Serving Minority Elders in the 21st Century


Book Description

Nationally recognized scholars address the unique problems encountered by minority elders in achieving the goal of maximum well-being as we enter the 21st century. Topics include physical health, continuum of care, mental health, social policy, economic security and research planning and development. Minority populations surveyed include the elderly African American, Asian American, American Indian, Mexican American and women. Contributors include: D. Lee, M. Haug, R. Binstock, G. Cohen, K. Markides, T. Tripp-Reimer, E. Kahana and many more.




Aging Well


Book Description

Aging Well: Gerontological Education for Nurses and Other Health Professionals brings a fresh outlook to gerontological education and promotes the experience of aging as a positive circumstance, and elders as a treasure of society. Discussion centers on the application of research findings to encourage elders to rise above and beyond disability, to help them retain their identity of personhood, and integrate into society in general and their immediate community in particular. Contributors include individuals from the academic gerontological community and clinicians as well as experts from related fields such as social policy and community planning. This comprehensive text contains vital information necessary to caring for elders, including topics such as disease and disabilities associated with aging, to illuminate underlying philosophical tenants and social issues. Each chapter provides a summary of the key points with suggestions on how to apply them on a daily basis.




Learning to be Old


Book Description

In the second edition of Learning to Be Old, Margaret Cruikshank examines the social construction of aging, especially women's aging, from a number of different angles: medical, economic, cultural, and political. Featuring new research and analysis, expanded sections on gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender aging and critical gerontology, and an updated chapter on feminist gerontology, the second edition even more thoroughly than the first looks at the variety of different forces affecting the progress of aging. Through it all, we learn a better way to inhabit our age whatever it is.




Mental Health Care in the African-American Community


Book Description

Over the course of an African American’s lifetime, mental health care needs change according to an individual’s unique interactions with his or her environment. Mental Health Care in the African-American Community uses this perspective to provide a deeper analysis of factors and issues affecting the mental health of African Americans. This comprehensive text provides a current and historical analysis of the impact of mental health research, policy, community, and clinical practice from a life course perspective. Stressing evidence-based practice as an expanded way to think and talk about individualizing and translating evidence into a given practice situation, this valuable book provides a social work context for all helping professions. Mental Health Care in the African-American Community provides the helping community with non-traditional, expanded ways of thinking and intervening in the mental health needs and care of African Americans. Organized logically, this complex subject presents data in a user-friendly way that engages the reader, and provides chapter summaries and suggested group/classroom activities to facilitate understanding. This text is extensively referenced and includes figures and tables to clearly illustrate data. Topics in Mental Health Care in the African-American Community include: a historical overview of African Americans’ mental health care a conceptual and theoretical framework for African Americans’ mental health current issues affecting mental health intervention for African Americans mental health in group homes and foster care depression substance abuse poverty ADHD suicide mental health in elderly African Americans mental health policy rural African American mental health needs kinship care multiethnic families and children much, much more! Mental Health Care in the African-American Community is a valuable textbook for practitioners; administrators; researchers; policymakers; educators; and students in social work, psychology, mental health services, case management, and community planning.




Understanding Elder Abuse in Minority Populations


Book Description

First published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.




The Oxford Handbook of Social Work in Health and Aging


Book Description

This Second Edition of the Handbook addresses the evolving interdisciplinary health care context and the broader social work practice environment, as well as advances in the knowledge base which guides social work service delivery in health and aging. This includes recent enhancements in the theories of gerontology, innovations in clinical interventions, and major developments in the social policies that structure and finance health care and senior services. In addition, the policy reforms of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act set in motion a host of changes in the United States healthcare system with potentially profound implications for the programs and services which provide care to older adults and their families. In this volume, the most experienced and prominent gerontological health care scholars address a variety of populations that social workers serve, and the arenas in which they practice, followed by detailed recommendations of best practices for an array of physical and mental health conditions. The volume's unprecedented attention to diversity, health care trends, and implications for practice, research, policy make the publication a major event in the field of gerontological social work. This is a Must-Read for all social work social work educators, practitioners, and students interested in older adults and their families.




Chronic Illness


Book Description

Focuses on the various aspects of chronic illness that influence both patients and their families. Topics include the sociological, psychological, ethical, organizational, and financial factors, as well as individual and system outcomes.




Handbook of Social Work in Health and Aging


Book Description

The Handbook of Social Work in Health and Aging is the first reference to combine the fields of health care, aging, and social work in a single, authoritative volume. These areas are too often treated as discrete entities, while the reality is that all social workers deal with issues in health and aging on a daily basis, regardless of practice specialization. As the baby boomers age, the impact on practice in health and aging will be dramatic, and social workers need more specialized knowledge about aging, health care, and the resources available to best serve older adults and their families. The volume's 102 original chapters and 13 overviews, written by the most experienced and prominent gerontological health care scholars in the United States and across the world, provide social work practitioners and educators with up-to-date knowledge of evidence-based practice guidelines for effectively assessing and treating older adults and their families; new models for intervention in both community-based practice and institutional care; and knowledge of significant policy and research issues in health and aging. A truly monumental resource, this handbook represents the best research on health and aging available to social workers today.




Social Work Practice with Ethnically and Racially Diverse Nursing Home Residents and Their Families


Book Description

The first of its kind, this volume is a critical companion for service providers who work with African American, American Indian, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mexican American, and Puerto Rican elders and their families in nursing homes and other care settings. These groups are likely to use nursing homes in larger numbers as cultural shifts, such as higher divorce rates and increased outside-of-home employment for females, transform traditional family dynamics. Contributors are experience social workers, and most belong to the specific ethnic or racial group that is the focus of their chapter and have also provided nursing home services to this group. They provide a wealth of demographic, historical, cultural, and practice information crucial to understanding and providing services to older adults and their families. Many nursing home residents experience physical and/or cognitive debilitation and increased dependence as older adults, and cultural and situational differences create variations in how these changes are experienced and addressed. In this volume, contributors touch upon all of these areas, as well as ways in which prejudice and discrimination have shaped intergenerational and other relationships for members of specific ethnic and racial groups. Little has been written about the characteristics, needs, and experiences of racially and ethnically diverse nursing home residents and their families and requirements for culturally competent social work practice. Written by social workers for social workers and other service providers, this book fills a gap in a rapidly growing area of gerontological service and provides a truly comprehensive examination of cultural and practice phenomena.




The Health and Well-Being of Caribbean Immigrants in the United States


Book Description

The Health and Well-Being of Caribbean Immigrants in the United States is a timely addition to the knowledge base concerning the integration of this population into the fabric of American society. On the eve of the fortieth anniversary of the 1965 Immigration Reform Act, this book examines the relationship between immigrants from the Caribbean and the culture of the United States. This body of work provides resources for scholars and researchers and provides instrumental strategies for use in practice by counselors/social workers, curriculum developers, and immigration analysts. With this book, you will develop a new appreciation for the social capital immigrants bring with them, their adaptation to their new society, and the extent to which their distinctive characteristics promote or hinder their social mobility. Using tables, figures, and graphs, The Health and Well-Being of Caribbean Immigrants in the United States provides thorough analyses of broad-ranging issues and proposes viable solutions to the problems these immigrants face. In this important resource, expert educators, researchers, and community leaders address the unique challenges that affect this population, including: increased infant mortality rates increased HIV/AIDS among the Caribbean community the growing trend of violence and abuse among Caribbean and Caribbean-American youths the special needs of aging and elderly immigrants living in the United States the impact of the 1996 immigration legislation on Caribbean families The Health and Well-Being of Caribbean Immigrants in the United States paints a clear picture of how these citizens are coping with the social, economic, and political aspects of the American way of life. This guide offers new findings and insight into the reality of the diverse immigrant Caribbean population, setting the stage for establishing groundbreaking initiatives to develop better support services. Innovative community-based approaches and culturally specific prescriptive intervention models make this book an integral source for social scientists, human service professionals, and policymakers.