The questions in the mental status exam include all the basic of social work assessment. While the MSE's lack of full exploration into the biopsychosocialspiritual components of client experience makes it an imperfect tool for social work, it's still a good start. That's why you'll see the MSE used in many clinical settings and why you shouldn't be surprised to see a question about the MSE on the social work licensing exam (e.g., "A social workers asks a client to spell a word backwards. What is the social worker assessing for?")
The general elements covered in the MSE are as follows:
- General Appearance
- Psychomotor Behavior
- Mood and affect
- Speech
- Cognition
- Thought Patterns
- Level of Consciousness
There's too much detail in the exam to recount here, but click through to the further reading to get more comfortable with the details of the exam.
Further reading:
"How to Do a Mental Status Exam," and
Mental Status Examination at Wikipedia.
1 comment:
Thanks for all of your helpful tips and teaching aids. Your Blog is a great asset. I am also trying to compile resources as a help to myself and others. Your blog will surely be high on my list and I am wondering if you could endorse (with reasoning) a couple exam prep companies as a show of confidence in what you do. A reputable site has a number of prep companies and has decent traffic. http://www.utnasw.org/?page=prepmaterials . If you could not from their list it would be a great help. If not I understand. Love what you do. Thanks
Post a Comment