1. Strengths Perspective and Persons Facing Special Challenges

2. Richard C. Rapp, PhD Graduate of Universiteit Gent
Doctorate of Social Work and Social Welfare Studies

3. Objectives
Learn key principles, essential elements and practices activities that go along with Strengths Perspective, and Strengths-Based Case Management

4. Questions to Consider How do we determine someone’s strengths?
How do we utilize someone’s strengths?
How does the focus on strengths impact professionals and organizations?
Why is it important to emphasize an individual’s strengths in determining Quality of Life?
What is the relationship between Strengths Perspective and other models considered today?

5. Strengths Perspective
An approach to supporting individuals and designing supportive environments that is based on interventions that help individuals: (1) identify their strengths, assets, skills, and abilities and (2) use those qualities to identify and accomplish goals.

6. The Strengths Perspective
Broad principals – Non-negotiable
Essential elements – Non-negotiable
Specific practice activities - Adaptable

7. The Strengths Perspective is based on:
Reasons to adapt specific practice activities:
Specific individuals
Context in which SP is implemented
Implementing agency
Availability of resources
Others
Purpose of intervention, best served by brief or long-term implementation

8. Principles/Essential Elements: Strengths
Focus exclusively on helping individual identify their strengths, assets, skills and abilities
Introduce the concept of strengths and explain how the focus on strengths can be helpful in supporting change and achieving personal goals
Continually encourage and promote the value of recognizing past & present strengths; discourage discussions of pathology
Assist the individual with identifying strengths embedded in their stories
Encourages expansion of strengths, beyond mere mention of a strength

9. Principles/Essential Elements: Individual Driven
Allow/encourage individual to identify the goals that are important to them and then assist them in implementing the goals
Emphasize the importance of individuals making informed choices
Do not attempt to direct or convince the individual to take-on any goal
Help individual link their strengths with the goals they identify
Be aware of, but don’t be limited by, inherent limitations

10. Principles/Essential Elements: Engagement
Establish trusting and mutually respectful relationship
Demonstrate empathy and interest in individual’s situation
Treat individual as a person rather than a client
Help individual to stay on task, rather than return to past
Respond to the needs of the individual

11. Principles/Essential Elements:
Assertive Outreach
Use of Informal Resources

12. Selected Practice Activities: Adaptable
Establish & maintain structure
Strengths discussion
Work on individual identified goals
Teach an easy to understand structure for setting goals (goals, objectives & strategies)
Help individual weigh pros and cons of objectives and strategies
Record strengths, identified goals in words of the individual
Use techniques such as reflective listening, affirmations, and summarizing

13. Literature Review Conducted in 2015
778 Number of published articles, reports, manuals that discussed “strengths perspective”, “strengths-based interventions”
Several themes and sub-themes presented themselves
34 (73.9%) Case management was the most frequently mentioned strengths-based intervention
136 (17.5%) Publications that contained research in areas pertinent to strengths perspective; only 46 of those related to effectiveness

14. Table 1. Number of sources by themes and subthemes
 Themes/sub-themes
n (%)
Research
136 (17.5)
Outcome
46 (39.3)
Non-outcome
71 (60.7)
Qualitative
19 (2.4)
Conceptual
(12.2)
Professionals
(10.7)
Population Specific
464 (59.6)
Adolescents/Youth
118 (25.4) 4
Families
68 (14.7) 1
Other groups/settings
58 (12.5) 7
Older adults
48 (10.3)
Mental health
48 (10.3) 12
International
34 (7.3)
Substance abuse
25 (5.4) 18
Violence
21 (4.5) 1
Minority
18 (3.9)
LGBT
14 (3.0)
Women
7 (1.5)
HIV/AIDS
5 (1.1) 3
Total
778 (100.0)
Note: Highlighted numbers are number of outcome studies for each population