Social Work Practice with Older Adults

Social Work Practice with Older Adults: An Evidence-Based Approach helps future social workers identify effective evidence-based treatment options for aging populations. It helps readers cultivate the skills needed to successfully engage, assess, intervene, evaluate, and provide advocacy at micro, mezzo, and macro levels to older adults and their families.

Emphasizing intersectionality theory, the text encourages readers to consider the context and intersecting diversity factors of the older adult client and involve them in treatment decision plans, empowering older adults to select culturally preferred and highly meaningful care.

Students also learn the power of interdisciplinary collaboration and interagency coordination. Each chapter features case studies and a guide for framing community resources and other helping services for clients. Additionally, the book highlights issues and opportunities social workers are likely to encounter, including aging in prison settings, homelessness and sexual health, end-of-life issues, macro practice advocacy skills, and more.

Social Work Practice with Older Adults challenges students to synthesize contextual, intersectional, and biopsychosocial/spiritual assessments to create effective treatment plans and apply appropriate interventions to aging populations. It is ideal for students studying social work and related disciplines.
A licensed clinical social worker, Dawn Joosten-Hagye is a clinical associate professor of social work and the vice chair of the Department of Adult Mental Health and Wellness at the University of Southern California. She has worked as a medical social worker for Providence Health Services since 2001 and specializes in working with older and disabled adults with chronic and life threatening illnesses. Dr. Joosten-Hagye has worked in acute, subacute, transitional, skilled nursing, and palliative care settings. She earned her master's and doctoral degrees in social work at California State University, Long Beach, and the University of California, Los Angeles, respectively.