Strengths-based social work with older people

Social workers in the UK are now expected to use strengths-based approaches to ensure older people’s complex and changing needs are met through person-centred assessment leading to care planning, and support for carers, which harnesses wider personal networks and community resources. These, together with an efficacious use of formal services, are provided in a climate which promotes early detection, prevention and education interventions. The G8, a special interest group of social work academics formed in 2010, engages in a range of activities to develop professional practice in work with older people. This chapter explores promising advances in the conceptualisation of and approaches to strengths-based practice in social work with older people alongside relevant policy directives and research. An anti-oppressive analysis of the UK health and social care landscape draws attention to systemic inequalities that also require consideration to uphold human rights and to work flexibly with individuals and organisations