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Social Work vocabulary · Records and Case Notes

Chronology

Meaning in social work, with examples

/krəˈnɒlədʒi/nounCommon term

In social work, chronology means: A list of the significant events in a person's or family's life and in the case, in date order, used to spot patterns over time.

In Turkish: kronoloji, olay kronolojisi

How it is used

Especially important in neglect and child protection work, where single incidents may look minor but the pattern is serious. Workers compile, update and analyse a chronology, and courts often ask for one.

Example sentences

  1. The chronology showed eleven missed health appointments in two years.

  2. Please update the chronology before the court hearing.

Common collocations

  • compile a chronology
  • update the chronology
  • multi-agency chronology
  • chronology of significant events
  • case notesWritten records of contacts, conversations, observations and actions in a case, made by the worker as the work happens.
  • neglectThe ongoing failure to meet a child's or dependent adult's basic needs, such as food, safety, hygiene, health care, supervision or emotional warmth.
  • record keepingThe practice of creating, organising, storing and updating accurate records about the people you work with and the actions you take.
  • case fileThe complete record held about a person or family, including referrals, assessments, plans, case notes, letters and reports.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Records and Case Notes

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