Aging Practice Tools

Art making is a form of human development, at any age, and it works its agency through the shifting of what an individual perceives as possible. As long as there is possibility, there is hope; in its absence, there is only despair. The sense of the possibility, complexity, and essential mystery of the world is what keeps the soul engaged with reality.

Family caregivers constitute a critical, yet often invisible, support network for older adults and other vulnerable populations. The NASW Standards for Social Work Practice with Family Caregivers of Older Adults (2010) strive to enhance social workers’ awareness of the knowledge and skills needed for effective practice with family caregivers of older adults. The standards complement existing national initiatives focusing on family caregivers of older adults and may be useful in informing social work practice with other family caregivers.

As of October 1, 2010, nursing facilities, skilled nursing facilities, swing bed providers, and Veterans Health Administration nursing homes began using a new assessment instrument, the Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0. This Practice Update describes social work–related changes in the resident assessment process and presents both opportunities and challenges for social workers, not only in nursing homes but also in community-based settings.

The aging of the population presents social, economic, and political implications for families, the social work profession, and the global community. Families often struggle to provide physical, emotional, financial, and practical support to their aging members. NASW Standards for Social Work Practice with Family Caregivers of Older Adults are designed to enhance social work practice with family caregivers of older adults and to help the public understand the role of professional social work in supporting family caregivers.

Adults experience multiple transitions as they age: family transitions, vocational transitions, transitions in health, and transitions in housing needs, to name a few. Within the health, behavioral health, and long-term care systems, older adults can face transitions of care, or care transitions, among care providers and across settings on an almost daily basis.During such transitions, older adults are at increased risk for medical and psychosocial complications (Coleman & Berenson, 2004; Tahan, 2007).

Barriers to successful transitions of care exist within health care delivery systems, among health care practitioners, and among health care consumers (Coleman, 2003).  Older adults’ medical risks associated with care transitions, and the financial impact of transition-related complications, have gained increasing attention within the medical community.