Chapter 12 Social Work with Older Adults

Chapter 12:
Older Adults: Needs and Services

Copyright © 2012 Cengage Learning, Brooks/Cole Publishing

Empowering Programs with Resources
that Enhance Social Work Education


Social Work: A Competency-
Oriented Education

 Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)
- Defines Educational Policy and Accreditation
Standards (EPAs)
- Developed 10 “Core Competencies” and 41
Related “Practice Behaviors”
 Every student should master the Practice
Behaviors and Core Competencies before
completing the program


Resources Aligned to EPAS 2008

 The Textbook –
- “Helping Hands” icons call attention to content that
relates to Practice Behaviors and Competencies

- “Competency Notes” at the end of the chapter
help put the Practice Behaviors and Competencies
in practical context

Resources Aligned to EPAS 2008 (cont’d)

 The Practice Behaviors Workbook developed
with the text provides assignable exercises that
assist in mastering the Practice Behavior and
Competencies

 Additional on-line resources can be found at:
www.cengage.com/socialwork


Framing the issue
The number and percentage of people reaching old
age are greater than they have ever been throughout
recorded history

EP 2.1.3a, 2.1.7b

Physiological aging
• Growth and physical maturation continue
throughout the life cycle
• Scientists have not yet determined why we age
• Social workers who specialize in working with older
adults should be sensitive to physiological changes
that are typical processes of growing old

EP 2.1.7b

Theories of aging
• Continuity theory
• Activity theory
• Developmental theory
• Exchange theory

EP 2.1.7a

Retirement
• No universal definition exists
• Income is usually drastically reduced
• Future of the Social Security system is a concern
• One’s health declines with age
• Most older adults rely primarily on Medicare
• More research is needed

EP 2.1.1a, 2.1.3a, 2.1.7b

Older adults and their families
• Most older married couples express general
satisfaction with their marriages
• When older adults encounter health problems they
often turn to their adult children for support
• Families continue to be a viable resource for older
adults

EP 2.1.7b, 2.1.9b

Care-giving
• Who are care-givers?
• Economics of care-giving
• Impact of care-giving
• Care-giving and work
• Care-giving and health

EP 2.1.7b, 2.1.9b

Death and dying
• Every culture shapes attitudes toward death as well
as life
• Most of us are not prepared for coping with either
the death of others or our own death
• Hospice care/living wills
• “Voluntary” and “involuntary” euthanasia have
introduced controversy into the dying process

EP 2.1.7b, 2.1.8a

Aging and mental health
• The mental health of older adults is not appreciably
different from that of the population in general
• Dramatic changes in the mental health of
individuals are seldom caused by the aging
process alone

EP 2.1.7b, 2.1.9b

Aging and the ecological/systems perspective
The way that an individual interacts within the
environment strongly influences that individual’s
mental health and perspectives about growing old

EP 2.1.7b, 2.1.9b

Aging and the environment
• Social isolation and loneliness often appear to
produce maladaptive behaviors
• Overmedication can cause memory loss,
disorientation, or loss of vigor or appetite
• Depression may be caused by bereavement,
anxiety related to income, a limited social network,
relocation, or health concerns

EP 2.1.7b, 2.1.9b

Income security concerns
• Having enough money to live on
• Not being able to work to supplement Social
Security income
• Uncertain future of Social Security benefits
• Having enough money to meet support and
social services needs

EP 2.1.1a, 2.1.9b

Health and health care services
• Developing health problems in later life
• Chronic diseases in old age
• Refusal to seek treatment until health conditions
become severe or life threatening
• Cost of prescription medicines
• Government’s role in providing health care for the
aged

EP 2.1.7b, 2.1.9b

Abuse and neglect
• Little is known about the abuse and neglect of the
elderly
• Self-neglect is perhaps the most common
• Abuse usually occurs when the older adult is living
with a relative
• Adult protective services are designed to shield
older adults from harm

EP 2.1.7b

Long-term care
• Only 5% of older Americans experience health
problems that require long-term care
• Third-party payments to health care providers
spawned long-term care industry
• Majority of long-term care facilities are proprietary
(for profit)
• Alternatives to long-term care facilities

EP2.1.1a, 2.1.7b, 2.1.9b

Housing
• Rate of substandard homes among the elderly
exceeds those for other age groups
• Government housing for the aged is difficult to
secure
• Housing alternatives for the more economically
secure aged are needed

EP 2.1.7b, 2.1.9b

Transportation
• Most older adults travel some distance to procure
the necessities of daily living
• Transit systems for the aged are limited
• Absence of transportation has resulted in many
older adults becoming homebound
• Budget cuts have significantly reduced
transportation options for the elderly

EP 2.1.7b, 2.1.9b

People of color as older adults
• Life expectancy is shorter
• The percentage of the elderly living below the
poverty line is high, especially for persons of color
• Percentages dramatically higher for households
headed by women

EP 2.1.4a

Services for older adults
• Magnitude of need is great
• Availability of services varies across communities
• Budget cuts have adversely affected availability of
services
• Need outstrips availability of services

EP 2.1.1a, 2.1.9b

Social work with older adults
• Generalist practice at the micro level most common
intervention
• Many opportunities exist for creating a more
responsive opportunity structure for the aged at the
community level
• Many schools of social work have established
specializations in gerontology

EP 2.1.1a, c

Social work with older adults (cont’d)
• US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects an overall
increase of 22% for social work jobs between 2006
and 2016; that figure increases to 24% for medical
and public health social workers and 30% for
mental health and substance abuse social workers.

EP 2.1.1a, c

Chapter 12 Social Work with Older Adults

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Chapter 12 Social Work with Older Adults