Recording

Recording

Record means to keep information, note, documents, data, evidence and testimony. Recording is the process of keeping data or information of the client and event in systematic manner.

It is essential for social worker to document all the information in systematic and scientific way. It is grounded in the values, ethics and philosophy of social work profession. It has always been recognized as a vital component of professional and component practice of all settings. According to social work dictionary (1995) “Recording is the process of putting in writing and keeping on file relevant information about the client, problem the prognosis intervention progress of treatment, the social, and economical and health factor contributing to the situation and the procedures for termination and referral”. Purpose of social work recording is follows:

1. Accountability to the client, organization and themselves.
2. Evidence of fact gathers assignment, intervention and outcome.
3. On-going essential information.
4. A clear statement of social work involvement on on-going basis.
5. Documentation for the purpose of research and programmer evaluation.

Generally it is essential to maintain confidentiality in recording. During recording or before client should know and be informed about his/her information been recorded and who will have access to this information. Therefore, recording is the documentation of a sequence of events of a case. They reflect attitude and behavior of both client and worker, which help in analysis and interpretation.

Importance and Use of Recording

Recording has a high value and importance in social work practice. It also plays vital role in problem solving process and social work intervention. According to the Kagle (1991), record is important for ten specific reasons (as cited in Krist and Hull, 2008, p.525).

1. Identifying the client and the need: Recording starts from the first meeting with the client. Social worker has to keep note or record all the information about client and his/her situation. The recording helps social worker to identify his/her actual client and client system. It also helps social worker to decide whether the client is eligible and appropriate for the service or not. Recording also helps social worker to identify and explore client’s strengths, weakness, needs and problems, which ultimately helps social worker to plan intervention process.
2. Documenting service: Recording is also known as proof of any activities or case. Documentation helps social worker to keep their activities in record as proof. Social worker can show what he/she has done with the case to his/her supervisor or organization. Sometimes, those records can be used in the legal requirement or can be used as future reference for the same client.
3. Maintaining Case Continuity: During intervention or in problem solving process, client’s situation, needs and problem starts to change. This record helps to keep track about those changes and plan according to the changed situation.
4. Inter-professional Communication: Client may have multiple problems and may be taking services from different professionals. For the integrated help to the client, social worker needs to share information of the clients with other professionals like, doctor, psychologist, and lawyer.
5. Sharing Information With the Client: Social worker can use record to discuss with client about his/her assessment, progress and planned activities. While sharing record with client, social worker has to be careful about agency policy, client’s reaction and client’s confidentiality.
6. Facilitating Supervision, Consultation, and Peer Review: social worker can discuss his/her record with supervisor and professional for consultation and peer review to get feedback, direction and professional support in relation to client’s best interest.
7. Monitoring the Process and Impact Service: social worker can compare progress of client in references of past and present record and evaluate his/her intervention technique. It helps to analyze present situation of client so that social worker can make effective intervention strategies.
8. Educating Students and Other Professionals: Record help in educational and training purpose. It gives students a professional information or data, out of which they can learn success stories, method that used effectively, measures taken to improve intervention process, types of problems and social workers strategies to deal with it.
9. Providing Data for Administration Tasks: The record helps in administrative task and decision. Like, record of excessive flow of clients and services delivered to them, helps to decide administration to manage staffing and essential services. Records also help to evaluate agencies effectiveness relation to service delivery. Sometimes the agency needs to make report and submit to the concerned donor agencies or government such case, this kind of records helps administration to prove the effectiveness and need of services. It also helps to justify existence of the agency.
10. Providing Data for Research: Recording data of large number of clients can contribute in research for the formulation of social work theories and intervention modalities. It also helps to conduct impact assessment and action research for the development of both service delivery system and agency’s credibility.

Types of Recording

Recording can be done in different ways. Some of the effective types of recording used in social work are as follows;

1. Process Recording:

A Recording that is of in-estimable value to the learners of social work method is process recording. Process is a continuing development involving many changes. It is a series of action changes all function that bring about and end or result. Process recording tries to record the development and action. In process recording the process of helping is recorded which includes the reaction of the worker in the development sequences.

2. Narrative Recording:

In Narrative Recording everything that has recorded as it has happened. The attempts are to re-produce the situation. It consists of all the sequences, conservation comments of the worker. It is narration of the happening. A detail account of the events goes in the narrative recording.

3. Role Recording:

Role Recording is defining version of process recording. It is highly selective in its approach and focuses on the role of the worker in his interaction with the client. The tools and technique used by the worker and its effectiveness towards the client will be discussed. Here, the responsibilities or the task performed by the worker will be given much priority.

4. Abstract Recording:

It is a condensed from summary recording. It represents the basic idea or action taken. In this kind of recording, just the important event will be mentioned or pointed out and if the reader is further interested then he should do the further research or study to gather the sufficient information about the event.

6. Summary Recording:

This type of recording tries to summarize the interaction with focus or main events. It avoids details of any events. It is useful for keeping the records of the work carried out. This is used to regular practice when the therapist is hard pressed for time and labor when process recording comparatively is very time consuming. There are different types of summary recording:

• Social history: It contains client age, gender, family history, personal history, relationship with neighbor. It is used in investigation phase.
• Periodic summary: It is summary or review of all the assessment and activities conducted within a specific period.
• Transfer summary: It is used when case is going to be referred in another department or organization, like police station, hospital, clinic, doctor, and lawyer. It contains few words about client and his problems, cause of transfer.
• Closing summary: This type of summary is written when case is over and is generally limited to one paragraph to one page.
• Diagnostic summary: It is used in diagnosis (analysis) phase.
• Evaluation summary: The summary report is prepared for the evaluation purpose after the end of case. It tries to identify strengths and weakness and measures success of the planned change effort.

Reference-

Shrestha, S. K. (2013). the concept of social work. Kathmandu: Taleju, Prakashan