The field of social work offers a variety of areas of practice and populations with which to work. Young children, adolescents, and the elderly are groups often served by social workers. As each age group has a unique set of needs, social workers must develop skills to best meet the needs of each group.
This video presents social work with the elderly from the perspective of several new social work students, and shows various interventions with older clients, from groups to home visits. One intern is shown planning and facilitating a “checking in” group for older clients. The group members quickly become engaged and begin to generate discussions on their own, showing the significance of the support the group provides. Other interns are shown helping clients arrange for in-home help, a common intervention with elderly clients whose concrete needs are often neglected. These interns must also address their clients’ resistance to help and their fear of losing independence. In addition to these interventions, interns are shown having regular meetings with their clients, talking about their week and providing clients with some much-needed interaction. This intervention illustrates the importance of listening in social work, and helps the elderly clients through their feelings of isolation.
The social work interns exhibit personal and professional growth as the video progresses. They learn how to engage their elderly clients, what health and safety matters to address, and how to help their clients accept the eventual termination of their work together. Through it all, their supervisors are seen guiding them and offering thought-provoking suggestions. The supervisors encourage the interns who are dealing with resistant clients, validate them for the support they are providing, and challenge them to look at themselves when feelings of ageism arise.
This video offers a fundamental look at the responsibilities and skills of social workers who work with the elderly, and the learning process of students as they hone those skills.
