Silver social work – its relevance and potential

This paper focuses on the ageing issues and on the demands for the development of the specialist programs and services as the answer for the elder’s, their families’ and their communities’ needs. The article indicates the possibilities for using social work in the realization of the senior social policy in Poland and the demands for the social work in the context of ageing as well. In such social context the authors explore the questions: how the meanings, aims and methods of social work – defined as the specific set of practices – could and how they should be changed. The term of the silver social work is seen as relevant to the issues such as protection of elder people’s rights and dignity, their independence and their right to control and manage their everyday life. It also relates to the lobbying for elder people’s interests, improving neighbourhoods’ spaces and making them more friendly for inhabitants of all generations.

Demographic signposts for gerontological social work

A striking aspect of the process of population aging, which is so typical of modern times, is an increase in the proportion of old people. The elderly are a heterogeneous subpopulation, differing in many characteristics, including demographic ones. The article presents the structure of the Polish senior population, i.e. the population of people over 65 years of age, in terms of their age, sex, marital status, and degree of functional disability. The senior population is marked by a numerical predominance of women, a high proportion of widows, and a growing proportion of the very old with a reduced ability to perform the basic activities of daily living. Attention is drawn to the need to take into account the demographic diversity of the population of seniors in the planning and implementation of direct and indirect practice in gerontological social work.

Social work confronting death and dying

Dying and death are the very universal and belied phenomena same time. They bring so called borderline states on as the social life facts. It affects on such an social life aspects as social ties, social exclusion, supporting and helping. Social work has much to do in the last aspect, because it has the potential to “liven up” social resources in  individual and group functioning.
The aim of this article is to show the social worker meaning and range of actions confronting death and dying. The three sorts of social work are distinct: 1) social work with people who die socially 2) social work with dying people 3) social work with mourners. There are also recommendations for scientific researches (methods, subjects, and themes) for those who want to study death and dying in social context, including social work specific.