Baby Boomers of Color

Melvin Delgado accesses the status and assets of boomers of color, grounding an understanding of their financial, medical, and emotional needs within a historical, socioeconomic, cultural, and political context. Using specific data, he recommends tailored strategies for meeting the challenges of caring for a growing population. His research focuses on African American, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Native American older adults and addresses issues of financial security, employment stability, housing, and health care, which are often complicated by linguistic and cultural differences. Rather than treat baby boomers of color as a financial burden on society and its resources, Delgado recognizes their strengths and positive contributions to families and communities, resulting in an affirming and empowering approach to service.

Melvin Delgado provides a comprehensive portrait of the status and unique assets of boomers of color

Melvin Delgado is codirector of the Center for Addictions Research and Services, chair of macro-practice, and professor of social work at the Boston University School of Social Work. He brings almost forty years of practice, research, and scholarship focused on Puerto Rican and other Latino groups in the United States. Bilingual and bicultural, he has focused his professional and academic career on developing urban-based outreach and service delivery models that are culturally competent, stressing participatory democratic principles, and tapping cultural strengths and assets. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Latino Small Businesses and the American Dream: Community Social Work Practice and Economic and Social Development and Social Work Practice with Latinos: A Cultural Assets Paradigm and Social Work Practice with Immigrant and Refugee Youth in the United States.

Outstanding... A powerful addition to the social work literature on baby boomers.

Jay Poole, University of North Carolina–Greensboro:
This book looks more deeply into so-called minority groups and the impact of aging. It is important because of its attempt to address the intersection of aging and minority or marginalized status and will hopefully prompt more work in this important area.

Heung Bong Cha, president of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics:
Baby Boomers of Color is an important exposure of the impending ethical and practice issues confronted by gerontologists who must now take concerted efforts to train and support social workers who reflect the racial and ethnic composition of baby boomers of color. Furthermore, the book provides pertinent advice to social work educators for preparing the next generation of gerontologists and social workers in the aging society of America.