Answer the following questions based solely on the information given in the report below.

Name: Margaret Brown
Age: 54
Marital Status: single
Parents: deceased
Closest Living Relative: Myra Farlow, sister, age 56, married
Diagnosis: muscular dystrophy The patient, a high school graduate, supported herself as a typist since graduation. She lived at home with her parents until their death in an automobile accident fifteen years ago. After their death, she maintained her own apartment until she became ill and could no longer work. A medical workup resulted in the diagnosis or muscular dystrophy, which has proved to be progressive. The time came when she could no longer take care of her needs, and when she took a serious fall she was hospitalized. Arrangements have been made to have her placed in a nursing home, to which she will be released in a short time. Her sister will be unable to take care of her because she has to maintain a home for her family. Margaret Brown is unhappy over the prospect of going to a nursing home and she is under the impression that her sister, Myra Farlow, is putting her there to be rid of her. Ms. Farlow is requesting assistance from the caseworker assigned to her sister.

At the completion of an interview, the caseworker should record the essential points in a manner so that it serves several purposes. The record of an interview can ensure continuity of service to a client by an agency, even though a client is to be served by several caseworkers for one reason or another. It also serves as a permanent record of the service extended to a client and is an indicator of the agency's accountability to the community.

The caseworker who is about to record the results of an interview is faced with the problem of just what is to go into the record and the manner in which essential information brought to light during the interview is to be presented. The purpose of a record is not an end in itself. However, it does provide a means to an end in that it may provide the basis for required training of the staff, or be an indicator of improved methods and procedures and used for purposes of research. There is no universal opinion on the most important reason for the recording of casework interviews; therefore, in reality, recording has proved to be limited in its effectiveness and has not truly served any of its purposes with true efficiency.

The cost of recording is considerable and it usually takes three times as much worker time as the actual interview. Not be overlooked is the time of the transcriber, the filing time, and the time of the record reviewer. In addition, there is the expense of the filing equipment and the space that this equipment occupies. There is no question that the recording of interview is of utmost importance, but the value of interviewing in such a way is questionable.