Gerontological counseling is the wave of the profession's future. With the majority of 76 million baby boomers beginning to turn 60 years old in 2006, there will be a great need for preretirement to end-of-life counselors. This article focuses on (a) the varied influences of this group on the U.S. and the nation's concerns and (b) theories,…

Federal support for adult day care centers began in the United States approximately 10 years ago. To examine the counseling practices in the adult day care centers across the country and to explore how the services are affected by the staffing patterns at these centers, 135 centers completed a questionnaire. The questionnaire addressed…

Gerontological counseling as a counseling specialty spans only 20 years. This text incorporates into its framework the 16 Minimum Essential Competencies of gerontological counseling that have been developed over the past two decades. These competencies focus on the knowledge and skills required to be an effective counselor for older persons and…

Discusses the concept of quality of life as it relates to aging and as it is addressed in research studies. Describes counseling intervention strategies that are designed to help middle-aged older adults manage their lives. Focuses specifically on prevention, self-management and education, and life enrichment and renewal strategies. (ML)

This handbook, written for counselor educators, first presents a brief overview of the Special Training Project on Counseling the Aging, funded by the Administration on Aging to produce training materials on counseling the elderly for use in preservice or inservice programs. The remainder of the handbook serves as a guide for conducting and…

Single, elderly, childless women are a specialized population needing social support. To examine the association between life satisfaction and social support among this population, 65 women (30 widowed, 35 never-married) were interviewed and completed the Life Satisfaction Scale. An analysis of the results showed that the never-married sample had…

Since aging has become a field of increasing interest, many requests for information on the educational aspects of the subject have been received in the Office of Education. Because of the growing number of these requests, and because so few items bearing on education are included in the reference lists in the general field of aging, this…

This manual, the second in a three-volume series on counseling older adults, is intended to help service providers who work with older adults, to learn, practice, and develop communication skills. The format for the units consists of a statement of objectives, followed by an introduction and overview of the contents. Informative text, skill…

The author describes gerotranscendence as a process that occurs when older adults shift from a rational focus on the present-day, material world to a more universal and transcendent perspective. Accompanying this shift is a desire to move toward the end of life with a sense of integrity and acceptance of one's choices. By gaining an understanding…

This guidebook provides information for caseworkers who investigate allegations of abuse, neglect, financial exploitation and who also provide ongoing case management and follow-up with victims of abuse. The program focuses on caseworkers' attitudes and their knowledge and skills in dealing with abusers, particularly abusers who are chemically…

This manual is intended to assist instructors and facilitators in making effective use of the instructional modules of the Elderly Service Workers' Training Project (ESWTP) and provide technical development information regarding the ESWTP authoring system. (ESWTP training materials have been developed to help human services personnel understand…