen was followed up properly. Record the client's answer to any direct safety question in their own words.
Get a MSW-544 Week 8 example written to your instructions
Send the screening instructions, the rubric and any form or instrument your section attached, and a custom example is returned inside 24 to 48 hours, scored and reported against that instrument. The first one is free, and it arrives in the template your instructor posted rather than in a general one built here.
More MSW 544 papers and MSW samples
- MSW 544 Week 1: Rebuilding a Borrowed Line Post
- MSW 544 Week 2: Presenting Problem Summary for V.
- MSW 544 Week 3: Genogram Narrative for V.
- MSW 544 Week 4: Ecomap Write-Up for V.
- MSW 544 Week 5: Collateral Source Memo
- MSW 544 Week 6: Life History Timeline for V.
- MSW 544 Week 7: Strengths and Needs Grid
- MSW 545 Week 8: Session Arc Plan
- MSW 543 Week 8: No-Show Outreach Note
- MSW 546 Week 8: Practice Evaluation Portfolio
- MSW 542 Week 8: Second Term Self-Awareness Audit
MSW 544 Week 8 questions, answered
Does the summary have to include a response to a positive screen?
In this course usually not, and adding one is the commonest way the assignment goes wrong. The summary reports the screen and says who receives it. Deciding what follows is separate work with its own criteria, taught after this course, and a summary reaching for it gets marked against requirements it was never built to meet.
Can I use a screening tool the section did not name?
Where the assignment leaves the choice open, yes, with the reason for choosing it written into the document and the source cited. What sections mark down is an instrument used outside the population it was built for, with no acknowledgment of the distance. Naming that limitation is treated as a strength rather than as an admission.
How are refusals and partial answers scored?
By the instrument's own rules, which usually say something about missing items, and where they say nothing the summary states what was done and why. Converting a refusal into a no is the version graders react to hardest, since it manufactures data that nobody supplied. A screen with two unanswered items and a note about them is a usable document.
Where can I find a free MSW 544 Week 8 sample paper?
Every section of the MSW 544 Week 8 PHQ-9 screening summary, from the instrument to what a screen cannot settle, appears further down.
What did the worker ask in the MSW 544 Week 8 sample after a quick zero on the last item?
A direct question about thoughts of not wanting to be here, to which V. answered no and said V. would never do that to the child, recorded in V.'s words.