Abstract:

Today, average life expectancies are increasing day by day due to reasons such as developments in the field of health, increased health literacy and a conscious society structure. When low birth rates are added to this situation, the rate of elderly population in the society increases more than ever before. The increase in the elderly population rates, which is a global phenomenon, has led to increased awareness of societies about aging and aging. With the demographic transformation, the need for re-formation has emerged in many areas from healthcare to social work. With this change and transformation, it is predicted that more people will need social work. The social work profession, which has been focused on working with children and youth for a long time, will begin to work with the older population group more intensively in this process. Gerontological social workers are people who are experts in meeting the biopsychosocial needs of older individuals. Social workers have different roles and responsibilities in various institutions and organizations. Today, changing expectations and needs of older individuals has led to the need to update the knowledge and skills of social workers. In this article, it is aimed to draw attention to the field of gerontological social work, the importance of which increases with the demographic transformation.

Keywords: