Editors: Marcia Spira, Teresa Kilbane

Older Women: Current and Future Challenges of Professionals with an Aging Population

eBook: US $39 Special Offer (PDF + Printed Copy): US $151
Printed Copy: US $131
Library License: US $156
ISBN: 978-1-68108-350-6 (Print)
ISBN: 978-1-68108-349-0 (Online)
Year of Publication: 2016
DOI: 10.2174/97816810834901160101

Introduction

Older Women: Current and Future Challenges of Professionals With An Aging Population is about older women and the unique challenges they face now and in coming decades. Elderly women face problems that require response from multiple service providers in the social welfare, health care and legal sectors. Due to the complexity of the various issues and the multi-systemic responses required to address these problems among diverse groups, an interdisciplinary perspective in a multicultural context needs to be examined. This book is an attempt to explain the multidisciplinary facets of social work with elderly women. Readers are also introduced to the ethical issues and challenges caused by economic disparities and are also provided with guidelines on potential responses and intervention strategies to such difficulties. Readers are also introduced to the concept of cultural competence in terms of working with aged women. The integration of theory, research and practice in this book makes it a valuable resource for academicians and working professionals who are or will be in frequent contact with older adults.

Foreword

The statistics are astounding. Between the years 2000 and 2040, the population of older adults in the United States will more than double, to the point that one in five people you see on the street will be older than 65. Over half of those older people will be women. Many of those women will be widows. Many will live alone. Many will be fighting poverty while still more will be providing care for another person while also caring for themselves. In the face of these growing numbers, we cannot afford not to think about aging for the sake of our communities and the sake of our friends, neighbors, family members, and colleagues who will be the 79.7 million older Americans in 2040.

The numbers tell both a tale of caution and one of opportunity for women, as you will read in this book. The experience of aging for women can be a time of struggle and challenge – both anticipated and unexpected – especially for those who are not prepared to be older. Today we live in a world where no one teaches us how to age, and women are particularly vulnerable as they face a reality of living longer, potentially alone, with limited resources and a shrinking network of support.

But aging does not have to be a time of trauma if we continue to talk and think and plan. It does not have to be a time of stigma if we acknowledge that people are aging all around us, and we are aging with them. Knowing what we know, we are at a pivotal moment right now where we can change the experience of aging for women for the better if we are willing to speak up, and loudly, about what it means to be an aging woman. This book from some of the aging field’s most respected thinkers starts the conversation.

Robyn L. Golden
Director of Health and Aging
Rush University Medical Center
710 South Paulina Street Suite 422
Chicago, Illinois 60612
USA


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