Biopsychosocial Holistic Approach
The assessment and incorporation of a client’s spirituality has become increasingly common in the field of social work. While historically social workers were trained to avoid discussions centered on religion, we now know that spirituality encompasses many ways of believing. “The Society for Spirituality and Social Work is a network of social workers and other helping professionals dedicated to spiritually sensitive practice and education” (Society for Spirituality and Social Work, n.d.). Addressing a client’s spirituality allows for a biopsychosocial holistic approach that can aid in the process of understanding illness, disability, and end-of-life issues.
For this Discussion, review the required resources and locate one scholarly article addressing spirituality with the elderly.
By Day 3
Post your explanation of the significance of addressing spirituality with the elderly. Identify a spiritually based intervention for this population. Describe the effectiveness of the use of spirituality with the elderly as found in the literature. Then, describe your own thoughts on the use of spirituality in an intervention.
ORIGINAL PAPER
The Meaning of ‘‘Place’’ to Older Adults
Jeanne Sokolec1
Published online: 16 July 2015
� Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015
Abstract Social workers are well-equipped to work with
older adults and their families. The life course perspective
provides a framework for seeing older adulthood as a stage
of life in the continuum of life as well as a stage with its
own characteristics and tasks. All the roles within social
work practice can be adapted to this population. In addi-
tion, social workers working with older adults and their
families must be cognizant of the specific issues that are
associated with aging and older adulthood. The issue of
loss on many levels is a frequent topic. One area of loss
that is not frequently addressed is the loss associated with
where one lives. The word place can have several mean-
ings. One meaning has to do with where one lives. The
second meaning of loss is about one’s status and role—
place-in-society. For older adults both meanings become
important issues as they and their families navigate the
decisions that have to be made. While residence is based on
the level of independence and competence of the older
adult, the issue of place-as-status is a constant frustration
for older adults. Issues of leaving one’s place and losing
status in the eyes of others evoke a myriad of feelings
depending on the particular older adult. But given that as
one ages there are naturally some physical and mental
acuity losses, every older adult is subject to feelings of
sadness, depression, hopelessness, and even anger. These
feelings are natural responses to loss. Among the roles of
social workers working with older adults is one of helping
a mourning process move to a healthy acceptance of one’s
aging and planning rather than devolving into major
depression.
Keywords Older adults � Aging � Ageing issues � Social worker role
Introduction
The literature on older adulthood consistently reports that
there is a shortage of professionals to work with the older
adult population (Hartford Foundation 2011; National
Association of State Mental Health Program Directors
2014; Eldercare Alliance Network 2015). Among these
professionals are social workers and especially those who
provide services on a direct practice basis. Social workers
are educated about the tasks and issues of the life stages
across the life course. Until more recently older adulthood
was treated as the end stage where individuals reflected on
their lives while waiting to die. Similar to other life phases,
older adults are not a homogenous group in many factors.
One of these factors is their state of health. It is unrealistic
to think that older adults will not have a variety of ailments
but the nature and severity of these ailments are dependent
on a host of factors and experiences earlier in their lives or
acquired as they age. Thanks to the few geriatric social
workers and researchers we now know that there is much
more happening during older adulthood than was thought
about previously. Recognizing the variation in functioning
of older adults, social workers are not only working with
diminished older adults but older adults who are healthier
and more active. These clients in turn may, according to
Ruffin and Kaye (2006), bring higher expectations for their
lives to the counseling relationship (p. 529).
& Jeanne Sokolec jsokole@luc.edu
1 School of Social Work, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago,
IL 60611, USA
123
Clin Soc Work J (2016) 44:160–169
DOI 10.1007/s10615-015-0545-2
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0295-6650
http://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.1007/s10615-015-0545-2&domain=pdf
http://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.1007/s10615-015-0545-2&domain=pdf
One major concern for older adults and their families is
where they are going to live as they age. Some older adults
will not have options about their residence because of the
resources they do not have or the level of care that is
needed. However, there are an increasing number of older
adults who have both the resources and the health to make
choices about both how and where they want to live.
Housing as an issue is not a new problem that social
workers address with their clients. For older adults housing
issues are more than about addresses. Along with the
physical structure of housing are emotional issues related
to the particular address. Borrowing from other authors,
Gonyea (2006) stated this very well saying that:
…housing is about much more than a physical space or structure. Rather, a home serves multiple functions
and has a deeper meaning. A home offers individuals
a safe haven and protection from the intrusion of the
outside world. One’s home and neighborhood are a
crucial piece of one’s self-identity and evoke a sense
of belonging. For many older adults, a home is a
highly cherished symbol of their independence and
dignity (p. 559).
Geriatric social workers are cognizant of the many
issues older adults have in order to provide the best practice
for their clients. Housing is an example of a common issue
for older adults that involves social work interventions at
micro, mezzo and macro levels. At the micro, direct level,
social workers may be directly involved in locating hous-
ing options and facilitating transitions. As the direct prac-
titioners social workers have to encourage the client to
address whatever underlying feelings the older adult has
about their future. Given their knowledge about the older
adult life stage and the varying needs of older adults, social
workers can be instrumental at the mezzo level in helping
older adult facilities to have appropriate programs. Policies
and programs are behind in terms of the increasing num-
bers of older adults needing policies to provide resources
and programs to provide services. Social workers in macro
roles are a key source of knowledge to policymakers and
the departments that implement policy.
In the literature about older adulthood, and even in
public policies, the terms ‘‘aging-in-place, healthy aging
and active aging’’ (World Health Organization 2002; White
Conference on Aging 2015) have become the organizing
principles for thinking about the lives of older adults.
A Policy Brief from the 2015 White House Conference on
Aging committee has stated:
Healthy aging means more than just managing and
preventing disease and chronic conditions. It also
means continuing to live a productive, meaningful
life by having the option to stay in one’s home,
remain engaged in the community, and maintain
social well-being. Older adults may require other
services and supports, including social and commu-
nity services, and age-friendly communities, in order
to maximize their independence.
Aging-in-place is generally is meant to promote older
adults continuing to live in their own homes, or at least in
the community, as opposed to some type of care center. A
central component for aging in place is the concept of
choice, which is allowing the older adult to determine their
own living arrangements (Australian Psychological Society
Ltd 1999). Sijuwade (2009) has framed aging as:
…occurring in a societal context, ranging from the micro scale of the family to the macro scale of the
society. This context includes the attitudes, stereo-
types and age norms, which determine age appro-
priate behavior for the aged (social-image). Further,
the aged have an image of themselves (self-image)
and an image of how they feel, the ‘others’ in the
society perceive them (image of social image). The
societal attitudes shape the social behavior towards
the aged. The interactions of the aged in the social
environment result in the self-image of the aged
being reinforced by the social image (p. 1).
The World Health Organization has defined healthy
aging as ‘‘… the process of optimizing opportunities for health, participation and security in order to enhance
quality of life as people age. It applies to both individuals
and population groups’’ (WHO 2002, p. 11). In this defi-
nition active is not merely physical moving or working but
the more holistic conceptualization of participation. The
Minnesota Department of Health (n.d.) defined healthy
aging as:
… the development and maintenance of optimal mental, social and physical well-being and function
in older adults. This is most likely to be achieved
when communities are safe, promote health and well-
being, and use health services and community pro-
grams to prevent or minimize disease (p. ii).
Taken together these concepts become the framework
for Aging Friendly Cities or the newer phrase used by the
World Health Organization: Age Friendly World (WHO
2014). In strength-based, empowerment based practices the
social worker will as much as possible honor client self-
determination and encourage the older…
