Aging
- LAST REVIEWED: 14 December 2009
- LAST MODIFIED: 14 December 2009
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195389678-0069
- LAST REVIEWED: 14 December 2009
- LAST MODIFIED: 14 December 2009
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195389678-0069
Introduction
The rapid growth of the older population nationally and globally means that nearly all social workers will interact with older adults and their families, regardless of practice setting. Given this, it can be argued that all social workers need foundation gerontological competencies and content. Gerontology—the study of aging—is a complex, multidisciplinary, and dramatically changing field with a growing evidence base about the social, psychological, and physiological changes associated with aging and the salient practice interventions and policy implications for social workers and allied disciplines. Because of the multidisciplinary nature of aging, gerontological social workers, perhaps more than those in other fields of practice, must be knowledgeable about research on aging by disparate health care professions, psychology, sociology, environmental design, and anthropology. Gerontological social work is practiced in a wide range of community-based and institutional settings with active, healthy elders and with those who face chronic illness and disability. Leadership roles for gerontological social workers are emerging within the context of new initiatives, such as civic engagement and health enhancement. Because informal caregivers are central to the care of elders, social workers must also be competent in supporting families of older adults. Toward that end, there is a growing body of evidence on the effectiveness of social work interventions with older adults and their families or other informal caregivers. This entry reflects the broad scope of issues associated with aging and older adults. Although aging is a global phenomenon, the focus here is on evidence-based resources primarily in the United States.
Introductory Works
Many excellent textbooks provide a foundation for knowledge about aging, older adults and their families, and practice and policy interventions. What the reader will learn from them is the complexity of issues that people face as they age, the heterogeneity and diversity of the older population nationally and globally, the economic and health needs faced by subpopulations of elders who have been historically underserved, and the wide range of practice and policy approaches. Berkman 2003 provides a comprehensive overview of gerontological social work in health and long-term care settings. Among the practice texts, McInnis-Dittrich 2005 is most widely used for direct practice, while Richardson and Barusch 2006 includes more macro practice content. Cummings and Kropf 2008 is the most recent text on evidence-based interventions. Greene, et al. 2007 and Tompkins and Rosen 2007 address a competency-based approach to gerontological social work practice, with Greene, et al. 2007 linking content to widely utilized foundation and advanced geriatric social work competencies. Hooyman and Kiyak 2008, a social gerontology text widely used for over two decades, includes multidisciplinary content on the biological, psychological, and social changes of aging along with implications for policy.
Berkman, Barbara, ed. 2003. Social work and health care in an aging society: Education, policy, practice, and research. New York: Springer.
Presents multiple points of intersection between aging and physical and mental health and social work. Chapters examine race and culture in social work practice with elders as well as topics related to developmental disabilities, dementia, and informal caregivers of elders.
Cummings, Sherry M., and Nancy P. Kropf, eds. 2008. Handbook of psychosocial interventions with older adults: Evidence-based approaches. New York: Haworth.
Reviews evidence-based interventions with older adults across a variety of physical and mental health conditions and caregiving relationships. Makes a significant contribution to evidence-based practice by highlighting the current empirical literature as the foundation for evaluating intervention research for clinical care.
Greene, Roberta R., H. L. Cohen, C. M. Galambos, and Nancy P. Kropf. 2007. Foundations of social work practice in the field of aging: A competency-based approach. Washington, DC: National Association of Social Workers.
Distinctive for its competency-based approach. Addresses social work practice with older adults, theories of aging and practice, interventions with diverse older adults, and values and ethics. It examines organizational changes, macro perspectives on community building, and policy practice related to advocacy for older adults. It is the first practice text to weave geriatric social work competencies related to assessment, interventions, group work, and case management throughout.
Hooyman, Nancy R., and H. Asuman Kiyak. 2008. Social gerontology: A multidisciplinary perspective. 8th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.
Comprehensive and cross-disciplinary, it addresses physical and cognitive changes, health care, and the social context of aging, including family caregiving and social support. Additional topics include employment, productivity, and civic engagement; love, intimacy, and sexuality; death, dying, and bereavement; and the resilience of elders of color and women. Concluding chapters examine salient social and health policies and programs. Useful to both undergraduate and graduate students.
McInnis-Dittrich, Kathleen. 2005. Social work with elders: A biopsychosocial approach to assessment and intervention. Boston: Pearson, Allyn, and Bacon.
Widely utilized by direct practice instructors for over a decade, it gives an overview of the context of social work practice with older adults, including theories of aging and biological and psychosocial issues. Assessment, diagnosis, and intervention skills are discussed. Key practice skills are addressed pertaining to socioemotional and cognitive problems, elder abuse and neglect, support systems, addictions, spirituality, group work, and end-of-life care and bereavement.
Richardson, Virginia E., and Amanda S. Barusch. 2006. Gerontological practice for the twenty-first century: A social work perspective. New York: Columbia Univ. Press.
Targets social work students and professionals interested in both direct and macro practice with older adults. Theories of aging and practice, demographic realities, common psychological problems, family and work issues, and the sociopolitical context that impacts older adults are addressed. Case examples illustrate empirically based interventions at micro and macro practice levels.
Tompkins, Catherine J., and Anita L. Rosen, eds. 2007. Fostering social work gerontology competence: A collection of papers from the first National Gerontological Social Work Conference. New York: Haworth.
Includes articles from a national conference on teaching, research, community collaboration, and gerontological social work competencies as well as social work practice with older adults in a variety of practice settings. Articles address culturally competent practice, religion and spirituality, grief and end-of-life care, mental health practice, and macro and research social work practice.
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Article
- Abolitionist Perspectives in Social Work
- Abortion
- Adolescent Depression
- Adolescent Pregnancy
- Adolescents
- Adoption
- Adoption Home Study Assessments
- Adult Protective Services in the United States
- African Americans
- Aging
- Aging out of foster care
- Aging, Physical Health and
- Alcohol and Drug Abuse Problems
- Alcohol and Drug Problems, Prevention of Adolescent and Yo...
- Alcohol Problems: Practice Interventions
- Alcohol Use Disorder
- Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias
- Anti-Oppressive Practice
- Asian Americans
- Asian-American Youth
- Assessment
- Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Baccalaureate Social Workers
- Behavioral Health
- Behavioral Social Work Practice
- Bereavement Practice
- Bisexuality
- Brief Therapies in Social Work: Task-Centered Model and So...
- Bullying and Social Work Intervention
- Canadian Social Welfare, History of
- Case Management in Mental Health in the United States
- Central American Migration to the United States
- Child Maltreatment Prevention
- Child Neglect and Emotional Maltreatment
- Child Poverty
- Child Sexual Abuse
- Child Welfare
- Child Welfare and Child Protection in Europe, History of
- Child Welfare and Parents with Intellectual and/or Develop...
- Child Welfare Effectiveness
- Child Welfare, Immigration and
- Child Welfare Practice with LGBTQ Youth and Families
- Children
- Children of Incarcerated Parents
- Christianity and Social Work
- Chronic Illness
- Clinical Social Work Practice with Adult Lesbians
- Clinical Social Work Practice with Males
- Cognitive Behavior Therapies with Diverse and Stressed Pop...
- Cognitive Processing Therapy
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
- Community
- Community Development
- Community Policing
- Community-Based Participatory Research
- Community-Needs Assessment
- Comparative Social Work
- Computational Social Welfare: Applying Data Science in Soc...
- Conflict Resolution
- Council on Social Work Education
- Counseling Female Offenders
- Criminal Justice
- Crisis Interventions
- Cultural Competence and Ethnic Sensitive Practice
- Culture, Ethnicity, Substance Use, and Substance Use Disor...
- Dementia Care
- Dementia Care, Ethical Aspects of
- Depression and Cancer
- Development and Infancy (Birth to Age Three)
- Differential Response in Child Welfare
- Digital Storytelling for Social Work Interventions
- Direct Practice in Social Work
- Disabilities
- Disability and Disability Culture
- Disasters
- Divorce
- Domestic Violence Among Immigrants
- Early Pregnancy and Parenthood Among Child Welfare–Involve...
- Eating Disorders
- Ecological Framework
- Economic Evaluation
- Elder Mistreatment
- End-of-Life Decisions
- Epigenetics for Social Workers
- Ethical Issues in Social Work and Technology
- Ethics and Values in Social Work
- Ethnicity
- European Institutions and Social Work
- European Union, Justice and Home Affairs in the
- Evidence-based Social Work Practice
- Evidence-based Social Work Practice: Finding Evidence
- Evidence-based Social Work Practice: Issues, Controversies...
- Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs
- Families
- Families with Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Parents
- Family Caregiving
- Family Group Conferencing
- Family Policy
- Family Services
- Family Therapy
- Family Violence
- Fathering Among Families Served By Child Welfare
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
- Field Education
- Financial Literacy and Social Work
- Financing Health-Care Delivery in the United States
- Forensic Social Work
- Foster Care
- Foster care and siblings
- Gay Men
- Gender, Violence, and Trauma in Immigration Detention in t...
- Generalist Practice and Advanced Generalist Practice
- Grounded Theory
- Group Work
- Group Work across Populations, Challenges, and Settings
- Group Work, Research, Best Practices, and Evidence-based
- Harm Reduction
- Health Care Reform
- Health Disparities
- Health Social Work
- History of Social Work and Social Welfare, 1900–1950
- History of Social Work and Social Welfare, 1950-1980
- History of Social Work and Social Welfare, pre-1900
- History of Social Work from 1980-2014
- History of Social Work in China
- History of Social Work in Northern Ireland
- History of Social Work in the Republic of Ireland
- History of Social Work in the United Kingdom
- HIV/AIDS
- HIV/AIDS and Children
- HIV/AIDS Prevention with Adolescents
- Homelessness
- Homelessness: Ending Homelessness as a Grand Challenge
- Homelessness Outside the United States
- Housing
- Human Needs
- Human Trafficking, Victims of
- Immigrant Integration in the United States
- Immigrant Policy in the United States
- Immigrants and Refugees
- Immigrants and Refugees: Evidence-based Social Work Practi...
- Immigration and Health Disparities
- Immigration and Intimate Partner Violence
- Immigration and Poverty
- Immigration and Spirituality
- Immigration and Substance Use
- Immigration and Trauma
- Impact of Emerging Technology in Social Work Practice
- Impaired Professionals
- Implementation Science and Practice
- Indigenous Peoples
- Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Supported Employmen...
- In-home Child Welfare Services
- Intergenerational Transmission of Maltreatment
- International Human Trafficking
- International Social Welfare
- International Social Work
- International Social Work and Education
- International Social Work and Social Welfare in Southern A...
- Internet and Video Game Addiction
- Interpersonal Psychotherapy
- Intervention with Traumatized Populations
- Interviewing
- Intimate-Partner Violence
- Juvenile Justice
- Kinship Care
- Korean Americans
- Latinos and Latinas
- Law, Social Work and the
- LGBTQ Populations and Social Work
- Life Span
- Mainland European Social Work, History of
- Major Depressive Disorder
- Management and Administration in Social Work
- Maternal Mental Health
- Measurement, Scales, and Indices
- Medical Illness
- Men: Health and Mental Health Care
- Mental Health
- Mental Health Diagnosis and the Addictive Substance Disord...
- Mental Health Needs of Older People, Assessing the
- Mental Health Services from 1990 to 2023
- Mental Illness: Children
- Mental Illness: Elders
- Meta-analysis
- Microskills
- Middle East and North Africa, International Social Work an...
- Military Social Work
- Mixed Methods Research
- Moral distress and injury in social work
- Motivational Interviewing
- Multiculturalism
- Native Americans
- Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders
- Neighborhood Social Cohesion
- Neuroscience and Social Work
- Nicotine Dependence
- Occupational Social Work
- Organizational Development and Change
- Pain Management
- Palliative Care
- Palliative Care: Evolution and Scope of Practice
- Pandemics and Social Work
- Parent Training
- Participatory Community Based Research
- Personalization
- Person-in-Environment
- Philosophy of Science and Social Work
- Physical Disabilities
- Podcasts and Social Work
- Police Social Work
- Political Social Work in the United States
- Positive Youth Development
- Postmodernism and Social Work
- Postsecondary Education Experiences and Attainment Among Y...
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Poverty
- Practice Interventions and Aging
- Practice Interventions with Adolescents
- Practice Research
- Primary Prevention in the 21st Century
- Productive Engagement of Older Adults
- Profession, Social Work
- Program Development and Grant Writing
- Promoting Smart Decarceration as a Grand Challenge
- Psychiatric Rehabilitation
- Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Theory
- Psychoeducation
- Psychometrics
- Psychopathology and Social Work Practice
- Psychopharmacology and Social Work Practice
- Psychosocial Framework
- Psychosocial Intervention with Women
- Psychotherapy and Social Work
- Qualitative Research
- Race and Racism
- Randomized Controlled Trials in Social Work
- Readmission Policies in Europe
- Redefining Police Interactions with People Experiencing Me...
- Refugee Children, Unaccompanied Immigrant and
- Rehabilitation
- Religiously Affiliated Agencies
- Reproductive Health
- Research
- Research Ethics
- Restorative Justice
- Risk Assessment in Child Protection Services
- Risk Management in Social Work
- Rural Social Work in China
- Rural Social Work Practice
- School Social Work
- School Violence
- School-Based Delinquency Prevention
- Services and Programs for Pregnant and Parenting Youth
- Severe and Persistent Mental Illness: Adults
- Sexual and Gender Minority Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylu...
- Sexual Assault
- Single-System Research Designs
- Social and Economic Impact of US Immigration Policies on U...
- Social Development
- Social Insurance and Social Justice
- Social Intervention Research
- Social Justice and Social Work
- Social Movements
- Social Planning
- Social Policy
- Social Policy in Denmark
- Social Security in the United States (OASDHI)
- Social Work and Islam
- Social Work and Social Welfare in East, West, and Central ...
- Social Work and Social Welfare in Europe
- Social Work Education and Research
- Social Work Leadership
- Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries Contributing to the Cla...
- Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries contributing to the fou...
- Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries Who Contributed to Soci...
- Social Work Practice, Rare and Orphan Diseases and
- Social Work Regulation
- Social Work Research Methods
- Social Work Theory
- Social Work with Interpreters
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Strategic Planning
- Strengths Perspective
- Strengths-Based Models in Social Work
- Suicide
- Supplemental Security Income
- Survey Research
- Sustainability: Creating Social Responses to a Changing En...
- Syrian Refugees in Turkey
- Systematic Review Methods
- Task-Centered Practice
- Technology Adoption in Social Work Education
- Technology for Social Work Interventions
- Technology, Human Relationships, and Human Interaction
- Technology in Social Work
- Terminal Illness
- Terrorism
- The Impact of Systemic Racism on Latinxs’ Experiences with...
- Transdisciplinary Science
- Translational Science and Social Work
- Transnational Perspectives in Social Work
- Transtheoretical Model of Change
- Trauma
- Trauma-Informed Care
- Triangulation
- Tribal child welfare practice in the United States
- Unions
- United States, History of Social Welfare in the
- Universal Basic Income
- Veteran Services
- Vicarious Trauma and Resilience in Social Work Practice wi...
- Vicarious Trauma Redefining PTSD
- Victim Services
- Violence
- Virtual Reality and Social Work
- Welfare State Reform in France
- Welfare State Theory
- Women and Macro Social Work Practice
- Women's Health Care
- Work and Family in the German Welfare State
- Workfare
- Workforce Development of Social Workers Pre- and Post-Empl...
- Working with Non-Voluntary and Mandated Clients
- Young and Adolescent Lesbians
- Youth at Risk
- Youth Services