Social Work with Older People in War Contexts
摘要
Living in a war-torn area is physically, psychologically, and socially challenging. Research indicates that older people are especially vulnerable because of the combination of losses accompanying old age and the exposure to the threat of war-torn surroundings. Therefore, this group is considered to be at high risk for helplessness and depression. In war zones, social workers deal with situations where stress poses a threat to the sense of physical and psychological security of the population including the elderly. This chapter sheds light on the role of social work and its practitioners with the elderly people in war zones and trauma situations. Social workers’ interventions with the elderly in war zones take place at the community, group, and individual levels. We present three types of interventions that can serve as models for these interventions. The first is a community intervention that describes the establishment of resilience centers in Israel under circumstances of ongoing war. The second is an intervention based on the narrative approach, which can be applied as part of group work with elderly people and individual sessions. The third is sustaining, physical and practical, intervention in Ukraine during the current Russian invasion.