Gerontological Social Work in Action

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.

"This outstanding book is an excellent addition to the growing canon of anti-oppressive social work theory and practice. Through meticulous research and clear examples, the authors re-envision gerontological social work in exciting ways that challenge intersecting layers of social injustice and instead, advance inclusive, emancipatory, and decolonizing practice and theory." Donna Baines, PhD, MSW, Professor and Director, School of Social Work, University of British Columbia-Vancouver, Canada"By centering on the voices and lived experiences of historically marginalized older adults, this book offers a cutting edge and ground-breaking analysis of anti-oppressive gerontological social work theory and practice. It illustrates how age/ageism is not a monolithic concept and experience, but rather intersectional, transnational, and intergenerational. This book is ideal reading for social work students, scholars, and practitioners as they would be able to fine-tune their engagement with anti-oppressive gerontological social work practice, and to respect and honor the intersectional lives of historically marginalized older adults across the life course." Fritz Pino, MSW, PhD, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social Work, University of Regina, Canada"Gerontological social work practice in Canada has suffered from the paucity of attention to applying critical, social justice-oriented lenses to practice with older adults. This book makes a vital contribution to responding to this significant gap. It clearly articulates a framework for understanding and doing anti-oppressive gerontological (AOG) practice that I expect will become an essential foundational text for preparing social workers for practice in this area." Deborah O'Connor, PhD, RSW, Professor, School of Social Work and Co-Director, Centre for Research on Personhood in Dementia (CRPD), University of British Columbia, Canada

• 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