This Second Edition of the Handbook addresses the evolving interdisciplinary health care context and the broader social work practice environment, as well as advances in the knowledge base which guides social work service delivery in health and aging. This includes recent enhancements in the theories of gerontology, innovations in clinical interventions, and major developments in the social policies that structure and finance health care and senior services. In addition, the policy reforms of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act set in motion a host of changes in the United States healthcare system with potentially profound implications for the programs and services which provide care to older adults and their families. In this volume, the most experienced and prominent gerontological health care scholars address a variety of populations that social workers serve, and the arenas in which they practice, followed by detailed recommendations of best practices for an array of physical and mental health conditions. The volume's unprecedented attention to diversity, health care trends, and implications for practice, research, policy make the publication a major event in the field of gerontological social work. This is a Must-Read for all social work social work educators, practitioners, and students interested in older adults and their families.

The fields of health care, aging, and social work are often treated as discrete entities, while all social workers deal with issues of health and aging on a daily basis, regardless of practice specialization. The Handbook of Social Work in Health and Aging is the first reference to address this reality by compiling the most current thinking on these subjects in a single volume. With the population of older adults increasing as rapidly as new possibilities for their care, professionals need an accessible source of specialized information about how best to serve the elderly and their families, and they will find this authoritative handbook indispensable.
In 100 original chapters, the most experienced and prominent gerontological health care scholars in the United States and across the world provide social workers with up-to-date knowledge of evidence-based practice guidelines for effectively assessing and treating older adults and supporting their families. The contributing authors paint rich portraits of a variety of populations that social workers serve and arenas in which they practice, followed by detailed recommendations of best practices for an array of physical and mental health conditions. Its unprecedented attention to diversity, global trends, and implications for research, government policy, and education make the publication of such a compendium a major event in the field of gerontological social work.
Ambitious and multi-dimensional, this handbook represents the best research on health and aging available to social workers today.