Opinions
The aging of the population has profound consequences. Not only for society, but also for social work. The social work courses should not be left behind and should focus more on gerontological social work, argues lecturer Veerle Baert (Artevelde University College).
© Centre for Ageing Better
Demographic shifts
Currently, more than one fifth of the European population is aged 65 or over. At the same time, life expectancy is rising again, after a dip due to the corona pandemic. The share of over-80s in the EU will more than double by 2100.
The rising life expectancy and the predicted growth in the number of elderly people not only have financial and economic consequences. They will also increase the pressure on health and welfare facilities. Social work therefore needs gerontologically trained social workers.
‘Only 3 percent of the students opt for the subject ‘Elderly’.’
Skills for dealing with the elderly are not fundamentally different from working with other target groups. Nevertheless, a thorough knowledge of the aging process and the problems that affect the elderly is essential for the practical work with the elderly. This knowledge and skills enable social workers to work more effectively with the elderly and their network.
Disinterest trumps
There is a great lack of interest in the elderly within social work programmes. Gerontology, the science that studies aging, is rarely offered to future social workers.
It is at most an elective. You can count the number of students on two hands. The elderly are sporadically addressed in other subjects, but are rarely studied in depth or introduced as clients.
A recent survey among second-year social work students at Artevelde University College taught us that only 3 percent of students consciously choose the subject ‘Elderly’. However, 19 percent appear to work with the elderly during their internship.
Students also have quite a lot of contact with the elderly in their daily lives. The vast majority experience these contacts as positive. But the image they have of aging is not a pretty one: 95 percent associate it with physical and cognitive decline. The students see much less of the positive aspects of ageing, such as having more free time (13 percent) and having a lifestyle (20 percent).
No gerontologists
Social workers should not become gerontologists. Gerontological professionals see aging as a multidimensional process that is related to biological, psychological and social aspects, while social workers mainly focus on the latter.
Yet gerontology and social work can go hand in hand. The spectrum of health and welfare facilities is wide. Gerontological social workers play an important role in this range of facilities.
‘Gerontology and social work can go hand in hand.’
Social workers possess unique skills, values and roles that are well suited to providing support and educational services to the elderly and those close to them. After all, social workers can work for and with all ages. That is one of their strengths. It makes them ideally suited as bridge builders, between organizations and individuals and between different generations.
So what should be included in the curriculum?
To begin with, the student must be able to reflect on his own frame of reference. The view that the social worker has on the elderly and aging has an impact on his daily social work and dealing with the elderly.
In addition, it is necessary to zoom in on common physical disorders in the elderly that mean loss experiences and functional decline. There should also be a focus on frequent mental health problems and their prevention. Special attention should be paid to dementia – risk factors, symptoms and impact on relationships – and how to create dementia-friendly environments.
A social worker must be able to have conversations with clients and their network that are closely related to the last phase of life. Consider, for example, advance care planning, euthanasia or palliative care. Students should understand the important ethical and legal dimensions of these topics.
Turnaround
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared this decade the decade of healthy ageing. Among our students, too, we must focus on a change in thinking, feeling and acting in relation to age and getting older.
We need to get behind WHO plans and ensure that communities empower older people, provide person-centred care that meets older people’s needs, and open up long-term care to older people who need it. It all starts with the training of young social workers.
By allowing our students to build up expertise on the elderly, we help ensure humane care for current and future generations of the elderly.