Attitudes Toward Younger and Older Adults: An Updated Meta-Analytic Review

This meta-analytic review of 232 effect sizes showed that, across five categories, attitudes were more negative toward older than younger adults. Perceived age differences were largest for age stereotypes and smallest for evaluations. As predicted by social role theory ( Eagly, 1987 ), effect sizes were reduced when detailed information was provided about the person being rated. The double standard of aging emerged for evaluations and behavior/behavioral intentions, but was reversed for the competence category. Perceptions depended on respondent age also. Results demonstrated both the multi-dimensionality and the complexity of attitudes toward older adults ( Hummert, 1999 ; Kite & Wagner, 2002 ).     

Self-Neglect and Neglect of Vulnerable Older Adults: Reexamination of Etiology

Using assessment and investigation data from the reported APS cases in Texas, this study examines the types of elder self-neglect and neglect, including medical neglect. It then examines the association between self-neglect and neglect and individual economic resources as well as health care and social service programs for the poor. The findings show that elder self-neglect/neglect is, in large part, attributable to frail older adults' and their families' lack of resources to pay for essential goods and services and the inadequate healthcare and other formal support programs for the older adults and their caregivers. This inadequate public policy coverage, rather than individual and intrafamily risk factors per se, needs to be considered as a significant cause of elder self-neglect/neglect.     

Positive Attitudes Toward Disabled People: Disabled and Nondisabled Persons' Perspectives

This article addresses the differing perceptions that disabled and nondisabled persons may have of what constitutes '"positive" attitudes and behaviors toward people with physical disabilities. Quantitative and qualitative data are presented to suggest that the strain that frequently occurs during interactions between disabled and nondisabled individuals may derive more from misunderstandings of one another's expectations than from negative intentions. Suggestions are made, methodologically, for ways that these areas of misunderstanding can be isolated empirically, and conceptually, for ways that information can be exchanged to correct these misunderstandings.     

Disaster,Vulnerability, and Older Adults: Toward a Social Work Response

No abstract available for this article.     

Advance Directives Among Korean American Older Adults: Knowledge,Attitudes, and Behavior

The study objective was to explore knowledge, attitudes, and behavior about advance directives and how cultural values influence these beliefs. Three focus groups with 23 Korean American older adults were conducted. Advance directives were seen as helpful for ensuring that preferences for unwanted end-of-life treatment are honored and for relieving the decision-making burden on family members. However, some viewed completing advance directives as contrary to focusing on living. Culturally competent education about advance directives for Korean American older adults is necessary to help them make informed decisions about end-of-life care and informing family and health care providers of these preferences.     

On the Outlook of the Russian People: Church Attendance and Attitudes Toward Churches and Priests

List and Savitskii provide insights for a Russian strategy.     

Investigating Attitudes Toward International Students: Program and Policy Implications for Social Integration and International Education

International education is a thriving industry, but relatively little is known about its consequences for the social integration of international scholars in educational institutions or the wider community. This article reviews research on attitudes toward international students as a key component of intercultural relations and a significant marker of social cohesion. An organizational framework for the investigation of these attitudes is proposed with threat mediating the influences of personal and situational factors on attitudinal outcomes. Broader contextual factors are also seen to exert influence on the process of attitude development and maintenance. A model derived from this framework is then tested with student, teacher, and community samples. A "tipping point" in attitudes toward international students as a function of the proportion of international enrolments in educational institutions is also explored. Finally, the applicability of the findings for promoting social cohesion in educational institutions and the wider community is discussed.     

The Right to Take Risks: Alcohol and Older People

This paper examines policy and practice regarding the purchase of alcohol for older clients of home carers in three local authorities in the Greater London area. Data were gathered from interviews with home carers and their managers, focus group discussions, and a postal survey. None of the local authorities had a written policy or written guidance on alcohol purchase or on appropriate responses to the identification of problematic drinking in older clients. The findings illustrate the problem of balancing "rights" and "risks" within a philosophy of community care which emphasizes client choice and autonomy, and show how policy and practice are "tailored" by local contexts. It is suggested that both home carers and other domiciliary workers, as well as their older clients, could benefit from a clear code of practice regarding responses to alcohol consumption and problematic drinking by older people.     

Beyond Income: A Social Justice Approach to Assessing Poverty among Older Adults with Chronic Kidney Disease

ABSTRACT

How social workers define and assess poverty is a matter of economic and social justice. Recent conceptual and measurement advances point to a multidimensional definition of poverty which captures material, social, and political deprivations. Using data from a survey, this article describes how nephrology social workers assess poverty among older adults living with a chronic kidney disease (N = 52). Results suggest respondents already conceive of poverty as a multidimensional experience, support awareness-raising about poverty, and primarily assess poverty by employment status, income, access to transportation, and education. Opportunities to expand poverty assessment in future work are promising.     

Mainstreaming Equality: Implications of the Provision of Support at Home for Majority and Minority Ethnic Older People

This paper explores the potential impact and practical difficulties of mainstreaming equalities in support at home for minority and majority ethnic older people, drawing on two linked empirical research projects. Social care providers have long faced difficulties in catering for diversity of need. Recently, diversity within minority ethnic groups has increased, and there is now a statutory duty to promote equality. Research findings illustrate the complexity of exclusionary processes, with particular reference to the example of health care. There is a gap between the high‐level commitment to mainstreaming equality and people's lived experiences. Autonomy and choice are central to community care legislation, policy and practice guidance, but in reality, the research shows that choices are limited for both minority and majority older people. More user‐focused approaches and grassroots involvement may offer ways forward, despite some limitations of current models. In conclusion, the potentiality of a broad mainstreaming equality perspective is highlighted, but challenges include a need for a more grounded approach, better engagement with user groups and a need to focus on understanding issues of implementation.     

Old and Cold: Older People and Policies Failing to Address Fuel Poverty

Research, funded by the British Gas Help the Aged Partnership and carried out by the Institute of Gerontology, King's College London, explored the multidimensional issues of fuel poverty. A sample of older homeowners and private renters living in England, Scotland and Wales were interviewed in the Spring of 2003 to explore their experiences of keeping their homes warm in the preceding winter. It was found that almost half of the sample for whom full information was available were in fuel poverty. Government schemes failed to address some important issues. Grants were only available to those with “passport benefits”, excluding those who had minimal occupational pensions. Although most respondents had central heating, it was often old and ineffective, yet grants were not available to modernize them. Government schemes did not extend to paying for external and internal insulation for solid wall properties yet many older people live in such property. Several older people lived in rural areas not connected to mains gas. As mains gas currently provides the cheapest fuel, they faced high bills, yet government policies do not address the differential fuel costs in these areas. The culture of many older people in the study contributed to their living in cold homes. They lived frugally and usually turned heating off in daylight hours during winter. It was also a common practice to sleep in an unheated bedroom during winter and to keep the window open at night. Such practices are acknowledged to be unhealthy.     

Trauma and Stress Among Older Adults in the Criminal Justice System: A Review of the Literature with Implications for Social Work

The purpose of this article was to review the empirical literature that investigated trauma and stress among older adults in the criminal justice system. Nineteen journal articles published between 1988 and 2010 were identified and extracted via research databases and included mixed age samples of adjudicated older and younger adults (n = 11) or older adult only samples (n = 8). Findings revealed past and current trauma and stress, consequences and/or correlates, and internal and external coping resources among aging offenders. The implications and future directions for gerontological social work, research, and policy with older adults in the criminal justice system are advanced.     

A Nonprofit Community Service and Academic Collaboration to Increase Outreach to Older Adults With Cancer: Lessons Learned

This article describes the lessons learned by social work practitioners and nurse researcher faculty from a unique partnership between a 501(c) 3 nonprofit community service organization (cancer helpline) and an academic facility to improve outreach to older adults with cancer. In preparing the research proposal, carrying out the procedures, and instituting a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach lessons learned included the importance of experienced researchers/writers, unpredictability of research activities, importance of collecting complete data, communicating underlying discipline and role-oriented assumptions, and effectiveness of CBPR to increase outreach to older adults with cancer in Delaware's eight cancer clusters.     

Intergroup Contact: Using Storytelling to Increase Awareness of Lesbian and Gay Older Adults in Long-Term Care Settings

ABSTRACT

Due to societally imposed stigmatization, lesbian and gay (LG) older adults fear and prolong accessing long-term care (LTC) even though they need LTC at higher rates. Interventions that decrease negative attitudes toward LG older adults among LTC staff are a first step in addressing this problem. In this study, the influence of intergroup contact (IGC) on LTC staff members’ attitudes toward LG was explored through the use of storytelling as a training mechanism. An embedded mixed-method approach was employed to collect and analyze responses of 60 LTC staff who participated in a storytelling event. Participants completed pretests, posttests, and participated in audio-recorded group discussions. The findings showed that storytelling had a significant (p =0.001) and positive effect (d =0.57) on participants attitudes toward LG. Qualitative analysis revealed 90 codes, 13 process codes, and 4 themes: making meaning of stories, seeking understanding, application to LTC setting, and debating. When guided by IGC theory, storytelling has potential for positively influencing attitudes of LTC staff members toward LG older adults. There is a need for longitudinal work to further test this model.     

Critical Commentary: Who Decides Now? Protecting and Empowering Vulnerable Adults Who Lose the Capacity to Make Decisions for Themselves

The implementation of the 2005 Mental Capacity Act in Englandand Wales heralds a new era for social work practitioners andresearchers. Protecting and empowering vulnerable adults—animportant element of adult-care social work—relies ona legal framework that attempts to balance adults’ rightswith the desire to protect them. The new Act is part of thatframework, addressing the fundamental issue of when and howdecisions can be made on behalf of people who lose decision-makingabilities (‘capacity’). The Act encompasses themeaning of incapacity and best interests, advance directivesconcerning treatment, managing people’s affairs and makingdecisions for them, overseeing the delegation process, and research.In explaining how the Act addresses some of these challenges,the article alerts practitioners and researchers to the keyareas in which the Act will make a major impact.     

Show Me the Way to go Home: A Narrative Review of the Literature on Delayed Hospital Discharges and Older People

Correspondence to Jon Glasby, Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham, Park House, 40 Edgbaston Park Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2RT, UK. E-mail J.Glasby{at}bham.ac.uk Summary This Research Note reports findings from a narrative reviewof the literature on the rate and cause of delayed hospitaldischarge in the UK. In addition to summarizing our knowledgeto date in this important area, the Research Note raises a seriesof questions about aspects of current hospital discharge policyand practice (and in particular, the recent reimbursement policyto charge social services departments for delayed discharges).     

Access to Services as a Civil and Social Rights Issue: The Role of Welfare Professionals in Regulating Access to and Commissioning Services for Disabled and Older People under New Labour

This paper draws up a theoretical framework of citizenship, based on Marshall's thesis, that encompasses the idea of access to welfare services (using the example of community care services for disabled and older people) as a civil and social rights issue. The authors critically examine current policy developments in the NHS and local authorities under New Labour that emphasize partnership, particularly the proposals and provisions made in 'The New NHS' and 'Partnership in Action'. Their theoretical framework is used to explore issues concerning access to and the commissioning of health and social care services under New Labour. They conclude that the role of welfare professionals, particularly GPs and social services workers, and their relationships with service users, patients, carers and their families under New Labour presents a continuing challenge to the citizenship status of disabled and older people.     

Eligibility Criteria for Cash Assistance for Older and Disabled People in Hungary: A Model for Countries in Passage from a Planned to a Market Economy

Correspondence to Ruth Landau, Paul Baerwald School of Social Work, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel. Summary The political and economic changes presently taking place inthe Central and Eastern European countries are accompanied byprofound social changes for which, in terms of personal well-being,older and disabled people pay the highest price. Having lostthe security of a minimum standard of living, many are exposedto poverty in its broadest sense. The collapse of governmentalarrangements to provide for the minimum needs of this populationled to the establishment of non-governmental voluntary socialagencies. Unfortunately, these are characterized by limitedresources on the one hand, and lack of trained and skilled socialwork staff on the other. Based on the experience of a Hungariannon-governmental social agency, a model for eligibility criteriafor cash assistance under these circumstances, taking vulnerabilityas a key concept, is suggested for the benefit and dignity ofthose most in need.