Preparing Social Workers for an Aging Population

A Growing Need for Aging-Savvy Social Workers
The number of older people, particularly the oldest old (85+), is growing and becoming more diverse, and many will need more assistance to remain active and independent. Older adults, when they need help, receive it mainly from their families or a combination of family care and an assortment of community-based health and social services. Therefore, coordinating care with older adults, their families, and complex service networks is crucial.

Aging-savvy social workers serve as "navigators" and "expediters," enabling older adults and families to understand and choose among the bewildering array of available health and social services. They empower older adults and families to find appropriate services. They also facilitate family support, provide counseling and direct services, and coordinate care delivered through professional systems.

A Multi-Faceted Initiative
The Geriatric Social Work Initiative, supported by the John A. Hartford Foundation, collaborates with social work education programs to prepare needed, aging-savvy social workers and improve the care and well-being of older adults and their families. Specifically, the Geriatric Social Work Initiative:

Cultivates faculty leaders in gerontological education and research through:
		The Faculty Scholars Program, which is training academic leaders to teach, mentor, do cutting-edge research and prepare the next generation of social workers to serve older adults, and
		The Doctoral Fellows Program, which is recruiting, sustaining, and preparing a cadre of talented doctoral students in geriatric social work.
		The Doctoral Fellows Pre-Dissertation Award Program, which aims to expose more doctoral students to gerontological social work research.

Develops excellent training opportunities in real-world settings through:
		The Hartford Partnership Program for Aging Education, which is developing high-quality models of, and disseminating new knowledge about, aging-rich field education at schools of social work and community agencies across the country.

Infuses gerontological competencies into social work curricula and teaching through:
		The National Center for Gerontological Social Work (Gero-Ed Center), which promotes institutionally-driven, sustainable changes in foundation curricula and social work programs and develops policy initiatives for the broader adoption of gerontological educational resources.

The Faculty Scholars Program
Principal Investigator:	Barbara Berkman, DSW/PhD Columbia University School of Social Work Phone: (212) 851-2398 Email: bb151@columbia.edu
Project Manager:	Julia Meashey, MA The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) Phone: (202) 587-2837 Email: jmeashey@geron.org
The Doctoral Fellows Program
Principal Investigator:	James Lubben, DSW, MPH Boston College Graduate School of Social Work Phone: (617) 552-1366 Email: lubben@bc.edu
Project Manager:	Julia Meashey, MA The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) Phone: (202) 587-2837 Email: jmeashey@geron.org
The Doctoral Fellows Pre-Dissertation Award Program
Principal Investigator:	James Lubben, DSW, MPH Boston College Graduate School of Social Work Phone: (617) 552-1366 Email: lubben@bc.edu
Project Co-Director:	Carmen Morano, PhD, LCSW-C Hunter College School of Social Work Phone: (212) 452-7036 Email: cmorano@hunter.cuny.edu
The Hartford Partnership Program For Aging Education
Principal Investigator:	Patricia J. Volland, MSW, MBA New York Academy of Medicine Phone: (212) 822-7207 Email: pvolland@nyam.org
Associate Program Officer:	Emma Barker New York Academy of Medicine Phone: (212) 419-3591 Email: ebarker@nyam.org
National Center for Gerontological Social Work Education (Gero-Ed Center)
Principal Investigators:	Julia M. Watkins, PhD Council on Social Work Education Phone: (703) 683-8080 Email: jwatkins@cswe.org Nancy Hooyman, PhD University of Washington School of Social Work Phone: (206) 685-1662 Email: hooy@u.washington.edu
Project Co-Directors:	Meredith Eisenhart, MSW Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Phone: (703) 519-2077 Email: meisenhart@cswe.org Suzanne St. Peter, MSW University of Washington School of Social Work Phone: (206) 543-7647 Email: sstpeter@u.washington.edu

For baccalaureate, MSW, PhD and practicing social workers, the GSWI is helping define and promote the special role of social workers to improve and provide vital services in the care of older adults. Nora O'Brien-Suric is the Program Officer for the various geriatric social work initiatives funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation. For more information, Nora O'Brien-Suric can be contacted at (212) 832-7788 or nora.obrien@jhartfound.org.

The John A. Hartford Foundation

This webpage was last updated on March 10, 2010