Social Work With Older People in a Hospital Setting

Abstract

This article is a call for those who design social work courses to recognize the complexity and richness of aged care social work in health care and to social workers to shake off ageist attitudes and consider working with older people as a positive option in this rapidly expanding area of social work practice. A mixture of practice experience together with findings from the literature, this article explores social work practice with older people in hospital settings. Social work with older people has both therapeutic and practical components. The importance of integrating a therapeutic approach into all aspects of social work practice with this population cannot be overestimated.

Keywords:

• aging
• hospital social work
• education

Acknowledgments

We thank the social work manager Frances Taylor and the multidisciplinary aged care team at St. Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, for their support in writing this article. Thanks also to the peer reviewers who helped to make this a more focused article.