Research Digest: Patients' Age Plays Role in Social Workers' Judgments

Social workers may offer significantly different methods of treatment based on a patients' age, according to a research published in the October 2004 issue of Educational Gerontology.

The report was based on a study conducted by author Michael Kane of Florida Atlantic University. He administered a survey based on a vignette to a group of graduate and undergraduate social work students. There were two versions of the vignette distributed at random. One featured a subject aged 72, while the other featured a 38-year-old subject.

The vignette related the story of a Mrs. Jones, who was seeking advice from a social worker after being diagnosed with a serious form of cancer. She was described as owning a successful business and having two children. Mrs. Jones then related that she did not want to endure a painful illness and therefore wanted to end her life.

Following the vignette, the students were asked to respond to 16 items. The vignette and the 16 response items were reviewed by a panel of five social work practitioners to determine face validity. Tests of between-subjects effects yielded eight significant item variables (according to the Wilk's Lambda Criterion), including the likelihood of recovery, perceptions of the subject having lived long enough, the appropriateness of ending one's life, and whether or not the subject should receive psychotherapy.

Of those who were told Mrs. Jones was 38, 95.2% responded that she would have a good chance for a full recovery. For those who thought Mrs. Jones was 72, only 38.8% felt she had a good chance for a full recovery. Kane concludes that overall, respondents would perceive clients differently in relation to assessment and intervention options based on the client's age.

Such a find, he states, can have serious implications on the effectiveness of social workers. He cites previous literature showing that age is something that is socially acceptable to ridicule and hold a bias towards. In fact, other studies have show that while there is a great focus on ethno-cultural identity and gender, there is an insufficient focus on aging in undergraduate and graduate social work programs.

"Students must learn to incorporate strengths-perspectives in their assessment and intervention strategies for older adults as well as for other diverse populations," according to Kane. "Highlighting an elder's capacity for recovery as well as a younger person's capacity for recovery may help students understand that serious illness is not necessarily a death sentence for older adults."

Posted on February 4, 2004