Social Work With Rural Northern Communities

Social workers choosing to work in smaller towns or rural communities face a different set of conditions and concerns from their city colleagues. Ken Collier wrote his now–classic text Social Work with Rural Peoples, for those social workers, whether they are just starting out or already in the field. The gist of Collier’s genuinely radical book is that for the rural social worker to be effective, she must be able to identify with the struggles of the people she is trying to help – that trying to maintain “professional”, “ objective” distance will merely ensure that the social worker becomes part of the problem rather than part of the solution. For the social worker in a smaller community, “Whose side are you one?” is the most important question to be answered before any effective work can be done. It is an indictment of the slow pace of progress against the societal problems facing rural populations that a third edition of Social Work with Rural Peoples is necessary.

Learn the skills you need to work with geriatric populations in rural areas! Gerontological Social Work in Rural Towns and Communities provides a range of intervention and community skills aimed precisely at the needs of rural elders. This book fills a gap in the literature by focusing on the specific practice concerns for social workers assisting older adults in rural areas, including the aging experience, social worker skills, professional functions, working with special populations, and health and long-term care concerns. This valuable resource will benefit social workers, gerontologists, allied health professionals in rural areas, health and human services administrators and managers. Gerontological Social Work in Rural Towns and Communities explores the challenges social workers need to overcome when working with the elder community in rural areas. This book’s significance to social workers will only increase as more adults choose to live and grow old away from the cities. Experts in the field suggest strategies to overcome barriers in planning and providing services such as: a longer distance for the elderly to travel to use social service centers a narrower range of available services in the local area increased poverty levels for the elderly a stronger dependency by elderly on family rather than public assistance This book is divided into five sections: Rurality and Aging—introduces the concept of rurality and examines the demographics of aging from a rural perspective Practice Dimensions of Social Work with Rural Elders—includes clinical practice models, intervention and advocacy techniques, program planning, and marketing approaches Special Populations—gives attention to four special population groups: indigenous elders, African-American older adults, elderly Latinos, and disabled elders Special Issues Pertaining to Rural Elders—covers five essential issues for rural gerontological social workers: health promotion, older workers and retirement preparation, aging in place, specialized housing, and ethical practice Training and Policy Recommendations—future training and education recommendations for social workers are explored, as well as service capacity building, the aging network, and the future of long-term care While a variety of theoretical perspectives are explored in Gerontological Social Work in Rural Towns and Communities, the book’s empowerment orientation and strengths-based approach will enhance your abilities to improve quality of life for elderly individuals in rural communities. Each chapter contains a comprehensive review of the literature on the subject it addresses, and several chapters include tables and graphs to further establish their revealing empirical findings. An appendix provides additional sources to turn to for more information.

A thoughtful text integrating strengths, assets, and capacity-building themes with contemporary issues in rural social work practice Now in its second edition, Rural Social Work is a collection of contributed readings from social work scholars, students, and practitioners presenting a framework for resource building based on the strengths, assets, and capacities of people, a tool essential for working with rural communities. This guide considers methods for social workers to participate in the work of sustaining rural communities. Each chapter features a reading integrating the themes of capacity-building and rural social work; discussion questions that facilitate critical thinking around the chapter; and suggested activities and assignments. Rural Social Work, Second Edition explores: Important practice issues in rural communities, including the challenges of working with stigmatized populations such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people, the homeless, and people living with HIV/AIDS Practice models that hold special promise for rural social workers, including evidence-based practice and community partnership models Newer research tools such as asset mapping, social network analysis, concept mapping, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Exploring how social workers can integrate the tremendous resources that exist in rural communities into their practice, Rural Social Work, Second Edition provides a solid introduction to the complex, challenging, and rewarding work of building and sustaining rural communities.