Social work services for elderly persons with mental retardation: a case example

Elderly persons with mental retardation constitute a relatively small and often overlooked subgroup of our aged population. As their numbers continue to grow, it is likely that social workers in health care and social service agencies serving either the mentally retarded or the aged will increasingly encounter such older persons as clients. This paper presents a case study that illustrates some of the problems and issues that social workers in a variety of community-based and institutional-based agencies are likely to face in helping to provide for the health and residential care needs of members of this group.