My Intent to Help the Elder Population

My personal interest is in gerontological social work, especially in the Latino/Hispanic community. Per Ruiz, Phillips, Kim and Woods (2015), “Hispanics are the fastest growing and largest unique ethnic minority group in the United States”. By mid-century, older Hispanics may account for almost 20% of the older cohort. By 2056, individuals 65 and over will, for the first time in American history, outnumber those who are 18 years and under. Research conducted by Andela, Truchot and Huguenotte (2018) showed that “In Western countries, advances in health care have led to an increase in the aging population”. While this is a prodigious advancement in medicine, it has come with a plethora of other challenges. This progression results in more and more people older than 85 years, who are more susceptible to chronic and disabling diseases, cognitive impairment, and even more dependent with greater needs of long term care and institutional care”. The elder population is facing an immense amount of life changing challenges. However, they are not the only ones, as caregivers are also feeling the effects of the increased aging population.

Elders face many struggles that “are stimulated by the aging itself and all related implications, such as physical challenges, mental impairment, out-of-home residential placement, and the ultimate approach of death”. Caregivers face their own struggles, whether they are professional caregivers or family relatives. Caregiver struggles can include emotional stress, limited leisure time, and financial stress, as research shows that nonprofessional caregiver’s careers are often affected by their caregiving responsibilities. Living in a time where there are countless social issues, the increasing aging population, their families and their struggles is a specifically important issue to address. Especially since, the country is experiencing a shortage in social workers, especially those trained to work with the aging population. I believe one of the first and most important steps in tackling this issue is to educate the community on the resources available to them, lending them a helping hand and assuring them they are not alone. Since my interest is with the aging Latino community and their families, at the master’s level I would work with the local churches. 

I am part of the Northern Nevada Catholic Community and St. Peter Canisius Catholic Church. I have been a member of this church for years, know the priest very well and the parish is made up of majority Latinos. This would be the perfect family friendly environment to start spreading information to both the elder and their caregiver(s). Such as financial assistance programs, meal assistance programs, housing programs, programs for caregivers such as the National Family Caregiver Support Program and many more resources. Passing out information whether it be in the form of brochures and flyers or holding informational workshops would greatly benefit them as our Latino community can often be misinformed or not informed at all. Being fully bilingual in English and Spanish will also help eliminate a lot of the problems that arise from language barriers.