Social Work Observation Essay

Prior to taking the Elders course, I had limited interactions with older adults and was not aware about the services that are needed for this specific population. Throughout the course, I was exposed to many readings, lectures and guest speakers that enabled me to gain copious amounts of new information that gave me a deeper look into the lives of older adults. I realized the importance of social workers’ understanding, and familiarizing themselves with policies that affect this population. Throughout social work schooling, students are exposed to many social theories, but this class specifically focused on the ones that directly apply to older adults. According to McInnis-Dittrich (2014), Social constructionism is a theory that people of all

My sage stated that she enjoys living alone in her one-bedroom apartment, and likes the independence that it provides her. Even though my sage enjoys going to her daughter’s house and spending the night with her grandchildren, she reported that it is very important for her to maintain her residence. By maintaining her own home, she is able to go to sleep when she wants to, which is usually around 3AM. My sage enjoys watching long hours of television, so by having her own residence, she is able to watch the show that she wants to watch, when she wants to watch them. Although my sage is able to live in her own residence, she requires help in daily activities of living. She is unable to cook meals and reported eating out for several meals during the week. It was frightening to learn about my sage’s eating habits as research finds that inadequate nutrition is a contributing factor to declining intellectual functioning, and that the brain is unable to efficiently function without proper nutrition (McInnis-Dittrich, 2014). Through the long conversations with my sage, I was unable to hear intellectual declines, but it is possible that her poor nutrition could be affecting other areas of her