Abstract
Definition
Social workers, often with relevant education and/or certification in geriatric or gerontological practice, serving older adults and their families in adjusting to biopsychosocial and environmental challenges associated with aging into the latter decades of the life course, ongoing challenges which persist from earlier stages of life, or their intersections.
Overview
Today’s older adults have lived through a transformational era where population aging radically altered the landscape of families, communities, politics, economics, and health-care systems. In the year 1900, older adults accounted for only 4% of the US population. This proportion grew to 8% by 1946 – the year when the baby boomer generation began – and then continued to increase to 13% by 2010. The US Census Bureau projects that older adults will account for over 20% of the population by 2050 (Vincent and Velkoff 2010). Longer lifespans are the...