Worksheet

Problem Solving and Decision Making

Aim: To develop the skill of Problem Solving and Decision Making

Learning Objectives: After the completion of this skill learners will

1. Analyze the problematic situations

2. Identify problem and state it in clear words
3. Explore various strategies to find the solution of problem
4. Weigh different alternatives to reach the final decision
5. Handle variety of problems in their daily life

Situation:

You are staying with your wife, 2 kids and old parents. Being in old age
they keep on suffering from one ailment or other. Being single child of
them, it becomes obligatory for you to keep your parents with you. But
now days there are usual fights between you and your wife over the issue
of parents. Even kids are not at all attached with grandparents. Being
businessman, you also keep on commuting from one place to another.
Your family has suggested you to send parents to old age home. In this
situation what will you do as a son, husband, and father?
Problem The problem here is that there is a conflict between the
Identification duty of this man as a thankful & caring son towards his
& Statement parent & the other duty as a caring husband & father
The conflict comes from the care required to be given to
his old & sick parents which his wife & children cannot
provide & he also cannot provide due to his continuous
travel as a business man.
So the problem is in the deficient capacity of the family
alone to provide care to the parents that’s why the wife
& children proposed to send the parents to an old age
home out of being overloaded with the care required to
be given to the parents.

Listing Criteria 1- The parents should not be sent to old age home
2- The Parents should Receive the care they need
3- The wife & the children should not be overloaded
by care for parents
4- The relationship between the parents, wife &
children should be stronger & more affective
Exploring
Alternative 1- A care giver can be hired to care for the parents
Strategies inside the home
2- Dividing of tasks of caring of parents between
family members so that no member is overloaded
3- Going for vacation with the parents from now &
then to have more energy for carrying on
4- Teaching the wife & children on the values of
sacrifice, love, & self denial & the reward given to
them by God for the love they offer.
5- Trying to find devices or equipments that can help
the parents to be self dependant to a certain
extent
6- Teaching the wife & children techniques to
increase their tolerance like meditation, exercise,
fasting
Weighing
Alternatives 1- Hiring a care giver
Pros:
1- immediate relief of the burden of parents
2- more professional care can be provided
cons:
Cost burden on family
Privacy issues might be there as a strange
person will spend lot of time with the family
2- Dividing the tasks within family members
Pros: No financial burden on family
Every member will be less loaded
Cons : may not be enough to provide care needed
Still some family members may not find enough
time for their own duties
3- Going to vacation together
Pros:
increase capacity to withstand pressure
Increase affection between family members so
they can tolerate each other
Cons :
cost of vacations
Parents may not be able to go out frequently
May not solve the problem completely
4- Teaching values
Pros:
increase the tolerance of wife & children
Cons :
may take long time to fulfill
Depend on acceptance of these values
The problem may not be in the capacity of
family as they are already doing their best
5- Trying to find a device to help for self
dependency of parent
Pros:
If found it will immediately decrease the
burden of parents care on wife
Cons:
There might be no such a device
The cost might be high
It will solve problem only partially
6- Teaching the wife & children about meditation,
exercise…etc
Pros:
Will increase tolerance of family members
 Cons :
may take long time to fulfill
Depend on their willingness to do such
activities
The problem may not be in the capacity of
family as they are already doing their best

Final Decision 1-Will recruit a care giver for one month on full time
base Then from second month on part time base
2- Will go in vacation within one month
3- Will read together as a family spiritual & moral
books that emphasize values of love & sacrifise
4- Will try to train on one technique for increasing
tolerance for 6 months then go for another
5- Consult the doctor for available device for self care
of parents

Reflection I decided to use a mix of solutions that solve the

problem for short term & long term
For immediate relief will hire a full time care giver
Then will work on increasing capacity of wife & children
then decrease the duty of the care giver till may be we
reach the point there is no need for care giver
Learning
Outcomes:
The ability to analyze problems & identify root cause
then try to handle each root caose with different
solutions & weigh each solution then decide what
 approach will be used to solve the problem

Evaluation Parameters:

Parameter of Evaluation Total Marks Marks Obtained

Conduct 5

Written 35
1. Problem Identification & 10
statement
2. Exploring alternate strategies 10
3. Weighing alternatives &
Decision making 15
Viva 10