Aging and Family Caregiving Home

Talking Points

  • With the aging of the Baby Boomers and the lengthening of life spans, both the number and proportion of older people in the U.S. is rapidly increasing. 
  • Shifting demographics have created a greater demand for professionals with specialized knowledge and experience in aging.
  • Social workers, other professionals, and the public increasingly recognize that advanced age is a time of continued growth and that older adults contribute significantly to their families, communities, and society.
  • There is great diversity in the strength and needs of older people.  Many older adult clients of social workers cope with multiple challenges, including grief and loss, mental health concerns, chronic physical illness and disability, economic insecurity, and family caregiving.
  • Older adults constitute a valuable, often under-recognized resource in society. They offer vast experience, skills, and creativity in the paid workforce and as volunteers, mentors to younger generations, and as family caregivers. Social workers play a key role in supporting older adults’ civic engagement and in creating aging-friendly communities.
  • Families of all descriptions struggle to provide the best long-term care options for their loved ones—whether that care is in a person’s home, in the community, or in a facility.
  • As the number of individuals in need of long-term care services rises, new issues surrounding staffing needs, family involvement, quality of life, the role of spirituality, end-of-life care, coordination of medical care, program development, funding gaps, and overall service delivery are emerging.
  • The social work profession is a significant, experienced provider of frontline services to older adults and their families.
  • Social workers interact with family caregivers of older adults not only throughout the network of aging services and across the health, mental/behavioral health, and long-term care continuum, but also in diverse settings such as child welfare agencies, employee assistance programs, faith-based organizations, housing programs, schools, and veterans service programs.
  • Social work’s unique biopsychosocial perspective underlies assessment and service delivery for older adults and their families.  Social workers bring an effective strengths-based, person-in-environment approach to services.
  • Social workers play an integral role in care coordinationfor older adults, especially those living with advanced illness or multiple chronic conditions, by facilitating access to health and psychosocial services that improve health outcomes and support aging in place.
  • Caring for older relatives requires planning and support, but most families report not being fully prepared for the challenge or knowing how to access the support they need.
  • Family members, friends, and other unpaid caregivers provide the backbone for much of the care that is received by older adults. Many family caregivers support their loved ones at significant cost to their own physical, emotional, and financial well-being.
  • Even with the safety net of Social Security and Medicare, almost one in ten adults 65 and older lives in poverty.
  • Social workers advocate for the continued solvency of Social Security and the expansion of public and private systems that enhance older people’s financial security and quality of life.

http://www.socialworkers.org/pressroom/swMonth/2012/toolkit/aging/talkingpoints.asp
1/3/2013
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