STANDARDS
FOR
SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE
WITH FAMILY CAREGIVERS OF
OLDER ADULTS
(NASW 2010)
Presentation by: Sandra Edmonds Crewe, PHD, ACSW
Howard University School of Social Work
Washington, DC
FAMILY CAREGIVERS
ALLIANCE WEBINAR
FRIDAY, JULY 29, 2011
3:00 - 4:30 PM EST
PRESENTATION OVERVIEW
Background
II. Standards
III. Case study presentation
IV. Review of each standard
V. Case study discussion of each
standard
VI. Implications for practice
VII. Acknowledgements
I.

http://www.socialworkers.org/practice/standards/
NASWFamilyCaregiverStandards.pdf
WHY HAVE FAMILY CAREGIVER STANDARDS?
FAMILY CASE STUDY
REVIEW OF 12 STANDARDS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Ethics and Values
Qualifications
Knowledge
Cultural and Linguistic Competence
Assessment
Service, Planning, Delivery & Monitoring
Advocacy
Collaboration
Practice Evaluation and Improvement
Documentation
Workload
Professional Development and Competence
Social workers practicing with
family caregivers of older adults
shall adhere to the ethics and values
of the social work profession using
the NASW Code of Ethics to guide
ethical decision making.






Services
Social justice
Human dignity and worth
Importance of human relationships
Integrity
Competence
STANDARD 1: ETHICS AND VALUES

Social workers who practice with
family caregivers of older adults
shall possess a degree in social work
from a school or program accredited
by the Council of Social Work
Education; shall comply with statebased licensing and certification
requirements; and shall have
knowledge, skills, and professional
experience in aging and family
caregiving.
 Emphasizes importance of social
workers practicing in areas other
than aging and family caregiving
gaining requisite knowledge of
systems of care and support
STANDARD 2: QUALIFICATIONS

Social workers shall acquire and
maintain a working knowledge of
current theory, practice,
sociohistorical context, policy,
evidence-based research, and
evaluation methods related to aging
and family caregiving; and shall
integrate such information into
practice.
 Aging
 Physical health
 Mental and behavioral health
 Family caregiving experiences
 Resources
 Professional social work role
STANDARD 3: KNOWLEDGE


Emphasizes that cultural
differences manifest in multiple
ways and that culture varies not
only among but within families.
AND LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE
Social workers shall provide and
facilitate access to culturally and
linguistically appropriate services to
family caregivers of older adults,
consistent with the NASW
Indicators for the Achievement of the
NASW Standards for Cultural
Competence in Social Work Practice
(2007).
STD 4: CULTURAL

Social workers shall assess family
caregivers of older adults on an
ongoing basis, gathering
comprehensive information to
develop and amend plans for care or
services.
Client-centered
 Strengths-based
 Family characteristics-dynamics
 Risk assessment
 Goals and effects of family
caregiving

STANDARD 5: ASSESSMENT

Social workers shall collaborate with
family caregivers of older adults to
plan, deliver and monitor
individualized services that promote
caregivers’ strengths and well-being.
Care plans shall be based on
assessments and have measurable
objectives.



Biopsychosocial needs
Collaborative engagement
Short and long-term care plans
STD 6: SERV. PLANNING, DELIVERY & MONITORING

Social workers shall advocate for the
needs, decisions, and rights of
family caregivers of older adults.
The social worker shall engage in
social and political action that seeks
to ensure that family caregivers of
older adults have equitable access to
resources to meet their
biopsychosocial needs.
Self-advocacy
 Enhance capacity of communities
 Creativity and flexibility
 Micro and macro levels
 Inclusion of caregiver

STANDARD 7: ADVOCACY

Social workers shall promote
interdisciplinary and
interorganizational collaboration to
support, enhance, and create
services delivered to family
caregivers of older adults.
Continuity of care
 Creating organizational cultures
that promotes collaboration
 Integrate strengths perspective

STANDARD 8: COLLABORATION

Social workers serving family
caregivers of older adults shall
participate in ongoing, formal
evaluation of their practice to
maximize family caregivers’ wellbeing, assess quality and
appropriateness of services, improve
practice, and ensure competence.


IMPROVEMENT

Internal and external feedback
Caregiver involvement
Privacy
STD 9: PRACTICE EVALUATION &

Social workers shall document all
practice with family caregivers of
older adults in the appropriate
client record. Social work
documentation may be recorded in
writing or electronically and shall be
completed, maintained, and
disclosed in accordance with
regulatory, legislative, statutory,
and employer requirements.
New service delivery models
 Use of caregivers’ “own words”

STANDARD 10: DOCUMENTATION

Social workers shall advocate for a
workload that allows for efficient,
high-quality service delivery to
family caregivers of older adults.
The size of the social work staff
shall represent both the scope and
complexity of the organization and
the nature and numbers of the
populations served.


Joint responsibility for workload
Comprehensive description of
workload
STANDARD 11: WORKLOAD

Social workers practicing with, or on
behalf of, family caregivers of older
adults shall assume personal
responsibility for their professional
development and competence in
accordance with the NASW Code of
Ethics (2008), the NASW Standards
for Continuing Professional
Education (2002) and the state
licensure or certification
requirements.


Development in social work
theory, practice and research
Professional and personal self
care
STD 12: PROFESSIONAL DEV . & COMPETENCE

The NASW Standards for Social
Work Practice with Family
Caregivers of Older Adults ends
with links to various resources that
will support the social work
professional in his or her role.

Professional development related
to the needs of family caregivers of
older adults should cross all
practice settings
RESOURCES

EXPERT PANEL MEMBERS
Amy Berman
 Patricia Brownell
 Rita Choula
 Catherine A. Clancy
 Sandra Edmonds Crewe
 JoAnn Damron-Rodriquez
 Lorraine Hedtke
 Forest Hong
 Jamie Huysman
 Phyllis Mensh Brostoff
 Nora O’Brien-Suric
 Susan Reinhard
 Miriam Sterk
 Cynthia Stuen

IMPLICATIONS
Recognizes the importance of family
caregivers and social work practice
related to this population
 Emphasizes cultural and linguistic
competence
 Emphasizes importance of
evaluation that can result in new
approaches and models of
effectiveness
 Gives primacy to the voice of the
family caregiver
 Potential to attract a new
generation of social workers with
this area of specialization

THANK YOU
Family Caregiver and Son
appreciation to
Chris Herman (NASW)
 Dr.Tracy Whitaker (NASW)

AARP FOUNDATION
 U.S. ADMINISTRATION ON
AGING
 FAMILY CAREGIVER ALLIANCE
 NASW AGING SPECIALTY
SECTION
 JOHN A. HARTFORD
FOUNDATION

APPRECIATION TO NASW AND PARTNERS
 Special
Thank
You

secrewe@howard.edu
CONTACT INFORMATION
Sandra Edmonds Crewe
 Professor
 Howard University School of Social
Work
 Multidisciplinary Gerontology
Center
 601 Howard Place NW
 Washington, DC 20059
