Gerontological Social Work in Action Anti-Oppressive Practice with Older Adults, their Families, and Communities

Gerontological Social Work in Action introduces "anti-oppression gerontology" (AOG), a critical approach to social work with older adults, their families, and communities. AOG principles are applied to direct and indirect practice and a range of topics of relevance to social work practice in the context of a rapidly aging and increasingly diverse world.

Weaving together stories from diverse older adults, theories, research, and practical tools, this unique textbook prompts social workers to think differently and push back against oppressive forces. It pays attention to issues, realities, and contexts that are largely absent in social work education and gerontological practice, including important developments in our understanding of age/ism; theories of aging and social work; sites and sectors of health and social care; managing risk and frailty; moral, ethical and legal questions about aging including medical assistance in dying; caregiving; dementia and citizenship; trauma; and much more.

This textbook should be considered essential reading for social work students new to or seeking to specialize in aging, as well as those interested in the application of anti-oppressive principles to working with older adults and researching later life.

List of figures and tables; Preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Part 1: Shifting our lens on gerontological social work; 1. Age/ism: age as a category of difference; 2. Theorizing later life and social work praxis; 3. Sites and sectors of health and social care; Part 2: Doing AOP social work with older adults; 4. Deconstructing risk and frailty; 5. Moral, legal, and ethical issues; 6. Who cares about caregiving?; 7. Dementia, personhood, and citizenship as practice; 8. Mapping trauma across the life course; 9. Mental health, mental wellness, and substance mis/use; 10. Addressing mistreatment and violence; Part 3: Re-visioning gerontological social work; 11. Building inclusive communities; 12. Policy and planning for an aging society; 13. Everyday lives and realities; Concluding thoughts; Index

Wendy Hulko is an associate professor in the School of Social Work and Human Service at Thompson Rivers University. She conducts interdisciplinary research on aging and health with equity-seeking groups, including Secwepemc Elders, racialized older adults, and rural residents. Wendy is co-editor of Indigenous Peoples and Dementia: New Understandings of Memory Loss and Memory Care, published by UBC Press in 2019.

Shari Brotman is an associate professor at the McGill School of Social Work. Her research explores issues of access and equity in the design and delivery of health and social care services to older adults, their families, and communities (racialized, immigrant, and LGBTQ communities). Shari is a member of the Centre for Research and Expertise in Social Gerontology (CREGES).

Louise Stern is the Chair of Social Work at Vancouver Island University. She was a practicing social worker for over 20 years in the field of gerontological social work. Her current research and teaching interests are focussed on trauma and aging, food security issues and older adults, and gerontological curriculum development.

Ilyan Ferrer is an assistant professor in the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Social Work. His research focuses on aging, immigration/migration, and caring labour of racialized communities in Canada. Ilyan also works with qualitative and oral history methodologies and anti-oppressive social work theory and practice.