Advocacy for Aging Adults

This article in the Guardian struck my interest today. When you identify yourself as a social worker, people generally automatically assume you work with children.  Also, I see a lot of continuing education training targeted towards child issues and not so much for adults.

The baby boomer generation is aging and what I see are social service agencies looking for Direct Support Professionals over social workers or clinicians who have no certifications or specialized training requirements. A lot of elderly care services are taken up by private agencies. The real heartache is that service towards the elderly is not more of a platform for social workers and social advocates.

I get uneasy when I walk into a retirement community that is below ground and covered in artificial light. I get uneasy when an agency decides to put their hospice in the basement of their sprawling facility. People are unaware that retirement facilities are the new community-based institutions. I am glad though that more and more people are allowed to get care in their private homes, especially when it comes to hospice. Hospice definitely comes with challenges but to deliver services to people in a very stressful time, must be very rewarding.

I hope that more social workers will move towards aging client populations. I suspect when they have experienced the aging process of their families, they will have a better understanding of what is needed out in the community. As someone who has a lot of elderly neighbors, I keep an eye out. Some of them are stuck as shut-ins because of their mobility and their children come by every day or two to assist them and keep them social in the community.

http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/social-life-blog/2016/jan/13/social-work-with-older-people-is-as-important-as-child-protection?CMP=share_btn_link