Aging must be part of required texts just as it must be a part of social work curricula. Analyses in 2009 and 2004 looked at widely used required generalist texts for quality and quantity of gero content. The Center found an increase from 3% to 5.5% in terms of pages that included aging content.
An Executive Summary (PDF) summarizing the two reviews is available. The full-text article from the 2004 review, "An Analysis of Social Work Textbooks for Aging Content: How Well Do Social Work Foundation Texts Prepare Students for Our Aging Society?" from the spring 2006 issue of the Journal of Social Work Education is also available. It is reproduced here with permission by the Council on Social Work Education © 2006.
Are You an Author or Editor?
Use the resources we have provided below, including a checklist, a model textbook example, print and electronic resources, and suggested readings.
We also encourage you contact the CSWE Gero-Ed Center. Our staff can provide you with guidance and relevant gero resources to embed in your textbooks.