Working With Elderly People

Family caregiving affects millions of Americans every day, in all walks of life. At least 17.7 million individuals in the United States are caregivers of an older adult with a health or functional limitation. The nation's family caregivers provide the lion's share of long-term care for our older adult population. They are also central to older adults' access to and receipt of health care and community-based social services. Yet the need to recognize and support caregivers is among the least appreciated challenges facing the aging U.S. population. Families Caring for an Aging America examines the prevalence and nature of family caregiving of older adults and the available evidence on the effectiveness of programs, supports, and other interventions designed to support family caregivers. This report also assesses and recommends policies to address the needs of family caregivers and to minimize the barriers that they encounter in trying to meet the needs of older adults.

First published in 1990, Working in Residential Homes for Elderly People outlines the purposes and objectives of residential homes and what it is like to live and work in them. The author looks at the factors that make for a good quality of life, considering how these can be promoted and how staff can work with people, both individually and in groups, to help them get the best out of life. He reviews prevalent thinking about what happens to people as they grow older, and, at a practical level, he looks carefully at the day-to-day management of homes, suggesting how they should be organized in order to get the best out of the staff, buildings and resources. Unique in its coverage of the process of ageing, good practice, and good management, the book takes into account the differing needs of both residents and staff. With its emphasis on the various aspects of the flexible, individual support necessary in providing ‘a good home’, it will be invaluable to social work and social care students, residential workers, and their managers.

This report presents the most up-to-date and comprehensive cross-country assessment of long-term care (LTC) workers, the tasks they perform and the policies to address shortages in OECD countries. It highlights the importance of improving working conditions in the sector and making care work more attractive and shows that there is space to increase productivity by enhancing the use of technology, providing a better use of skills and investing in prevention.

"Nurses play a vital role in improving the safety and quality of patient car -- not only in the hospital or ambulatory treatment facility, but also of community-based care and the care performed by family members. Nurses need know what proven techniques and interventions they can use to enhance patient outcomes. To address this need, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), with additional funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has prepared this comprehensive, 1,400-page, handbook for nurses on patient safety and quality -- Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. (AHRQ Publication No. 08-0043)." - online AHRQ blurb, http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nurseshdbk/

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.

Social Work Practice With Older Adults by Jill Chonody and Barbra Teater presents a contemporary framework based on the World Health Organization’s active aging policy that allows forward-thinking students to focus on client strengths and resources when working with the elderly. The Actively Aging framework takes into account health, social, behavioral, economic, and personal factors as they relate to aging, but also explores environmental issues, which aligns with the new educational standards put forth by the Council on Social Work Education. Covering micro, mezzo, and macro practice domains, the text examines all aspects of working with aging populations, from assessment through termination.

Addressing the needs of older people and their carers is an essential element of both policy and practice in the fields of health and social care. Recent developments promote a partnership and empowerment model, in which the notion of 'person-centred' care figures prominently. However, what 'person-centred' care means and how it can be achieved is far from clear. Working with Older People and their Families combines extensive reviews of specialist literatures with new empirical data in an attempt at a synthesis of themes about making a reality of 'person-centred' care. Uniquely, it seeks to unite the perspectives of older people, family and professional carers in promoting a genuinely holistic approach to the challenges of an ageing society. Working with Older People and their Families is recommended reading for students on health related courses such as nursing, medicine and the therapies. It is also of relevance to students of social work and social gerontology, researchers, managers and policy makers.

"Work and Caring for the Elderly directly addresses the pressing issues of this worldwide dilemma by examining how 11 geographically dispersed countries in various stages of economic and social development are responding to this challenging problem.