Special Aging Populations And Systems Linkages

Special Aging Populations and Systems Linkages educates professionals working in geriatric settings about the needs and issues of several emerging special groups within today's aging population. It gives readers examples, guidelines, and a theoretical framework for developing successful linkages between aging and non-aging service systems to meet the service needs of these special populations. By exploring the challenges and barriers faced by service systems attempting to work together, Special Aging Populations and Systems Linkages provides a blueprint to those working with cross-system interest groups, task forces, and councils. The book informs readers of the epidemiology, issues, and concerns of some specific populations of older persons including: persons with developmental disabilities alcohol and substance abusers cancer patients persons with HIV/AIDS the abused elderly older caregivers Chapters in this timely book provide treatment experiences with these special populations and with linking systems as case histories for the professional. These case histories help social workers understand the needs of special older people with whom they work and facilitate negotiations among service systems and agencies so that older people facing special challenges secure the help they and their families need. Special Aging Populations and Systems Linkages asserts the absolute imperative for social workers and other geriatric professionals to understand the subpopulations which make up the 65-plus cohort in the U.S. and fosters creative thinking about service organization and practice issues generated by the diversity of this population. Students at all levels of gerontology programs; staff in the aging network (service personnel, administrators, and senior center directors); community service personnel; staff of Area Agencies on Aging; social workers in geriatric health care settings; public health educators; and social workers in service agencies for each of the special populations--mental retardation/developmental disabilities, cancer care, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, adult protective services, child welfare--can refer to Special Aging Populations and Systems Linkages for insight time and again as they strive to meet the diverse needs of the entire aging population.

As the first of the nation's 78 million baby boomers begin reaching age 65 in 2011, they will face a health care workforce that is too small and woefully unprepared to meet their specific health needs. Retooling for an Aging America calls for bold initiatives starting immediately to train all health care providers in the basics of geriatric care and to prepare family members and other informal caregivers, who currently receive little or no training in how to tend to their aging loved ones. The book also recommends that Medicare, Medicaid, and other health plans pay higher rates to boost recruitment and retention of geriatric specialists and care aides. Educators and health professional groups can use Retooling for an Aging America to institute or increase formal education and training in geriatrics. Consumer groups can use the book to advocate for improving the care for older adults. Health care professional and occupational groups can use it to improve the quality of health care jobs.

Social isolation and loneliness are serious yet underappreciated public health risks that affect a significant portion of the older adult population. Approximately one-quarter of community-dwelling Americans aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated, and a significant proportion of adults in the United States report feeling lonely. People who are 50 years of age or older are more likely to experience many of the risk factors that can cause or exacerbate social isolation or loneliness, such as living alone, the loss of family or friends, chronic illness, and sensory impairments. Over a life course, social isolation and loneliness may be episodic or chronic, depending upon an individual's circumstances and perceptions. A substantial body of evidence demonstrates that social isolation presents a major risk for premature mortality, comparable to other risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, or obesity. As older adults are particularly high-volume and high-frequency users of the health care system, there is an opportunity for health care professionals to identify, prevent, and mitigate the adverse health impacts of social isolation and loneliness in older adults. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults summarizes the evidence base and explores how social isolation and loneliness affect health and quality of life in adults aged 50 and older, particularly among low income, underserved, and vulnerable populations. This report makes recommendations specifically for clinical settings of health care to identify those who suffer the resultant negative health impacts of social isolation and loneliness and target interventions to improve their social conditions. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults considers clinical tools and methodologies, better education and training for the health care workforce, and dissemination and implementation that will be important for translating research into practice, especially as the evidence base for effective interventions continues to flourish.

Latino Elders and the Twenty-First Century: Issues and Challenges for Culturally Competent Research and Practice will help social workers, researchers, and organizations identify and analyze ways of meeting the demands of the increasing number of elderly Latinos. Working from conceptual frameworks, case studies, and examples, this book provides you with a demographic picture of Latino elders and investigates the needs of ethnic-specific groups. Latino Elders and the Twenty-First Century will help you develop and create culturally competent intervention methods that take the culture, beliefs, and situations of Latino elders into consideration. Addressing the future challenges to individuals involved in the field of gerontology, this book offers you current studies on the assessment of present services for Latino elders, how they can be improved, and why these individuals may be reluctant to seek financial or medical help. Latino Elders and the Twenty-First Century will assist you in devising policies and programs aimed at improving services for Latino elders, including: providing Latino and non-Latino staff with an understanding of culturally competent principles, such as values, knowledge, and skills, that will help them give attention to individual and cultural needs improving staff development by assessing issues and underlying causes of client problems using the self and other cultural awareness models to help professionals realize their own values, attitudes, and behaviors examining community resources, such as gift shops, clothing shops, and beauty parlors in Puerto Rican communities that offer interpreter services, integration of the lonely, and community leadership to the elderly considering family structure and personal identification to facilitate access to health care services minimizing stress of caregivers by fully understanding how they identify their roles within their families, evaluating their needs and capacity as caregivers, and offering counseling approaches that recognize the dynamics of caregiving examining contributing factors to substance abuse among elders and researching incidence, prevalence, patterns of use, etiology, and consequences of this behaviorLatino Elders and the Twenty-First Century explores the possibilities of further research in the areas of substance abuse among the elderly and the importance of businesses in ethnic communities to meet the growing needs of clients. In order to assist specific groups of Latinos, this book examines social and medical needs and services for Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, and Yaqui elders of Old Pascua. Latino Elders and the Twenty-First Century will help you develop culturally sensitive programs for individual clients and diminish barriers to service.

This fascinating book addresses the cultures and concerns of five major ethnic groups: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Asian Indian, and Vietnamese. Social Work Practice with the Asian-American Elderly examines the diverse needs of this rapidly growing population. It suggests interventions and service-delivery models that are culturally sensitive and appropriate for these clients, many of whom are first-generation immigrants still closely linked with their cultures of origin. This comprehensive book serves as a timely resource for both researchers and practitioners concerned with this neglected yet rapidly growing segment of the elderly population. Social Work Practice with the Asian-American Elderly offers both quantitative and qualitative research on essential topics, including: migratory grief assimilation depression elderly nutrition programs social support

This open access book provides a comprehensive perspective on the concept of ageism, its origins, the manifestation and consequences of ageism, as well as ways to respond to and research ageism. The book represents a collaborative effort of researchers from over 20 countries and a variety of disciplines, including, psychology, sociology, gerontology, geriatrics, pharmacology, law, geography, design, engineering, policy and media studies. The contributors have collaborated to produce a truly stimulating and educating book on ageism which brings a clear overview of the state of the art in the field. The book serves as a catalyst to generate research, policy and public interest in the field of ageism and to reconstruct the image of old age and will be of interest to researchers and students in gerontology and geriatrics.

Emerging and currently available technologies offer great promise for helping older adults, even those without serious disabilities, to live healthy, comfortable, and productive lives. What technologies offer the most potential benefit? What challenges must be overcome, what problems must be solved, for this promise to be fulfilled? How can federal agencies like the National Institute on Aging best use their resources to support the translation from laboratory findings to useful, marketable products and services? Technology for Adaptive Aging is the product of a workshop that brought together distinguished experts in aging research and in technology to discuss applications of technology to communication, education and learning, employment, health, living environments, and transportation for older adults. It includes all of the workshop papers and the report of the committee that organized the workshop. The committee report synthesizes and evaluates the points made in the workshop papers and recommends priorities for federal support of translational research in technology for older adults.

Provide effective services to ethnic elders with culturally competent training!Therapeutic Interventions with Ethnic Elders: Health and Social Issues provides culture-specific information to health and social work professionals. You will explore distinctive qualities that are found in ten different ethnic groups to help you better serve these populations. The historical events that have shaped these elders’often-adverse reactions to mainstream providers are also included. Ideas on how to effectively approach these situations are included to improve your skills with a diverse population of clients. The information in Therapeutic Interventions with Ethnic Elders is invaluable to health care administrators who plan services and hire personnel to work with various ethnic groups. The book also functions as a training tool to increase the awareness of staff members who currently work with ethnically diverse populations. You will learn to recognize culturally driven behaviors in ethnic elders and how to make appropriate interventions. Some of the general and culture-specific issues that Therapeutic Interventions with Ethnic Elders addresses are: helping ethnic elders to feel comfortable utilizing your services appropriately modifying therapy to meet the individual's cultural background reinforcing a new sense of independence for these elders by helping them understand available services understanding cultural inhibitions in Japan that hide, deny, or ignore mental illness realizing that traditional Euro-American psychotherapy techniques cannot be readily transplanted and applied to all other cultures addressing depression, anxiety, increased illness, intergenerational conflict, and even marital conflict combined with the stress of assimilation and acculturation among Russian emigrants understanding folk beliefs and the importance of the role of the church for many elder African-Americans Therapeutic Interventions with Ethnic Elders addresses the need for practitioners, agencies, and institutions to understand and respect the different characteristics of each elderly minority population. You will examine the unique historical contexts of Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, African, Russian, Navajo, Yaqui, Mexican, Cuban, and Puerto Rican elders and explore the stress factors that come with immigrating, such as finding a peaceful place to live and being confronted by age discrimination and racism. This important book explains cultural behaviors to provide you with effective suggestions for providing optimum care to the ethnic elders in your life.