Report: Is gerontological social work ready for 21st century

Within the wider health and social care arena, there is much emphasis on the challenges of meeting the needs of an ageing population, yet little is known about social work’s capacity to take on new responsibilities and to respond to a growing number of older people with complex and changing needs.

This article explores the readiness of gerontological social work in the UK for meeting the challenges of an ageing society by investigating the focus on work with older people in social work education and the scope of gerontological social work research.

The discussion draws on findings from two exploratory studies: a survey of qualifying master’s programmes in England and a survey of the content relating to older people over a six-year period in four leading UK social work journals. The evidence from master’s programmes suggests widespread neglect of ageing in teaching content and practice learning. Social work journals present a more nuanced picture.

Older people emerge within coverage of generic policy issues for adults, such as personalisation and safeguarding, and there is good evidence of the complexity of need in late life. However, there is little attention to effective social work interventions, with an increasingly diverse older population, or to the quality of gerontological social work education.

Author(s): Richards, Sally; Sullivan, Mary Pat; Tanner, Denise
Series: British Journal of Social Work
Year: 2014
ISSN: 1468-263X
Volume: vol. 44
Pages: p. 2307-2324