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Background

HPPAEimpactreportpic.jpgThe HPPAE was an initiative of the Social Work Leadership Institute and is now administered by the CSWE Gero-Ed Center. The program was established with support from the John A. Hartford Foundation and is part of the Foundation’s Geriatric Social Work Initiative.

The HPPAE model was developed and implemented in four phases:

  • Planning (1999–2000): Eleven schools of social work were awarded grants to design a field-based education program to recruit students to the field of aging.

  • Demonstration (2000-2004): Six schools of social work were awarded grants to further expand the MSW program. Principal Investigators from these schools collaborated and designed the basic components of HPPAE. A total of 11 schools participated in this phase of implementation.

  • Adoption (2006–2011): Grants were awarded in three cycles of 3 years each to implement HPPAE, incorporating the six essential program components identified by the demonstration sites.

  • Normalization (2009–present): Beginning in 2009 an outreach initiative was implemented to encourage additional schools of social work to implement HPPAE without grant funding. 

A partnership with the Veterans Health Administration’s Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Centers (VHA/GRECC) was launched in 2012 to expand the social work workforce caring for the older veteran population. The HPPAE model has been initiated in 12 GRECC and three non-GRECC sites.