Question

Read the following cases and develop a comprehensive problem list for each case. If you do not have enough information to develop a list for each problem category as described in this chapter, propose what questions you would need to ask the patient and family to gather the information you need.

Ms. Tamika Jenkins is a 30-year-old African-American single mother of three children and resides in an economically disadvantaged housing project in the inner city. She frequently visits the health center with a multitude of complaints typically focused around injury. In the past 6 months, Ms. Jenkins has been seen for a miscarriage, a fractured wrist related to a fall while rollerblading, and a head injury related to an altercation with another woman for unknown reasons. Ms. Jenkins states that her husband is incarcerated and she has no family support; her mother died of HIV when she was a teenager, and she doesn’t speak to her father. When she presents to the health center she is anxious and despondent and seeks pain medication. She seems to have little insight into her problems. She is currently being investigated by the Department of Children and Families for child neglect.

• Develop a comprehensive problem list from the case study
• What questions would you need to ask the patient and family to gather any missing information?

Answer 1

The list of problems include; poverty, anxiety and antisocial behavior

Explanation:

A comprehensive problem list for this case;

Poverty (How do you manage your daily expenses?)

Mental health issues such as anxiety (What are the things that you worry about the most? Do you worry excessively about day to day things, such as how to manage health issues, family life?)

Antisocial behavior (What happened with your head, how did you get injured? What is wrong with your kids, are they ok?) Based on the information given these questions can be asked.