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Understanding Our Aging Society - Social Work Contributions
The aging of our society, both in the United States and globally, demands an increased focus on aging within the social work profession and the preparation of more social workers skilled in working with older people and their families. In this edition of the NASW Research Page, the Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research (IASWR) highlights current aging relevant research across many domains, identifies gaps in our current knowledge, and suggests recommendations for future research endeavors.
What is gerontological social work research?
Social work researchers address the following issues:
- Financial well-being
- Family care-giving
- Mental health
- The health consequences of aging
- Kinship care
- Care management
- Life roles and relationships
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- End of life care
- Living arrangements
- Autonomy
- Prevention
- Aging in diverse communities
- Resource usage
- Service delivery structures
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The research foci are at the individual, family, group, agency
and community levels, and address social work interventions;
social workers as members of interdisciplinary teams; descriptive
studies of client and caregiver characteristics; and issues
related to the social work labor market.
Who funds gerontological social work research?
Support for gerontological social work research comes from
many federal agencies, including several institutes at the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), the Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality (AHRQ), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
(CMS), the Administration on Aging (AoA), the Department of
Veteran's Affairs (VA), and the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD).
Additional support also comes from national foundations (e.g.,
the John A. Hartford Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Soros Foundation);
state and local agencies; community agencies and foundations;
and academic institutions.
Click here for more information on foundation-supported projects.
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