Reflection Paper On Social Worker

There are many skills, concepts, and guidelines social workers must learn and acquire in order be effective when working with an elder and their family or caregivers. Throughout this semester I learned many concepts, skills, and guidelines a social worker needs to acquire in order to better work with the aged and their families. Although deeply rewarding both personally and professionally, work with older adults requires a high level of self-awareness on the part of the social worker. I placed these ten skills, guidelines, and concepts listed below in this order because I believe these are essential to be an effective social worker working with the elderly population and their families. In my opinion, self-awareness is the number one skill a geriatric social worker must possess in order to be effective with the older population. Among the most significant issues workers will face are the subtle influences of lifelong social and personal messages about ageism, countertransference of feelings toward older adults, and conflicting personal issues surrounding independence versus dependence. As a social worker becoming aware of how your own feelings, attitudes, and relationships with clients are major factors in the helping process. Practitioners working with the older population may be at risk for holding negative attitudes toward …show more content…
The functional age model is an important concept that every social worker must be educated in because social workers working with an older client must be informed during the assessment of their client’s biological, psychological, social, and spiritual age. The functional age model recommends that the social worker investigate the connection and influences among systems affecting the elder clients and their family. Starting the assessment, understanding where the client is currently, is an essential step that every social worker needs to understand in the helping