Capabilities for Social Work with Older People

Aim

The aim of this resource is to enable social workers to develop their professional capabilities in specialist work with older people so that they can use these to ensure that older people have the best experiences and outcomes possible.

The resource is for social work students and social workers at any stage of their career. 

• All social work students and social workers need an understanding and appreciation of social work with older people as part of general social work practice. Older people are part of families, communities and society, and an understanding of later life is essential to all areas of social work. 
• Social workers, whose work includes direct work with older people need to develop confidence and capability, and seek specialist support as needed. 
• As they become more experienced, social workers need to model expert practice and mentor others. They also advise and, sometimes, challenge other professionals and practitioners working with older people.
• In advanced and leadership roles, social workers who support practice with older people will need to pass on expertise, provide supervision or contribute to learning and development of this area of practice.

Social work is a single profession with core knowledge, skills and values.

Social workers working with older people also need an additional set of more specific capabilities. These enable the social worker to respond to the particular experiences, needs and situations that older people, older carers, other unpaid carers and families face.

Older people may have encountered complex challenges and situations over their life course, with associated changes and transitions. Inequalities persist, deepen and widen across the life course. Age discrimination (and its interaction with other areas of inequality) impacts on older peoples’ access to appropriate care and support. 

The particular capabilities that social workers bring to working with older people are set out in detail in the Capabilities Statement for social workers who work with older people. They are acquired through education and practice experience, and they deepen and evolve throughout a career.

The Social Work with Older People research project observed social work practice with older people, carers and families, and interviewed them. This research provides insight into and examples of: 

• The capabilities that social workers have
• The way they use these capabilities to promote wellbeing
• How the context impacts on their ability to offer good social work support. 

This document draws on anonymised stories from the research. The stories provide an opportunity for critical reflection and learning about how social workers make a positive difference to people in later life