What Do We Do Differently with Elderly Clients?

Abstract

A survey of subscribers to the Journal of Gerontological Social Work revealed that respondents perceive practice with the elderly to differ in several ways from practice with younger persons. They perceive themselves to be more active with the elderly; touch the elderly to show more caring; and use reminiscence for coping now; to make the self vivid, and to recapture and reaffirm the self. Also reported was a greater likelihood of being perceived as an authority figure; and having evoked in them issues of late life dependency, concerns about their own parents, concerns about helplessness in late life, and awareness of fears of personal death. These differences in practice are, apparently, common to all workers transcending age, amount of formal education, years of experience, treatment orientation, work setting, primary roles and percent of time spent with the elderly.