You are a health worker at a rural youth service. Dani, a 15-year-old girl has just found out that she is hep C positive from recreational drug use and has approached your organisation for support and information. The manager of the youth service knows the girl’s family very well and decides to talk to the girl’s mother on her behalf about helping her through ‘her problems’. The following day one of Dani’s friends tells you that Dani has run away from home, and has refused to talk to anyone at your organisation again. What do you do?
Issues for discussion
- Discuss some of the different kinds of confidentiality issues that may exist in rural areas as opposed to city areas
- Discuss why adults often override the rights of adolescents, at what age is a child able to consent or decide the direction of their life?
- Explain that most teenage drug use may be transitional and experimental and that such behaviour usually does not continue for life and that it is common for teenagers to experiment with different behaviours.
- How differently would have Dani’s family responded if the drug she had used was decriminalised or legal?
Client issues
- What strategies can you utilise as a support worker to reach Dani now that she has left home and is not accessing the organisation? (Outreach, Dani’s friend, other peers?)
- How can you re-establish trust with Dani?
- Are there implications for prevention or re-infection of hepatitis C?
- Are there implications for Dani’s physical health or self-esteem?
- Possible feelings of guilt may be exacerbated by her family knowing
- Are there other youth agencies / services and health professionals Dani can access?
Organisational issues
- Discuss strategies for dealing with and responding to breaches of confidentiality and the implications that this will have upon other client networks and the credibility of the organisation
- What can you do to re-establish trust from your other clients?
- Are there any training programs you could recommend?