Atlantic Monthly illustration by Jon Krause.

National Association of Social Workers member Christine Valentin is urging other social workers read “Letting Go of My Father,” a Atlantic Monthly piece by Jonathan Rauch.

“Great article depicting a son’s silent struggle in coping with his aging father’s illness,” Valentin said in her email to Media Watch. “He credited a social worker as being invaluable.”

Rauch chronicles how he struggled to find care for his fiercely independent father, who had Parkinsons Disease. Rauch moved his father from Phoenix to Washington, D.C. to help care for him but soon found himself overwhelmed.

An incident at Costco pushed Rauch to the breaking point:

“That was the day I realized that he could not cope and I could not cope and, emotionally, he could take me down with him. And I discovered in myself an awful determination not to let that happen.”

Valentin mentions in the article the assistance he got from an unnamed social worker at the Jewish Social Service Agency. That social worker helped him and his father make a crucial decision.

Social workers often help the elderly and their families cope with aging. To learn more, visit NASW’s Help Starts Here Seniors & Aging Web pages by clicking here.