Family Case Studies in London and Birmingham

Case Study 1: Mr and Mrs Patel Mr and Mrs Patel are both of Bangladeshi origin. Mr Patel has lived in England all his life, but his wife only came over when they married 20 years ago. They are both in their mid 50s. They have 4children, two boys and two girls; Aisha 18, Shivain 16, Sona 13, and Fayhan 9 years old, and they all are in full time education. Mr Patel also lives with his 86 year old mother. The family live in adeprived area in London and their home is in avery poor condition. Mr Patel used to work at alocal supermarket. He had to stop work completely when he developed lung cancer. Mrs Patel works apart-time job at alocal pharmacy but their income has drastically reduced since Mr Patel stopped work. Since losing his job Mr Patel has been suffering from depression and has gained weight since he is no longer active. The only exercise he takes is going to the shopping centre once in awhile to buy food and spends most days in bed watching TV. Case Study 2: Marcia and Zane Marcia and Zane have been married for 14 years. They live in alarge town in south London. They have two daughters; Jasmine (11 years) and Alice (2 years). They live in asmall two bedroom flat. Marcia is astay at home mum. Marcia has postnatal depression, and has been referred to talking therapies. Marcia has agood support network from Church; however as aresult of Covid-19 they have limited contact with their friends. Marcia ’sfamily live in Spain. Zane has high blood pressure, and is worried about his wife, he feels as though they do not communicate well. Zane works long hours in alocal factory and has amanual job. Zane has disclosed to his friend that he has recently started to drink more in the evenings to relax; as aresult he has noticed that he has started to gain weight. Jasmine has recently started secondary school and is struggling to build friendships and this has been compounded by the school going into ‘lockdown ’.Although she has told her teacher that she is happy and has aclose relationship with her Mum. Case study 3: Devindra and Sara Devindra lives with his wife Sara and their 3daughters aged 10, 3and 1in Birmingham. They live in athree bedroom high rise flat on the 15th floor on ahousing estate. Devindra works as ataxi driver working long hours to support the family. Sara does not work as she is astay at home mum. Sara speaks little English and relies on Devindra to support her when attending any medical appointments and her eldest daughter Amina to help her when she goes out. Amina does attend school but does not like itand will often try to stay at home with her mum. They have no family living locally and Sara does not feel comfortable attending any groups due to not being able to understand all that is discussed, however, she has aclose friend who visits her once aweek. Sara and Devindra do not go out of the flat very often as Devindra is tired from his work and Sara is tired from looking after the children so they spend most evenings watching TV. Devindra is starting to worry about supporting his family and has recently started to experience migraines that he has linked to his long working hours and lack of sleep. He does not want to see his doctor about his migraines as he is worried he will not be able to work, and that will impact on the family financially. Case Study 4: Hannah and Bill Hannah and Bill have been married for Nineteen years, Hannah is aGP (General Practitioner), practicing in the village where they live, Bill is aquantity surveyor, and is self- employed. Bill and Hannah have ajoint income of £120,000 per year so money is not an issue for them. They have alarge detached house and employ acleaner and agardener. They have two children, Sara is 14 years old, she is aday pupil at aprivate school nearby and enjoys riding her pony at the weekend. Harry is 11 years old he has autistic spectrum disorder, he was diagnosed 5years go. Harry has alot of sensory issues, he doesn ’tcope well with loud noise and finds change difficult, he can become anxious easily and can lose his temper at the slightest thing; he swears alot and blames others for anything that goes wrong. He is currently at amain stream school but his behaviour is causing the school concern. Sara is embarrassed by Harry and his outbursts, she doesn ’tlike to be seen out with him, she has asked her parents ifshe can become aboarder at school. Bill finds Harry very challenging, he believes he should be able to modify his behaviour and thinks Hannah is too soft with him. This causes arguments between them, the conflict between them has become more frequent and unpleasant, recently in an argument Bill pushed Hannah and she fell against aradiator bruising her face. Hannah feels she has the weight of the world on her shoulders.