Eileen Bell

Annotations
Date added: 4/09/23

This article highlights the lack of adequate research being done to accurately assess the activity levels of older adult populations. The Authors outline the barriers and limitations in assessing the value of physical activity of older adult populations in part by highlighting that our assessment tools are often based on a standard for healthy, young adult males. the need for physical activity at any age is inherent, and this article offers real world solutions and suggestions to further the research needed so that our older populations can thrive well into their golden years. The value of this article as it pertains to serving these older adult populations as a social worker are numerous. As social workers we want to advocate for, and champion programs that help our clients live their best lives. With adequate research and efforts, more programs can be developed (and funded) that support an active lifestyle well into older age. If we want to gain support in developing activities, and health and wellness programs to serve the elders we may be working with, more inclusive and conclusive studies need to be prioritized.

Freely Available Resource

In the Life: Ep. 2002, "In the Life Presents: Gen Silent"   
YouTube : UCLA film and television archive
Date: 2016 

This is a brief version of a full length documentary that examines the lives of older individuals within the LGBTQIA+ community. This story highlights the challenges faced by older LGBTQIA+ people and how they have battled societal and internalized homophobia and stereotypes. As a social worker who is faced with serving aging adult populations, it is incredibly important to be aware of how these older generations in this population overcame enormous barriers and paved the way for recognition ad rights that future generations will benefit from forever. It is also important to understand that the battles fought and won did not immediately erase deeply ingrained ideas and biases both culturally and internally for these individuals and the world they live in. This documentary highlights a handful of individuals and couples and shows a very persona side of the hidden struggles still facing older generations of LGBTQIA+ individuals.

Freely Available Resource

European Review of Aging and Physical Activity: The official journal of The European Group for Research into Elderly and Physical Activity (EGREPA).  

A publication of the Biomedcentral.com: "BMC has an evolving portfolio of some 300 peer-reviewed journals, sharing discoveries from research communities in science, technology, engineering and medicine. In 1999 we made high quality research open to everyone who needed to access it – and in making the open access model sustainable, we changed the world of academic publishing.

We are committed to continual innovation in research publishing to better support the needs of our communities, ensuring the integrity of the research we publish and championing the benefits of open research for all." - biomedcentral.com/about


This is a great resource for open source academic journals. As social workers, the health and safety of our clients is paramount. This source contains a growing library of new and advancing research that will help us create and advocate for the bet possible interventions for the health and wellbeing of all of our aging clients. Biomedcentral.com has an amazing library of resources for all walks of life. Though the emphasis is on technology and medicine etc., there is still a ton of information that can be applied to our work as Social Workers as supporting the health and wellbeing of the populations we serve is integral to our professional ethics.