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Sociological Aspects of Later Adulthood (order here )
LO 1 Summarize the specific problems faced by older people and the causes of these problems. People 65 and older now make up more than one-tenth of the U.S. population and are the fastest-growing age group in our society. Older people tend to encounter a number of problems in our society: low status, lack of a meaningful role, an emphasis on youth, health problems, inadequate income, in-adequate housing, transportation problems, elder abuse, malnutrition, crime victimization, emotional problems (particularly depression), and concern with circumstances surrounding dying. Most older people depend on the Social Security system as their major source of income, but monthly payments are inadequate.
LO 2 Describe the current services to meet these problems and identify gaps in these services. Programs for older adults include Old Age, Survi-vors, Disability, and Health Insurance; Supplemen-tal Security Income; Medicare; Prescription Drug Assistance for Seniors; Medicaid; food stamps; Adult Protective Services; Meals on Wheels; senior citizen centers; day care centers; nursing homes; as-sisted-living facilities; group homes; and many addi-tional programs. There are a number of gaps in services. Some
older persons reside in substandard nursing homes, some have serious unmet health needs, and some are living in poverty. (click here)
LO 3 Understand the emergence of older people as a significant political force in our society. Older people are often politically active, and many have organized to work toward improving their sta-tus. As a result, many new programs have been cre-ated in recent years, and the rate of poverty among this age group has been decreasing in recent decades.
LO 4 Describe a proposal to provide older people with a meaningful, productive social role in our society. In order to provide older people with a produc-tive, meaningful role in our society, they should be encouraged to work (either in paid work or as vol-unteers) as long as they are productive and have an interest in working to maintain their standard of liv-ing. Older people benefit substantially from continu-ing to be productive, and society benefits also from their productivity.
COMPETENCY NOTES The following identifies where Educational Policy (EP) competencies and behaviors are discussed in the chapter.
EP 6a. Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks to engage with clients and constituencies
EP 7b. Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary
Copyright theoretical frameworks in the analysis of assessment data from clients and constituencies. (All of this chapter.) The content of this chapter is focused on social work students acquiring both of these behaviors in work-ing with older persons.
EP 8b. Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in interventions with
clients and constituencies (pp. 722–723) Content is presented on the roles social workers should assume in intervening with older people.
EP 5a. Identify social policy at the local, state, and federal level that impacts well-being, service delivery, and access to social services;
EP 5c. Apply critical thinking to analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice. (pp. 724–726) Material is presented on analyzing, formulating, and advocating for policies that advance social well-being for older persons.
EP 1 Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior (pp. 708, 711, 713–714, 721, 726) Ethical questions are posed.