Social Work Response to the White House Conference on Aging


Book Description

This volume is a testimony to the continued interest of the social work profession in broad areas affecting older persons and the profession's commitment to understanding the critical issues and actions needed to optimize the well-being of older Americans. Social Work Response to the White House Conference on Aging highlights key resolutions made at the White House Conference on Aging (WHCOA) to provide a blueprint or model for revising and developing programs and policies that benefit the aging population. As the authors explore the relation of social work practice to the WHCOA resolutions, they seek to eradicate myths about aging and to establish concrete ways for maximizing the quality of life for elders through independence, work, and productive living. Late life is a time when one's sense of importance, self-esteem, and independence is jeopardized. Social Work Response to the White House Conference on Aging offers unique insight on how autonomy and beneficence can be restored to elderly persons through their participation in the home, the workplace, the community, and larger society. Unabashedly, this book discusses ageism, barriers to health and mental health services for the elderly, premature nursing home placement, employment discrimination, and family-unfriendly policies. It also discusses: the societal benefits of having a large national resource of productive older adults grandparents raising grandchildren unmet mental health needs among older persons residential patterns the demographic demands of a rapidly growing elderly and disabled population social and moral links among generations balancing mutual aid and independence tactics and techniques of coalition building on the local and state levels crime, prevention, and elder abuse The 1995 White House Conference on Aging made an urgent call for action. In the wake of that call, this book shows social work educators, practitioners, and academics how they can use the WHCOA resolutions to advocate on behalf of elderly persons and get them the policies, programs, assistance, and services they need to enjoy active, full lives.




Advancing Gerontological Social Work Education


Book Description

s your gerontological social work program as comprehensiveand as well attendedas it could be? Advancing Gerontological Social Work Education will help you develop courses that effectively prepare social work students and practitioners to work with the ever-increasing older population. It clearly presents the rationale for geriatric/gerontological preparation and defines the current status of geriatric/gerontological education. With fascinating case studies, detailed curricula, and a review of the skills and knowledge competencies necessary for effective geriatric social work practice, this book also describes a variety of courses and teaching programs in detailnoting the problems that other educators have encountered and offering practical suggestions to help in replicating the programs in other institutions. This book is especially useful because it not only examines the issues surroundingand need forincreased gerontological education for social workers, but because it follows this with specific, concrete descriptions of educational approaches and curricula. It provides you with both the framework and the specifics to develop your own gerontological social work education program at the graduate or undergraduate level. Helpful charts and tables make the information easy to access and understand. Advancing Gerontological Social Work Education is divided into three sections, each of which will increase your knowledge and understanding of this vital area of social work education. The first section examines: the historical development of gerontological social work education the CSWE/SAGE-SW Competencies Project the importance of interdisciplinary teamworkand the educational basis for interdisciplinary team training, highlighting organizational context, team structure, team process, and team outcomes ways to increase students' interest in this vital area of social work In the second section of this well-referenced book, you will examine school-based initiatives, focusing on: the development and implementation of the John A. Hartford Foundation Geriatric Social Work Initiative the recruitment of students into geriatric social workwith an examination of a fellowship program the relationship between the aging population of the United States and the growing demand for geriatric social workers-and how that need can be met through graduate-level social work training developing a field training rotation model a doctoral fellowship program and its dissertation support, mentorship, and leadership development The third section of Advancing Gerontological Social Work Education features: an empirical study exploring the potential for a limited curriculum module to enhance MSW and BSW students' gerontological practice-related knowledge, attitudes, and interest an overview of the history and rationale of service learning in elder care a description of the varied service learning in elder care programs an experiential exercise that was used successfully to assist graduate students in integrating and applying their knowledge about geriatric assessment the results of interviews with MSW students about the appropriateness of their preparation for medical social work with an aged populationconducted at the beginning, midpoint, and end of their field placements a report on incorporating intergenerational service learning into an undergraduate introductory gerontology course the use of the family study, which exposes teams of students for 20 weeks to a family that includes an older adult







Gerontological Social Work Practice


Book Description

What are the challenges facing gerontological social workers—today and in the near future? This book gives you an essential overview of the role, status, and potential of gerontological social work in aging societies around the world. Drawing on the expertise of leaders in the field, it identifies key policy and practice issues and suggests directions for the future. Here you’ll find important perspectives on home health care, mental health, elder abuse, older workers’ issues, and death and dying, as well as an examination of the policy and practice issues of utmost concern to social workers dealing with the elderly. With Gerontological Social Work Practice: Issues, Challenges, and Potential you’ll explore: the differences between real situations and what demographics lead one to expect the need for social workers to focus on economic, political, and social issues in order to promote positive change the long-term care insurance issues facing elderly Japanese citizens a Canadian perspective on social work practice with aging people practice techniques to use with aging African Americans strengths-based and empowerment-oriented ways to work with frail elderly the impact of multiculturalism on social policy and much more!




Fostering Social Work Gerontology Competence


Book Description

Inspire the next generation of gerontological social workers The growing number of people over the age of 65 in the United States has increased the demand for social workers who are trained to work with the elderly—a demand that’s in danger of not being met. Fostering Social Work Gerontology Competence presents innovative techniques and strategies to help educators infuse aging content into their graduate and undergraduate curriculums in an effort to produce a new generation of social work practitioners who are up to the task of working with an older population. Recent surveys show that there has been a decline in the number of aging specialties and courses offered by schools of social work. Fostering Social Work Gerontology Competence offers a renewed focus on the promotion of gerontological social work education, presenting papers that grew out of the first National Gerontological Social Work Conference (NGSWC), held in 2003. This unique book is invaluable to anyone who educates future social workers, leads staff training sessions, and/or teaches continuing education courses on aging. Leading gerontologists examine teaching research, community collaboration, and social work competencies, while focusing on special populations and issues including end-of-life care, elder abuse, grief counseling, cultural diversity, cultural competence, and the effects of spirituality and social support on the well being of the elderly. Fostering Social Work Gerontology Competence examines: curricular and organizational change developing intergenerational projects involving older persons in the educational process uniting field practice with theory strategies to promote student interest identifying geriatric competencies intergenerational service learning developing an aging prepared community emerging trends in aging and health care end-of-life care and death education environmental issues affecting elder abuse victims mental health services for older persons in rural communities kinship care and much more Fostering Social Work Gerontology Competence is a vital resource for social work educators and practitioners, gerontology educators and practitioners, and students.




Religion, Spirituality, and Aging


Book Description

Learn how to make a more positive impact with your social work with the aged Religion is an important coping mechanism for many aging adults. Religion, Spirituality, and Aging: A Social Work Perspective presents the latest research that shows how religion and spirituality can improve quality of life for elders. Respected social work researchers and scholars provide insight and practical methods for fostering positive aging while also considering how spirituality and religion can affect practitioners themselves. The full range of advantages and ethical implications are discussed in clear detail from a social work viewpoint. Case studies plainly illustrate the positive impact that the inclusion of spirituality and religion in an aging person’s life may have on their physical and mental welfare. Organized social work in the early twentieth century actively tried to distance itself from its roots as a form of religious charity in favor of becoming a scientific and professional endeavor. Religion, Spirituality, and Aging once again bridges the gap between social work and spiritual matters by presenting penetrating articles that discusses the issues of the aging soul while examining ways to improve care. Creative strategies are offered to contribute to the spiritual side of aging while considering every implication and ethical question. The compilation is extensively referenced and includes helpful figures and tables to clearly illustrate data and ideas. Religion, Spirituality, and Aging discusses: the latest social work trends and attitudes toward spirituality prayer, meditation, and acts of altruism as interventions an empirical study of how social workers use religion and spirituality as an intervention ethical considerations and best practices religion and spirituality during long-term care the “Postcards to God” project dreams and their relationship to the search for meaning in later life a spiritual approach to positive aging through autobiography dementia and spirituality creating new rituals for sacred aging spiritual master Henri Nouwen’s principles of aging—and his approaches to caring for older people an interview study on elders’ spirituality and the changes manifested in their views of religion Religion, Spirituality, and Aging is a remarkable reminder that elders are our future selves. This erudite, well-reasoned examination of aging and spirituality from a social work perspective is crucial reading for social workers, human service professionals who work with the aged, and gerontology scholars.




Social Work with the Aged and Their Families


Book Description

In recent years, theoreticians, researchers, and practitioners have become increasingly interested in older adults and the aging process. This volume draws on related disciplines to better understand the biological, psychological, and social aspects of aging. 'Social Work with the Aged and Their Families' covers areas of central interest to those coping with the needs of an aging population. Among the topics addressed are assessment of the aging, taking into account biological age, psychological age, and socio-cultural and spiritual age. Greene also considers the importance of the family system, family roles and development, functional-age individual and family intervention, and group and community interventions. The scientific and systematic study of aging is known as gerontology. Geriatric social workers are those who have applied established social work theories in an attempt to find suitable techniques for working with their elderly clients. The need for specialized services has given birth to various services and programs. For example, meals-on-wheels and home health care services have been designed to meet specific physical needs of older adults. However, mental health services have lagged far behind as practitioners struggled to adapt such specialties as family therapy to families of later years. A major contribution of this book, now in its third edition, is the functional-age model of intergenerational treatment (FAM), which is an outgrowth of that demand. The functional-age model of intergenerational treatment is an integrative theoretical framework for social workers interested in clinical social work practice with older adults and their families. Since its initial construction in 1986, the model has been augmented by more recent concepts related to successful aging, spirituality, and resiliency. These additions, together with the original assessment and intervention strategies, present the major converging conceptual trends that constitute a model for twenty-first century social work practice in the field of aging.




Multidisciplinary Coordinated Caregiving


Book Description

Effective, meaningful caregiving requires a well-coordinated and informed effort guided by various highly skilled specialists across several interrelated professions, including psychologists, social workers, and occupational therapists. Multidisciplinary Coordinated Caregiving addresses the information needs of these interrelated professionals, contributing to the direct care of individuals and serving as an essential resource for those who ultimately create collaborative approaches to contemporary caregiving plans. In addition, the volume provides a wealth of evidence-based research findings to facilitate ongoing dialogue about multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives on and interventions for the complex challenge of caregiving in America. Key areas of coverage include: The status of professional caregiving in the United States. Nursing perspectives on the state of family caregiving. Psychological aspects of caregiving. A human development, lifespan perspective on caregiving during late life. Public health contributions to caregiving. Multidisciplinary Coordinated Caregiving offers a wealth of insights for those researchers, practitioners, and graduate students who seek to optimize the care of individuals across such fields as psychology, social work, public health, geriatrics and gerontology, and medicine as well as public and educational policy making.







Women as They Age


Book Description

Explore the needs of older women and ways to provide for them! Written by women, about women, and for women, Women As They Age, Second Edition highlights the realities of being an aging woman in a youth-oriented, male-dominated society, in which socioeconomic and gender stratification are the norm. In the eleven years since the publication of the original Women as They Age, there has been a great deal of research on the subject. This second edition is inclusive and current, providing valuable information on the needs and accomplishments of our present and future older population. Here you'll encounter women from the mainstream and minorities of all kinds, and come to a better understanding of their personal and family relationships, their sexuality, their concerns, and their feelings about death and dying. Public policies towards aging women are discussed, as are psychological and sociological perspectives. In its focus on older women, Women As They Age, Second Edition, highlights the challenges that these women present to professionals whose job it is, directly or indirectly, to provide assistance to the vast array of aging and aged women. This valuable multidisciplinary book--aimed at students, practitioners, administrators, and educators--addresses crucial issues in social work, nursing, psychology, sociology, gerontology, and economics. New subjects covered in this edition include: grandmothers raising grandchildren long-term care for aging women the current status of public policy as it pertains to older women older women's changing perspectives on sexuality new issues surrounding death and dying Women as They Age, Second Edition explores state-of-the-art and developmental perspectives across the professions of sociology, psychology, social work, and nursing. Also provided is a close examination of the unique issues facing older women--including public policy, employment discrimination, and social program adequacy and equity; the relationship of older women to family; sexuality and intimacy; and special concerns of minority women. This volume includes a practical resource guide that explores the services available to older women. While addressing the troublesome situations of older women worldwide, Women As They Age, Second Edition also celebrates their triumphs, accomplishments, and contributions.