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Social Work with Aging Populations
Click on each question to check your answer.
1. Why might a homeless adult be considered older at age 50?
Homeless adults may be considered older at 50 because they tend to have a lower life expectancy and experience health-related issues at an earlier age than non-homeless adults.
2. What are the three tiers of Canada’s pension system?
The first tier includes pensions available to Canadians regardless of their work history (OAS and GIS). The second tier includes pensions that are comprised of employee/employer contributions (CPP/QPP). The amount drawn at 65 is directly related to work history. The third tier includes private pensions where an individual contributes over time what he or she can (e.g., RRSPs). Like the first tier, benefits are not attached to work history.
3. What are the similarities and differences between activity theory and the successful aging paradigm?
Both theories attribute positive aging to individual behaviour. Activity theory suggests that remaining active and engaged in social roles helps to preserve self-worth and satisfaction in old age. Successful aging goes further, suggesting that individuals have the capacity to prevent disease and minimize functional decline through diet, exercise, and active engagement in life. Both perspectives suggest that remaining engaged in older age is important.
4. What is mandatory retirement?
Mandatory retirement is a policy that forces workers to exit the workforce based solely on age. It is now considered discriminatory in Canada and has been abolished in all sectors.
5. Why might caregivers feel abandoned by health and social services when their caregiving has ended?
Most caregivers come into contact with health and social services because the person they are caring for is receiving services. When that person dies, services are immediately withdrawn. In many cases, caregivers have developed relationships with workers either in home care or long-term care, and this automatic withdrawal constitutes another loss.
6. What are activities of daily living and why are they important for older adults?
Activities of daily living is a term used in health care to refer to one’s capacity to perform daily self-care activities such as feeding, bathing, dressing, and grooming. Access to publicly funded services such as home care and long-term care is typically only provided in Canada when older adults have limitations in these areas. Most people over 65 in Canada do not have these limitations, but when they do, support from family or health and social services is required.
7. Why are rural areas in Canada aging?
Canada’s rural population is aging due to the combination of the aging of long-time residents, the in-migration of retired older adults, and the out-migration of young adults and families. As a result, the proportion of people below 20 has dropped and the proportion of people 65 or over has increased.
8. What are some of the barriers to identifying and treating depression in later life?
Barriers to identification and treatment of low mood in old age include a belief that depression is a normal part of aging, apprehension regarding older adults’ willingness to discuss and address their mental health challenges, and a disbelief that depression is treatable in old age. However, depression is not a normal part of aging, and there is evidence that older adults are as responsive to treatment as younger adults.