Publications • • •
Barbara Silverstone and Helen Kandel Hyman, You and Your Aging Parent: A Family Guide to Emotional, Social, Health, and Financial Problems, Oxford University Press, New York, 2008
First published in 1976, You and Your Aging Parent is a classic -- the first book to shed light on the challenging relationship between adult children and their aging parents, illuminating the emotional, health, and financial difficulties that elderly parents and their children face during the senior years.
Marking the 32nd anniversary of this highly popular book, the new and revised edition addresses the changes that have taken place in the last three decades, but it still embraces the authors' fundamental insight -- that the difficulties and challenges of the aging process are as much a family affair as in any other phase of life.
Both a sensitive exploration of the dynamics of the aging family relationship (between parent and child, and sibling and sibling) and an authoritative how-to guide for seniors and their families navigating the practical problems of growing old in America, You and Your Aging Parent has been thoroughly updated to reflect the latest research findings and changes affecting older adults, including in health care and social services.
The book also includes a running commentary by Bob Morris -- playwright, author, and humorist -- who provides insightful and entertaining observations about his trials and tribulations with his own parents as they aged, serving as a contemporary voice for the middle-aged caregiver of today.
As the first of the baby boom generation turns 60 and their increasingly frail parents approach late retirement and final decline, this new and updated edition of You and Your Aging Parent will answer their need for authoritative, practical information about this major phase of life.
To purchase this book, please visit: Amazon.com
Ann Burack-Weiss and Frances Coyle Brennan, Gerontological Supervision: A Social Work Perspective in Case Management and Direct Care, 2nd Edition, Haworth Press, New York, 2008
Have you wondered how other gerontological social work supervisors have handled problem areas? Evaluating worker performance, plannign student assignments, and teaching work with families are only a few of the difficult matters supervisors and educators must approach daily. This innovative "how-to" guidebook, the only one available for gerontologists, will put solutions more readily within your reach. Gerontological Supervision is designed for easy look-up scenarios and outcomes of how other supervisors, from a range of community and institutional settings serving the aged, have resolved their problems.
To purchase this book, please visit: Amazon.com
Ann Burack-Weiss, The Caregiver's Tale: Loss and Renewal in Memoirs of Family Life, Columbia University Press, New York, 2006
Ann Burack-Weiss explores a rich variety of published memoirs by authors who cared for ill or disabled family members. Contrary to the common belief that caregiving is nothing more than a stressful situation to be endured, memoirs describe a life transforming experience-self-discovery, a reordering of one's priorities, and a changed view of the world. The Caregiver's Tale offers insight and comfort to individuals caring for a loved one and is a valuable resource for all health care professionals.
Identifying common themes, Burack-Weiss describes how the illness career and social meaning of cancer, dementia, HIV/AIDS, mental illness, and chemical dependence affect the caregiving experience. She applies the same method to an examination of family roles: parents caring for ailing children, couples and siblings caring for one another, and adult children caring for aging parents.
Jamaica Kincaid, Sue Miller, Paul Monette, Kenzaburo Oe, and Philip Roth are among the many authors who share their caregiving stories. Burack-Weiss provides an annotated bibliography of the more than one hundred memoirs and an accompanying chart to help readers locate those of greatest interest to them.
To purchase this book, please visit: Amazon.com
Barbara Silverstone, Social Work With the Older People of Tomorrow: Restoring the Person-In-Situation, Families in Society, Alliance for Children and Families, Milwaukee, 2005
The author proposes that, in practice with older adults, the social work profession revisit its traditional allegiance to the person-in-situation paradigm and redress an imbalance that has obscured older clients as persons in their own right. The case is made that older adults and their subjective reality must be restored as a focus of social work practice if the profession is to play a significant and much-needed role in community-based services to a growing future population of older persons living in their own homes and directing their lives but in need of support. Building on the practice wisdom of the past and current generic models of social work practice in North America, guidelines are presented as a starting place for building practice models applicable to older clients. The broader context of community health and social services programs is examined from the perspective of the obstacles to and potential opportunities for increasing professional social work services to older persons and their families.
To read this article, please visit: FamiliesInSociety.org
Barbara Silverstone and Helen Kandel Hyman, Growing Older Together: A Couple's Guide to Understanding and Coping with the Challenges of Later Life, Pantheon, New York, 1993
Silverstone and Hyman, authors of You and Your Aging Parent, address the challenges faced by couples over 55. Noting that many older adults can expect to live beyond 80 years, they reason that increased longevity will bring a higher probability of health problems. While much has been written on how aging affects individuals, little research has been directed to how aging affects a couple's relationship. The authors offer no solutions, but describe how partners may react differently to such issues as accepting aging, changing family relationships, making retirement decisions, facing illness, and coping with disability and death. Helpful appendixes offer a list of agencies and organizations that deal with aging, guidelines for evaluating nursing homes and home help services, and a catalog of common medical problems.
To purchase this book, please visit: Amazon.com
Barbara Silverstone and Ann Burack-Weiss, Social Work Practice With The Frail Elderly and Their Families: The Auxiliary Function Model, Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, IL, 1983
In this text, the authors examine the problems of the frail elderly, explicate the practice skills required in addressing these problems, and introduce the auxiliary function model. Primarily intended for social work practitioners and students, other professionals who work closely with the elderly — physicians, nurses, teachers, researchers — also will find the book useful.
To purchase this book, please visit: Amazon.com