This paper is a single-subject design evaluation of my work with a woman known as Paula Cortez. She is a 43-year-old Latina woman infected with HIV. This case is a complex case that involves a lot of factors such as physical illness, social isolation, mental illness, pregnancy, emotional trauma, and limited resources. The single-system subject study aims to investigate Paula’s case and the intervention strategies to assess the effectiveness of treatment on Paula Cortez.
Problems that are focused on in the treatment
The problems focused on in the treatment are critical focus issues that must be addressed. They include HIV, mental illness, the decision whether to keep the baby or abort, physical health, and addressing domestic violence. Another issue of focus is that the baby does not get infected and is born healthy.
The approach of the intervention
One can use different approaches to intervention, including asking open-ended questions, recognizing the problems, planning treatment, gathering information, engaging, and collaborating with community resources. Self-evaluation is evident, and outcomes will develop using data collected in one year and two months.
Summary of the Reviewed Literature
Fisher presented the first single-subject trial paradigm in 1945 despite his association with multiple designs. Since then, the design has been used generally within the educational and social disciplines (DH, 1984). This design has stood out as one to be used to examine medication, for example, gastroenterology, medical treatment, pediatrics, cardiology, family solutions, and more. Using this design in medical treatment encouraged me to select this intervention approach in Paula’s case.
Purpose of Conducting Single Research Evaluation
Single-system designs can be utilized to study behavioral changes individuals display as a result of treatment. In the case of Paula Cortez, we use the single-system design to analyze how Paula responds to the treatment given. Data is collected twice when she is not under treatment and when she is under treatment.
Measures used to evaluate the outcome and observe a change
Nature of these measures
Some measurements are repeated. Before beginning and through medication one should have the ability to estimate the subject’s position on the problem at constant time intervals (Gharebaghy, 2015). These repeated measurements occur at one-month’s gaps in Paula Cortez’s case. There is also the Baseline Phase which is the phase where the intervention to be examined is not provided to the subject. These measures reflect the status of the customer on the constant variable before the beginning of the medication (Gharebaghy, 2015). The baseline phase in Paula’s case took a few days. There is also the treatment phase. It is the age and day that actual medication takes place. Paula Cortez’s treatment phase is three weeks to four weeks.
Reliability and validity of the measures
Measures are recorded with careful observation, thereby being dependable. Information is gathered over particular time episodes and must meet all requirements to form the data of both the baseline and treatment phases.
Obtaining baseline measures
When Paula stops taking her medicine, she takes around two weeks to go back to her normal schedule and take her medicines in a timely manner. Her HIV condition got under control right after she received treatment and was able to move the formerly paralyzed limbs. She later delivers a healthy baby girl.
Follow-up measures
Follow-up measures are essential to check Paula’s speed of recovery. I followed up on her by calling her and checking her health condition. There was positive feedback as she was capable of managing her ailment. She gave birth to a healthy baby and made wise and better decisions for her future.
Criteria that were used to determine the success and effectiveness of Intervention
The criteria used to define the efficiency of the intervention were determined by Paula’s response or reaction to the intervention. For instance, her HIV got into control upon getting the HAART. This was a positive response. The negative response was that even after medication, her ulcers did not improve. When she stopped receiving HAART, her condition deteriorated. At a certain time, when she stopped her medication, she was locked in a hospital room for fifteen days. She was well monitored during these fifteen days, and her medication resumed.
References
Romeiser‐Logan, L., Slaughter, R., & Hickman, R. (2017). Single‐subject research designs in pediatric rehabilitation: a valuable step towards knowledge translation. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 59(6), 574-580.
Yegidis, B. L., Weinbach, R. W., & Myers, L. L. (2017). Research methods for social workers. Pearson.
