Case Study of Positive Risk Assessment:
Fiona
Fiona is 35 years old. He has an intellectual disability and lives with her parents. He younger brother, Stephen, works in Dublin and her older sister lives nearby with her husband and two young children. Fiona attends a day service in her local town 3 days a week and she is particularly friendly with two of the other people who attend the service, including her boyfriend Sean.
Fiona is very outgoing and friendly. She has capacity for making choices, but is considered to ‘vulnerable’. She is good at expressing her wishes and stating her views. She enjoys socialising, but can lack confidence in some social situations. She goes to the local pub with his parents once a week for a drink and the music and to play pool. She also goes to the monthly disco organised by the disability service. Fiona sometimes finds it hard to work out if someone is a real friend or if they just want to take advantage of him.
Fiona would like to move into an apartment in town with Sean but her parents, and Sean’s parents, are against this and would be very worried if this happened. Her sister and brother however, think it would be a good idea in the long-term so long as the right support was available for the couple.
Fiona has some tasks to do at home, mainly around tidying her room and the living area. She does not cook but she accompanies her mother when shopping for food.
Fiona gets Disability Allowance but this is managed by her parents who give her some money each week for herself.
Fiona’s main goal is to move into her own apartment in town with her boyfriend.
1. Review the material in this unit and list all of Fiona’s vulnerabilities if she is to pursue this goal.
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2. Now select what you consider to be the most significant risk which Fiona would face in pursuing her goal. Description of this risk in detail.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Describe the possible consequences if the risk is realised.
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4. How serious would the harm to Fiona or others be?
1
No injury, Minor Injury
e.g. Cuts. Scratches, minor emotional upset
2
Injury
e.g. Sprains, Lacerations, Fractures, prolonged/significant emotional upset
3
Severe Injury / death
e.g. Severe and prolonged emotional damage
5. What is the likelihood of the harm/consequence actually occurring?
1
Rare / Unlikely
May never occur, hardly a chance but conceivable
2
Probable / Very Likely
The potential is there given the right circumstances / under current conditions there is a moderately high chance of the hazard occurring
3
Certainly
Under current conditions it is virtually certain that the hazard will occur
6. Estimate the level of risk based on the following.
Multiply the Severity (first column in first table) by the Liklihood (first column in second table) together to give a total overall risk rating score i.e. How Likely x How Bad = Risk Rating
High
For scores of
6-9
Medium
For scores of
4
Low
For scores of
2-3
Once you have identified the risk rating you will need to work with Fiona and his Circle (family, support staff etc.) to manage the risk. The basic aim is to bring all MEDIUM and HIGH risks down to LOW by focusing on actions (current and new) which will have a positive impact upon the risk.
7. Safeguards currently in place that could help reduce the risk?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8. How well are they working?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9. What is Fiona’s view on the risk, possible consequences and current safeguards?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10. Describe possible new safeguards? What can be done to reduce the risk?_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________