The essential purpose of this book is to provide practitioners and students of the human service professions with a practice approach and methodology that has been developed over the past ten years in both research and clinical work with older persons. It is concerned with the kinds of emotional prob lems that are salient and pervasive in the second half of life, that is, from about the ages of 50 on into the 60s, 70s, and 80s. These problems are often related to inevitable developmental and situational events and losses, as well as the decrements and concerns that are prevalent in the latter decades of life: physical decline and illness, loss of loved ones, concerns about one's own mortality, loss of major occupational and family roles, and the issues of meaning in and about one's life which are raised by these losses and concerns. The approach to these problems will include a range of assessment and treatment methods for counseling and psychotherapy. It will, however, em phasize two particular kinds of methods for dealing with these problems. The first of these, cognitive methods, tend to focus on how older persons think about or construe these problems whereas phenomenological methods focus on how persons experience or feel about them. What is common to both is that they are oriented toward the person's perception of the prob lem.

Working with older people has become an increasingly important part of social work education and practice. Whether studying community care, adult services, human growth and development, or social work processes and interventions, this book will be a vital source of information and help. Working with Older People provides a framework of knowledge, skills and values pertinent to qualifying social work courses and the new post-qualifying award in Social Work with Adults, including discussion of: ideas about human development and theories of older age legislation, social policy and social welfare skills for working with older people assessment and care planning partnership working. Written by two experienced educators and practitioners, this key text facilitates individual or group learning through features such as objectives for each chapter, case studies and further reading suggestions. There are numerous activities throughout the book and the final chapter contains pointers to consider for all of the activities. It will be essential reading for social work students and qualified social workers.

Beginning with an overview of the changing world of aging, this book goes on to address practical principles and guidelines for group work.

This text fills a gap for an accessible textbook which takes a person-centred approach to working with older people by providing readers with a basic knowledge of policy, legislation, theory and research.

This second edition looks in detail at the role of the social worker who engages with older people. It enables the reader to develop the key skills required to understand the mental and physical needs of older people in society while encouraging plenty of discussion and critical, independent thought. Furthermore, this book is a source of contemporary research and offers the reader insights into government legislation and policy. It is an essential read for any student who wants to develop a distinctive focus on social work with older people.