Gerontology Career Paper

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Running head: GERONTOLOGY AIDE FINAL PAPER Sharlee Walker HHS 435 Instructor Analeah Green June 24,2013 FINAL PAPER The occupation that I have chosen to write about is Gerontology Aide. I really want to work with elderly people and other people that need care. I want to be able to help people when they can’t help themselves. I don’t want to just sit behind a desk and listen to what is bothering my client or pushing papers. There are a lot of elderly people out there that need someone to help them and be there to listen to them because they don’t have anyone else. When my mom was sick and in the hospital I was with her day and night I didn’t want her to feel like she was alone. I had a nurse come up to me and tell me that I should…show more content…
Gerontologists serve as social workers, nursing aids, social scientists, and healthcare managers. Careers for gerontologists are numerous because they include almost any profession in which an older person is cared for and assisted. Nurses, occupational therapists, and other healthcare providers also benefit from degrees in gerontology. A degree in gerontology allows professionals to better understand the problems surrounding their aging patients and how to better care for them. Communication skills are important for gerontologists because they are often responsible for recording and relaying information regarding their client or patient. They must be able to work with a diverse population of people, particularly older adults. People are now living longer than ever before-and the baby boomers have begun to retire. This growing number of older adults creates an increased need for skilled, educated professionals in gerontology.…show more content…
As more and more mentally retarded or developmentally disabled individuals reach the age of 21 and thereby lose their eligibility for programs and services offered by the public schools, the need for community-based alternatives can be expected to grow. Pressures to respond to the needs of the chronically mentally ill can also be expected to persist. For many years, as deinstitutionalization has proceeded, chronic mental patients have been left to their own devices. If the movement to help the homeless and chronically mentally ill gains momentum, more community-based programs and group residences will be established, and demand for human services workers will increase accordingly. State and local governments will remain a major employer of human services workers, and replacement needs alone will generate many job openings in the public sector. The Gerontologists’ Code of Ethics consists of an Introduction, a Preamble, five General Principles, and specific Ethical Standards. This Code is accompanied by the Vision and Mission of the National Association for Professional
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