\"Critical Gerontology for Social Workers\" is a collection of scholarly writings, edited by Dr. Sandra Torres and Dr. Sarah Donnelly, that provides readers an overview of challenges faced by the growing older adult population using a critical gerontology lens. The book is divided into two sections that 1) provides readers with a contextual and theoretical foundation of gerontological social work and 2) applies these concepts to different practice settings to guide social workers in utilizing a critical gerontology lens in their work. Written by experts from different countries and backgrounds, this book teaches social workers how to employ a critical gerontology perspective to address issues faced by older adults, on both a macro and micro level, through research, policy, and practice.

As the first review to systematically explore the scope and application of Chinese social work research ethics, this study incorporated web-crawling technology in the scoping review process and identified 18 eligible studies from 1168 publications from January 2020 to July 2021. Findings suggest that social work scholars are aware of research ethics when conducting human subjects research in the Chinese population. Yet, many failed to fully demonstrate practical considerations of internationally accepted ethical principles (e.g. respect for persons). We discuss education on research ethics, new challenges of the digital age, and considerations of Chinese culture in developing ethical protocols for social work research in China.

As a profession, social work has codified within its ethical guidance and educational policies a commitment to social justice. While a commitment to social justice is asserted in several of our profession\'s guiding documents, social work continues to lack consensus on both the meaning and merit of social justice, resulting is disparate and sometimes discriminatory practice even under a \"social justice\" label. This study examines how social justice has been operationalized in social work via a conceptual review of the literature. Findings show that social work leans heavily on John Rawls\'s definition of social justice, Martha Nussbaum\'s and Amartya Sen\'s capabilities approach, and the definition of social justice included in The Social Work Dictionary. Unfortunately, none of these adequately align with the National Association of Social Workers\' Code of Ethics, which drives the profession. This conceptual review is a call to social workers to join together in defining the guiding principle of the profession.

\"Critical Gerontology for Social Workers\" is a collection of scholarly writings, edited by Dr. Sandra Torres and Dr. Sarah Donnelly, that provides readers an overview of challenges faced by the growing older adult population using a critical gerontology lens. The book is divided into two sections that 1) provides readers with a contextual and theoretical foundation of gerontological social work and 2) applies these concepts to different practice settings to guide social workers in utilizing a critical gerontology lens in their work. Written by experts from different countries and backgrounds, this book teaches social workers how to employ a critical gerontology perspective to address issues faced by older adults, on both a macro and micro level, through research, policy, and practice.

Physical/cognitive limitations associated with the aging process place older adults at disproportionate risk of negative consequences during disasters. Guided by the profession\'s commitment to supporting vulnerable populations, gerontological social workers have long been on the frontlines supporting older adults during disasters. Yet, disaster social work practice remains an undeveloped and under-researched area. Thus, we asked \"what is the current role of gerontological social workers in disaster preparedness with older adults in the United States, and potential areas for improvement?\" This paper systematically reviews the literature discussing social work and disaster preparedness/response with older adults in the U.S., to identify needs and inform future directions. PRISMA guidelines were followed to conduct a systematic search across relevant databases for peer-reviewed-publications between January 1, 2009-June 12, 2020. Eleven articles met inclusion criteria. This body of literature is small and covers two broad areas: (1) charging the social work profession to engage in this work, and (2) describing current efforts and unique challenges of older adults during disasters. Only three empirical studies were identified. Future educational efforts should formalize training to prepare social workers for this practice area. Research should detail the roles of social workers in disaster preparedness/response, and factors that predict involvement.

This systematic review examined the factors associated with social work students\' attitudes toward older adults or working with older adults from the literature published in the last decade. Twelve peer-reviewed empirical studies published between 2011 and 2020 were included for review. Results suggest that both direct and indirect exposures to older adults positively changed social work students\' attitudes. While infusing exposure to older adults into courses appeared effective in modifying students\' attitudes, inconsistent measurement and lack of information across studies made it impossible to compare the effectiveness of interventions across studies. Implications for gerontological social work education are discussed.

Despite the growing prevalence of online courses and programs, there is a lack of information on and continuing debates about their effectiveness on student learning outcomes in social work education.Purpose: The current study was to examine the status of the evaluation of online courses or programs in social work education.Method: Using comprehensive and rigorous methods, 15 articles were reviewed to examine the effectiveness of social work online courses or programs. All reviewed articles were either quantitative or qualitative studies that used process or outcome evaluation.Results: The major criterion for comparison of the effectiveness between the face-to-face and online course was grades.Discussion: There is an overall disconnect with the concrete value and meaning of assessment within social work programs and universities and schools appear to have placed assessment and student learning outcomes secondary to the financial gains that online courses and programs bring.