Motivating Students to Work with Elders

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Motivating Students to Workwith EldersFiona M. Patterson aa Department of Social Work , University ofVermont , 443 Waterman Building, Burlington, VT,05405, USAPublished online: 08 Sep 2008.

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Motivating Studentsto Work with Elders:

A Strengths, Social Construction,and Human Rights

and Social Justice Approach

Fiona M. Patterson

ABSTRACT. At a time when increasing numbers of elders need andcontinue to rely on social work services, it is important to build enthusi-asm among students to prepare them for future work with this specialpopulation. A three-pronged approach to teaching about aging, which isbuilt on the strengths perspective, critical social construction, and a hu-man rights and social justice focus, is recommended. For each part of themethod, a theoretical rationale is outlined, and specific readings, films,music, class exercises, and written assignments to enhance the learningprocess are presented and discussed. [Article copies available for a fee fromThe Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address:<[email protected]> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com>© 2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]

KEYWORDS. Combating agism, strengths approach, narrative voices,alternative constructions of aging

Fiona M. Patterson, DSW, is Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work,University of Vermont, 443 Waterman Building, Burlington, VT 05405.

The author wishes to thank her students, faculty colleagues, family, and the Hart-ford Foundation for their support of her ongoing exploration of aging.

Journal of Teaching in Social Work, Vol. 24(3/4) 2004http://www.haworthpress.com/web/JTSW

© 2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.Digital Object Identifier: 10.1300/J067v24n03_11 165

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BACKGROUND

We live in an era of rapid population growth among the elderly andface many years when social work positions to provide them with ser-vices will also increase. The National Institute on Aging, for example,forecast in 1987 that 40,000 to 50,000 gerontological social workerswould be needed by 2000 and 60,000 to 70,000 by 2020 (Kaufman &Kosberg, 2000, 4). While extensive new projects are being undertakento enhance learning about aging–especially as supported by CSWE andthe Hartford Foundation–it still remains a fact that social work studentsand faculty have been slow in moving towards education for and provi-sion of services to elders. Indeed, instead of increasing, the numbers ofMSW students indicating a desire to work with this population wascited at 5.5% in 1988 research (Committee on Aging, 1993, 6) and, ac-cording to another study, had declined to 3% in 1997 (Kaufman &Kosberg, 2000, 4).

Social work faculty, administrators, and many practitioners in thefield all bear some responsibility for this history because a lack of inter-est, emphasis, field placements, mentors, or role models relating to ag-ing all have impacted the educational and job choices of students.Leadership by professional organizations has also been slow to developor nonexistent:

Finally, the failure of the Council on Social Work Education(CSWE) to mandate specific courses or course content in agingand the lack of advocacy by the National Association of SocialWorkers (NASW) for such education are both seen as contributingto difficulties in recruiting students to gerontological social work.(Kaufman & Kosberg, 2000, 7)

The reasons for this student reticence are clearly complex but do ap-pear to relate to attitudes which permeate our society and devalue el-ders. Age segregation and minimal personal contact with old people isprobably a factor as well:

Negative stereotypes about aging often stem from lack of experi-ence with healthy older adults and susceptibility to pervasive societalmyths and prejudices about aging. (Scharlack, Damron-Rodriquez,Robinson, & Feldman, 2000, 527)

166 JOURNAL OF TEACHING IN SOCIAL WORK

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The most powerful images about the process of aging seem to empha-size degeneration, increasing illness and decreasing social effective-ness, all parts of a dreary downward spiral toward forgetfulness andincompetence (Kane, 1999, 72). The medical model which often framesdiscussions of aging tends to assume that extensive care–if not actualinstitutionalization–is constantly required for elders, though in reality“less than 5% of the older population resides in a nursing home at anygiven time . . .” (Committee on Aging, 1993, 4). Behind stereotypicalthinking about old age lies a profound personal fear: “. . . older persons . . .remind us of our own mortality” (Kelchner, 1999, 91).

Another factor which discourages students from working with theaging population is the idea that such work is poorly paid and carries alow status. Thus, “. . . association with a less-valued group may lead tothe perception that one’s work is less appreciated in the public’s percep-tion” (Kane, 1999, 82). Such negative beliefs reflect widespread soci-etal attitudes and are self-perpetuating. Admittedly, few social workersreceive high pay, so it is generally other factors that draw new recruits tothe profession. However, if one believes that geriatric social work in-volves only routine and repetitive duties with individuals who are frail,dependent, often demented and incapable of change, it is easy to under-stand why: “Working with older people is seen as focusing on custodialactivities that lack the “excitement” and status of other fields of socialwork practice” (Kaufman & Kosberg, 2000, 5).

The reality is that social workers who are employed in settings whichserve elders generally do not have and seem disinclined to undertakespecific training to prepare them for such employment (Committee onAging, 1993, 4). Or to put it another way, “Few of the social servicesprovided to older people today are delivered by professional socialworkers” (Silverstone, 2000, 35-36). It is clear as well, and not very sur-prising, that others are stepping into available positions with “. . . socialworkers losing out to gerontological specialists from other professions”(Kaufman & Kosberg, 2000, 14).

INTRODUCTION

To encourage social work students to engage with issues related togerontology and to prepare them for employment in the field, thiswriter advocates for and has used a three-pronged approach to teach-ing about aging. First, a strengths approach is employed which fea-tures normal aging, enhanced intergenerational relationships, and a

Fiona M. Patterson 167

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practice philosophy of partnership and collaboration in building onan individual’s present skills and resources. Second, a heavy em-phasis is put on being attentive to and learning from elders them-selves and through their narrative writings. To discuss how socialroles and practices are constructed and to liberate stories that arenot often heard, old people’s voices are favored rather than lettingthem be drowned out by those of expert researchers or caretakers.Finally, there is an emphasis–which social work students seem tounderstand and easily identify with–on human rights and social jus-tice as related to aging, in terms particularly of such topics as eco-nomic inequities, elder abuse and neglect, and policy and servicedeficits.

Additionally, my teaching about aging focuses on those whoseuniqueness is sometimes minimized in research or practice provi-sion–elders who are women, people with disabilities, and ethnicminorities–and, instead, I employ literary and narrative readings toconnect with their experiences and needs. Ruth Ray’s 1996 articleentitled “A Postmodern Perspective on Feminist Gerontology” isparticularly valuable in this respect. After pointing out that “thereis far more research on cognitive impairment than on wisdom . . .”(677), she considers the connections between research and prac-tice, asking:

How are the lives of the elderly affected by the practical usesof research? . . . To what extent are academic research and in-stitutional practices structured around promoting older peo-ple’s adaptation to conditions that really should be changed?(Ray, 1996, 678)

In presenting and analyzing the recommended three-part ap-proach, there will be discussion of the rationale and focus as well asreadings, class activities, and assignments used. Examples comefrom this writer’s experiences in teaching “Aging: A Strengths andHuman Rights Perspective,” a course constructed and taught in fall2000, and another entitled “Women and the Experience of Aging,”in summer 2002. In addition, the discussion draws on my experi-ence gained through a variety of graduate and undergraduate inde-pendent studies–in some cases co-constructed with the student(s)to meet their perceived needs–and mentoring of MSW “final proj-ects.”


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THE STRENGTHS PERSPECTIVE

In social work practice the strengths perspective emphasizes a col-laboration between the worker and person worked with which high-lights the unique capacities and resources of each individual. “It is anapproach honoring the innate wisdom of the human spirit, the inherentcapacity for transformation of even the most humbled and abused”(Saleebey, 1997, 3). When we consider aging, life-accumulated strengthswhich can be employed in facing change take on particular importance as apositive alternative to the pervasive medical model of degeneration:

For most older adults, well-being is more than a medical matter.What is equally significant is the ability to contribute and feel use-ful, to prevent or cope with social isolation, and to normalize theroutine of daily life despite . . . disease or illness. (Fast & Chapin,1997, 117)

In order to offer students an alternative view of the aging process andthe richness of elders themselves, courses can focus on positive individualrole models, new roles which involve unique strengths, intergenerationalrelationships, and reconceptualizations of such heavy topics as Alzhei-mer’s disease. To begin with positive models early in the semester, thewomen and aging class students read an article from Smithsonian (May2001) about the life and art of Grandma Moses. This piece provides both asense of American rural and family history and an example of artistic ex-pression begun at an advanced age. Moses’s art celebrated her life whichinvolved much hard work, rich traditions, and set roles which changed littlein old age and in spite of her fame. A sharply contrasting African-American,urban and professional environment–though with similar long and meaning-ful lives–can be found in selections from the Delaney sister’s book abouttheir first hundred years, entitled Having Our Say (1993). Their narrativechronicles the women’s involvement in epochal struggles over civil rights,social justice and gender-related issues that led them to a wise and powerfulold age. Another inspirational group of positive elders are found in the ex-cellent Canadian film, Strangers in Good Company, which documents abus trip, waylaid by engine trouble for three days, during which the multi-cultural group of mostly elderly women practice survival techniques andshare their fascinating life stories. The pace of the film is slow, with won-derful music and bird songs to enhance the audio track, and the individualwomen–mostly playing themselves–provide thoughtful images of ordinarypeople who have optimized their strengths throughout their complex lives.


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Notably, no one is analyzing or exerting power over anyone else and yetthe film discloses multiple acts of leadership, courage, and warm caring be-tween the women.

One dramatic role which students tend to find fascinating because itinvolves young people is that of grandparents raising grandchildren.Both a new human service topic and an amazingly old and pervasivepattern, this type of arrangement often relies on hard won wisdom andmultiple strengths on the part of the elders involved. To be sure, the so-cial welfare response to these families has sometimes been problematic,creating or failing to challenge roadblocks to assistance such as finan-cial support, respite care, and legal advocacy for guardianship or adoption(Generations United, 2002). The fact remains, though, that increasingnumbers of elders are taking on these child-rearing roles in spite of theirfrequent need to keep working and the effects on their physical and mentalhealth. Issues involving elders raising children were presented to stu-dents using Pruchno’s 1993 study of black and white grandmothers andthrough involvement with a conference on the topic organized by thewriter and sponsored by our department. Two students who were doingan independent study on aging and who assisted with the conferencecommented on how informative and spellbinding the experience was,particularly the presentation of a grandparent panel. Actually meetingpeople who were living with the issue being studied and learning abouttheir everyday concerns proved to be a highly effective teaching tool.

Study of other intergenerational relationships intrigue students aswell. It seems helpful, for example, to examine a project of Elders Sharethe Arts that involved a therapeutic coming together of elders who havestruggled with mobility, displacement and immigration and children whoare hurting from the same types of experiences. In this example ofintergenerational arts, depicted by Perstein and Bliss (1994), we read abouta series of group meetings building up to the joining of a holocaust survi-vor’s group with recent immigrant and refugee children from Asia andLatin America. Together, these groups then create songs, stories, and playswhich express the distinctiveness, strengths, and commonalties of theirvarious cultures and histories.

Another way to present a strengths approach to aging can come, sur-prisingly, through deconstructing the fearful subject of Alzheimer’s dis-ease. Indeed, in a 1996 study of Florida social work students, “Over fivesixths (84.85) . . . perceived that the public views elders with Alzhei-mer’s disease negatively” (Kane, 1999, 76). Searching for a presenta-tion of this topic that was not merely medical and depressing, this writerhappened upon Killick’s sensitive article entitled “What Are We Like


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Here?” (1999). Working in a facility for profoundly affected individu-als, Killick came up with the idea of recording residents’ thoughts andideas about their situations. The result was the discovery of materialwith concentrated poetic power:

I have a problemI have a house on either side of the roadBut I only have a room in one of them.How do I cross the busy road?And what happens if I break down in the middle?(Killick, 1999, 48)

Students found this article very moving and the instructor welcomed itas a direct expression of individual experience in contrast to the delugeof examinations of diagnosis, treatment, and family burden. A furtherextraordinary recent effort by a social worker to empower and human-ize individuals grappling with this disease is Speaking Our Minds: Per-sonal Reflections from Individuals with Alzheimer’s (Snyder, 2000).Influenced by a newly diagnosed patient who asked why there was no sup-port group for those with the disease, only for family members, Snyder setout to organize such a group and later collected the individual stories of thegroup’s members. Although such a study cannot take away the enormity ofthe challenges associated with Alzheimer’s, it does individualize the expe-rience and demonstrate amazing strengths which often accompany the be-wilderment and losses.

In addition to reading, viewing, and analyzing specific books, arti-cles, and films that bring a strength perspective to bear on issues relatingto aging, this writer has employed other techniques to deconstruct nega-tive perceptions of this life stage. One involves having students gothrough copies of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)magazine–as the publication one would expect to be most positive aboutthe older population. They are asked to notice article topics, photographs,illustrations, and ads in terms of how they actually present elders, who isthere and who isn’t, what people are wearing and doing, and with what sta-tus implied. Inevitably this leads to fascinating discussions about the factthat elders, and especially women, are still too often invisible in the mediaor presented in either socially accepted poses–as grandparents for exam-ple–or situations where they appear weak or foolish. Articles in the fall2001 issue of Generations, which focuses on “Images of Aging in Mediaand Marketing” can further enhance this exploration and lead to consider-ation of ways to improve the visibility of elders who belie the stereotypes.


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Writing and sharing papers about a past or present relationship with aperson aged 65 or older can also be an affirmative experience, one thatcalls for close observation and analysis of the strengths and challengesthat confront a valued elder. Often the person selected is a grandparent orgreat aunt or uncle and the process involves discussion of complex issuesand relationships and the intensification of ties with that person or, if theyare no longer living, with other family members, friends, or neighbors.

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION

Even though we are frequently taught that the world is composed ofconcrete, scientifically verifiable information and knowledge, as wellas quantifiable events and truths, social construction theory outlines aquite different approach:

Conventional understandings of the world are not primarily basedon observation or the testing of hypotheses. Rather, such under-standings may be dependent more on linguistic convention, cul-tural assumptions, and historical precedents. (Witkin, 1990, 38)

Deeply embedded in such an alternate approach are both the importanceof language and the variations in power and position which come tothose with dominant or repressed voices. In the case of elders–espe-cially from the beginning of the 20th century–old age has gradually be-come devalued and stigmatized as “a result of changing values thatemphasized achievement rather than traditional authority” (Wang, 1999).Being young and active is constructed as virtuous and productive while

the negative public image of the elderly has emerged as a norm, or-ganizing all levels of social life for both the young as well as theold and pathologizing old age as a ‘social problem.’ (Wang, 1999,189)

The issue of language is a profound one as related to aging. In a cul-ture where naming a person as old can be experienced as highly insult-ing, the very definitions of who is old, when, and from what perspectiveare both important and challenging. As Ray perceptively asks:


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To what extent does language construct the field of gerontology?That is, what frames of reference structure interpretations? Whatmeanings are privileged? What meanings are ignored or discour-aged? (Ray, 1996, 677)

For those who are comparatively powerless and invisible in public dis-course, old age is likely to bring additional stigma and loss of voice. Forthese reasons, in working with social work students, it seems vital toemphasize cultural diversity, the least visible elders, the complex mean-ings of language and the liberating power of an individual narrativethrough short stories, songs, autobiography, and co-constructed inter-views and observation experiences.

The tittle piece of Barbara Kingsolver’s collection of short stories en-titled Homeland (1989) unfolds a compelling story of cultural diversityand aging. A Native American grandmother, her son, his Caucasian wife,and their children return to visit the area where the old woman was born. Inthe process, layers of relationships with family members–especially thegranddaughter–are peeled back to reveal both cultural richness and gradualloss for the elder woman through forced assimilation into the dominant cul-ture. Another powerful rendering of cultural diversity and experienced ver-sus socially defined realities appears in Velma Wallis’s retelling of anAthabascan Indian story passed down from her mother, Two Old Women:An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage, and Survival (1993). Here a no-madic tribe experiencing a brutal winter leaves behind two elder womenwho, in spite of incredible obstacles and an initial lack of confidence intheir skills, manage to survive and eventually thrive during the ensuingyear. This dramatic story fascinates students with its survival details, richcultural setting, and riveting life stories revealed by each woman. Thephysical challenges of old age are neither denied nor problematized as thewomen demonstrate wisdom, humor, and reapplied early learning in theprocess of reinventing their world.

Looking at elders who are least visible because of their sexual choices,memory loss, disability, or location in a rural setting, we explore an-other group of narratives constructed from a nondominant vantagepoint. Leffland’s story, “The Linden Tree” (1997), for example, de-scribes the relationship between and final illness of one of two long-time gay partners. The men come from very different ethnic and racialbackgrounds and react in divergent ways to key events in their lives to-gether and, finally, to the imminent death of Giulio.

Two pieces that explore memory loss and confusion in old age (in cir-cumstances perhaps exacerbated by repressive living situations)–Tetu’s


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“Oh, That Shoestore Used to Be Mine” (1987), and Labozzetta’s “Mak-ing the Wine” (1987)–present touching stories which mix past and pres-ent time. Failing memory leads, in each case, to an elder womanconstructing a new, poignant but also brutally logical retelling of pastevents and relationships. Rural elders, too, may be largely invisible ortaken for granted, especially in terms of changing patterns of familycomposition which no longer guarantee that they will live with youngerfamily members. Dena Shenk’s Old, Female, and Rural (1998) includesan informative case study of a woman who moves from independent livingon her farm through disability, the loss of her husband, and, finally, to anursing home setting. She is simultaneously outspoken about her dislike ofher final residence and informative about the very real challenges–such asweather, endless work and poverty–she has grappled with during her lifeon the farm.

An in-depth interview with an elder is perhaps the most important as-signment used in teaching aging from a social constructionist perspec-tive. In the process students have connected on the front porch with aneighbor who has no family, experienced the terminal illness of a friendwho is a nursing home resident, and gained new family history and per-spectives from a parent or grandparent. The interview is likely to bemost successful when the student has prepared for it through much ofthe semester. Readings, discussion, preparation of sample questions,and thoughtful consideration of ethical and logistical issues pave theway for the actual interaction. For MSW students doing a lengthy quali-tative interview, an application to the Institutional Review Board mustalso be completed in advance.

Several helpful articles can be used to introduce students to the chal-lenge of co-constructing and understanding life stories of elders. Ray’s“Social Influences on the Older Woman’s Life Story” (1999-2000) fo-cuses on the complex ways in which gender, race, class, ethnicity, andage interact in “the process of bringing the stories of one’s life more inline with lived experience and in assuming a more assertive role in con-structing these stories” (Ray, 1999-2000, 61). In terms of examiningseveral specific ethnic group story elements, Mokuau and Browne out-line “Life Themes of Native Hawaiian Female Elders” (1994) in an ef-fort to pinpoint themes and values that have both traditionally preservedculture and are now threatened with extinction. Finally, a book about in-terviewing grandparents (Schlesinger, 1998) provides students with so-ciological theory, methodology, and concrete examples of actual inter-views representing multiple ethnic groups.


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Another exercise this writer has found useful in courses on aging fo-cuses on students’ present and future experiences by encouraging themto imagine being 80 years old. Building on an exercise by Fast andChapin (2000), they are asked to shut their eyes and think about a num-ber of aspects of their own situation as an octogenarian including wherethey will be living and with whom, how they will be spending theirtime, and what they will look like. Next they open their eyes and aregiven a list of similar questions and asked to write down responses.Some of these have come out to be quite creative and poetic–for exam-ple, one described how she planned to be living in a house full of flow-ers beside a lake and actively interacting with friends and family. Asecond assignment that can generate illuminating class discussion in-volves a short paper where the student is asked to observe or eavesdropon one or more older persons in a public place (park, mall, bus, laundro-mat, or store, for example) and briefly describe and interpret the situa-tion and what they heard or saw. This assignment sometimes triggersquite a search, encourages an examination of language and meaningsheard, fosters new ways of looking, and leads to the realization that el-ders may not be noticed in the everyday lives of the students.

HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Social work is a profession built on the assumption that all peoplehave basic human rights and that a critical part of our mandate is to workactively for social justice on their behalf. Our Code of Ethics instructsus to “promote policies that safeguard the rights of and confirm equityand social justice for all people” (NASW, 1999,7). Similarly, the 1948Universal Declaration of Human Rights begins with “. . . recognition ofthe inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all mem-bers of the human family . . . ” (Mittal & Rosset, 1999, 191). Our profes-sion’s engagement with such concepts, therefore, is pivotal as

frequently, social work practice is directed toward the fulfillmentof human needs as they occur in environments that will not or can-not sustain them. Working with and on behalf of people living inthis context creates contradictions which demand social workers’recognition of economically, socially, culturally, and politicallyconstructed barriers. (Dewees & Roche, 2001, 138)


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For elders, unfulfilled economic needs, political disenfranchisement,devaluing of cultural distinctions, and widely accepted stereotypes ofweakness can lead to diminished rights and unjust life situations. Onetask for social workers, then, is to become actively involved in facilitat-ing resistance to the status quo. Guided by the insights of pioneeringcritics such as Foucault:

. . . we should stop interpreting, perpetuating, and pathologizingthe lives of the older people who seek help from us by droppingour impersonal professional categories, which eliminate and ex-clude the diversity of their lived experiences. What Foucault askedof us is to listen to the lived experience, the struggle and resistanceof the elderly, and to foster their capacity as well as ours to resistthe subjugation of subjectivity to the dominant discourse of oldage. (Wang, 1999, 214)

Teachers can operationalize these mandates through consideration ofeconomic entitlement with emotional security, self-determination, mul-ticultural struggles, activism, and self-help. One article this writer hasfound helpful in stimulating discussion of economic disparities isGonyea’s comparison of the myth of the advantaged elder with thefeminization of poverty (1994). While primarily focusing on gender dif-ference–though in ways that equally apply to race and social class–sheestablishes that the myth of financially secure elders, especially underSocial Security and Medicare, is one that primarily describes certaingroups of aging white men. Building onto Gonyea’s insights, studentsalso read an article (Cox, 2001) about the problems that many contem-porary elder women face as a result of inadequate or nonexistent pen-sions and insufficient funds for retirement. My young female studentshad an especially strong reaction to this material as they could connect itdirectly to their own possible futures as well as to those of family, friends,and clients. A somewhat more abstract approach to financial security inold age appears in Cole and Stevenson’s article (1999-2000) aboutmeaning and security in old age. They point out that “Social Security (aswell as Medicare) is premised on the idea that older Americans have aneed for–and a corresponding right to–security” (76). Going beyond thepractical urgency of ensuring adequate finances for the elder, thesewriters also critique the narrowness of our conceptualization of securityin old age:


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Our cult of independence is inevitably–and ironically–plagued bya lack of true security and, ultimately, by a lack of meaning . . . So-cial Security reform and aging policy in the United States need to besocially and spiritually sound as well. (Cole & Stevenson, 1999-2000, 76)

A specific aspect of economic and emotional security in old age can beillustrated for students by a powerful song entitled “No Tears for theWidow” (Small, 1990). It describes the situation for a bereaved lesbianpartner with no standard recognized status of widow, ensuing benefits,or institutionalized emotional support.

Self-determination is a complex topic, which, when it comes to ag-ing, almost inevitably interfaces with conceptions of competence andelder abuse and neglect. One helpful tool for approaching this issue isthe 1985 film A Trip to Bountiful. Set in the South in the 1940s, it focuseson a triad of mother, son, and daughter-in-law, all of whom have compli-cated and conflicting goals and motivations. The older woman harbors apassionate desire to use her Social Security check–rather than signing itover to her daughter-in-law as is usually required–to take a trip back to thesmall rural town of her earlier life. The younger woman is arguably at leastpsychologically abusive of her mother-in-law, while the son is torn be-tween his affections for each woman as well as his preoccupation with hisown job situation. The film effectively demonstrates the complexities ofidentifying abuse and of defining competence (in actuality a category thatcan only be legally established) as related to self-determination for olderadults. Additional helpful readings on elder abuse can be found in Quin andTomita’s book (1997) and a special issue of Generations magazine (2000)entitled “Abuse and Neglect of Older People.”

A multicultural treatment of self-determination is found in Bontempspowerful story entitled “A Summer Tragedy” (1997). An elderly AfricanAmerican sharecropper and his wife are dressing up for a final journeywhich they have very deliberately decided to take. Years of poverty, thedeaths of all their children, and their own failing health have left themdetermined to end their lives. After some initial anguish and indecision,they are in perfect control as the story closes. Students report that theyalmost rejoice with the couple’s decision while also experiencing angerat the injustices that have led to it. Where are the couple’s rights to a de-cent life in old age? Where is the public welfare policy response? A sim-ilar approach, in terms of care provision for elders, can be found inselections from Diamond’s fine ethnographic study of a nursing home(1992) which lays out the primary issues and conflicts which arise in in-


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stitutional settings where self-determination can be a scarce commod-ity.

A further consideration which seems important to include in a courseon aging is how elders have actually become active themselves in pur-suing issues of social justice in their own lives. I have used two readingsto address such elder activism and self-help. Smallen and Kane (1999)studied twenty four activists between 66 and 91 years old, looking par-ticularly at how their activities with such groups as the Gray Panthersand the Older Women’s League included a focus on self-care. Organiz-ing their own cooperative housing and hiring a social worker of theirchoice are examples of activities which these researches identified.Similarly, Kaye’s Self-Help Support Groups for Older Women (1997)describes groups where:

. . . women help each other cope with problems and share joys,wisdom, and pain, as well as overcome stereotypes of aging andtake control of their lives. The groups become families. (Kaye,1997, 29)

An assignment which illustrates the importance of human rights andsocial justice in working with the older population provides a basis forcritiquing present policy and practice responses to identified needs. Theclass is divided into small groups each of which receives a newspaperaccount involving elders. They are asked to examine it in terms of theservices provided, what rights they relate to, how they could be im-proved upon, and what benefits and losses would ensue if changes weremade in the situation described.

CONCLUSION

Although this profession’s response to the challenges posed bylengthening life spans has been slow, the writer believes that socialwork has much to contribute to supporting, advocating for, and workingto improve the quality of life of elders. In order to move beyond uncriti-cal acceptance of powerful medical, psychiatric, and sometimes stereo-type-based theory and research about the aging process, we need toreeducate ourselves and inspire students to serve this population moreresponsively and creatively. Using a narrative perspective with relianceon the richness of direct interviews and literary and autobiographical


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works, I have sought to focus on content relating to strengths, socialconstruction, and human rights and social justice.

Anonymous student evaluations in my courses appear enthusiasticabout this approach. In answer to questions about the most beneficialaspect, for example, one student commented that “the course was veryinformative and challenged me to think about aging in a different way,creating a new awareness,” while another declared, “I really changedmy views on gerontology and aging.” Class members clearly agreedthat, as one put it, “This is an important area where social workers needto be knowledgeable and informed!” Moreover, they were enthusiasticabout looking beyond the usual social scientific sources: “I liked thediscussion of readings, linking them to life experiences . . . the strengthapproach. I feel much more positive about the aging process.” Buildingconnections to the stories of real people, as well as their own lives, doestend to help students see the challenges and importance of social worktaking a key role in practice and policy responses to the needs of elders.Through a combination of short stories, selected academic articles,films, songs, class activities and discussion, and research and reactionpapers, it does seem possible to awaken a strong interest in aging amongstudents, an interest which can lead them to choose careers workingwith older adults.

REFERENCES

Bontemps, A. (1997). A summer tragedy. Stoller, E.P. & Gibson, R.C. (Eds.), Worlds ofdifference: Inequality in the aging experience, 280-285. Thousand Oaks, CA: PineForge Press.

Cole, T.R., & Stevenson, D.G. (1999-2000). The meaning of aging and the future of so-cial security. Generations, xxiii (4): 72-76.

Committee on Aging. (1993). A guide for recruiting social workers to the field of aging.Florida Chapter: National Association of Social Workers, Inc.

Cox, M. (2001). A special report: Fixing retirement. Ms. Magazine, xi (2): 58-65.Delany, S., & Delany, A.E. (1993). Having our say: The Delany sister’s first 100 years.

New York: Kodansha International.Dewees, M., & Roche, S.E. (2001). Teaching about human rights in social work. Jour-

nal of Teaching in Social Work, 21 (1/2): 137-155.Diamond, T. (1992). Making gray gold: Narratives of nursing home care. Chicago: The

University of Chicago Press.Fast, B., & Chapin, R. (2000). Strength-based care management for older adults. Balti-

more: Health Professions Press.Generations (2000). Abuse and neglect of older people. xxiv (11).Generations (2001). Images of aging in media and marketing. xxv (3).


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Generations United (2002). Organization handouts and conference presentation by Mag-gie Biscarr, 4/12/02.

Gonyea, J.G. (1994). The paradox of the advantaged elder and the feminization of pov-erty. Social Work, 39 (1): 35-41.

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Kaufman, A.V., & Kosberg, J.I. (2000). Recruiting social work students into gerontogicalcareers: A challenge for social work education. Presented at the Annual Program Meet-ing of the Council on Social Work Education, NY, February 2000.

Kaye, L.W. (1997). Self-help support groups for older women: Rebuilding elder networksthrough personal empowerment. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.

Kelchner, E. S. (1999). Ageism’s impact and effect on society: Not just a concern forthe old. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 32 (4): 85-100.

Killick, J. (1999). ‘What are we like here?’: Eliciting experiences of people with de-mentia. Generations, xxiii (3): 46-49.

Kingsolver, B. (1989). Homeland. New York: Harper and Row.Labossetta, M. (1987). Making the wine. When I am an old woman I shall wear purple:

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Leffland, E. (1997). The linden tree. Worlds of difference, 233-241.Mittal, A., & Rosset, P. (Eds.) (1999). America needs human rights. Oakland, California:

Food First Books.Mokuau, N., & Browne, C. (1994). Life themes of native Hawaiian female elders: Re-

sources for cultural preservation. Social Work, 39 (1): 43-49.National Association of Social Workers. (1999). NASW Code of Ethics. Washington,

DC: NASW.Perlstein, S., & Bliss, J. (1994). Generating community: Intergenerational partnership

through the expressive arts. New York: Elders Share the Arts.Pruchno, R. (1999). Raising grandchildren: The experience of black and white grand-

mothers. The Gerontologist, 39 (2): 209-221.Quinn, M.J., & Tomita, S.K. (1997). Elder abuse and neglect: Causes, diagnosis, and in-

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Documents

Motivating Students to Work with Elders