title: Educating social workers for the demographic imperative.
abstract: Our health system aims to restore, maintain and improve the independent function of all Australians and so our health workforce needs to have the knowledge, skills and abilities to achieve this task. As older people are already significant users of the health system, and will increase in the future due to population ageing, our workforce should be trained to deal with the age-related health and social needs required to achieve independent living for older Australians. Social workers, like other allied health disciplines, play a key role in hospitals and community health settings in maintaining older peoples' health and wellbeing in the community, as well as carer support. This article reports on a pilot research program to look at the skills and competencies of social workers needed to provide a quality service in aged care, as well as the expansion of an educational program aimed at developing a gero-rich curriculum which enhances the gerontological competencies of social work students.
authors.affiliation: Health Sciences Faculty, School of Social Work, Latrobe University, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC 3083, Australia. j.mccormack@latrobe.edu.au
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: McCormack
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001315:Australia; D003153:Community Health Services; D005853:Geriatrics / Q000193:education*; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D020380:Needs Assessment; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011361:Professional Competence; D024382:Professional Role; D012947:Social Work / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards; D012948:Social Work Department, Hospital; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D000078329:Workforce