2007

Aging Times, the CSWE Gero-Ed Center’s bi-monthly e-newsletter, provided an accessible and concise link to the Center’s programs, initiatives and curricular resources. Each issue featured a special topic with articles by faculty, students, and other members of the social work community. 

If you would like to subscribe to our E-mail list in lieu of Aging Times, email us.

• December - Civic Engagement
• October - Leadership
• August - Experiential Gero Learning
• June - LGBT Issues
• Spring - Competency-Based Education
• Winter - Diversity

 

December 2007

Volume 3, Number 3 - December 2007

In This Issue: Civic Engagement

Civic engagement is often viewed as a benefit to both older adults and the causes to which they lend their expertise. This Aging Times presents multiple views, including a critique, of this hot topic and why it should be promoted by gerontological social work.

Civic Engagement and Aging: Asserting Social Work’s Public Purpose
Jim Hinterlong, Florida State University
Dr. Hinterlong presents the benefits of civic engagement and argues that social workers are in the best position to be leaders in this movement.

Getting Older, Staying Busy: Civic Engagement and Productive Aging
Martha Holstein, Center for Long-Term Care Reform, Health and Medicine Policy Research Group, Chicago, IL
Dr. Holstein offers a critique of civic engagement that cautions against making it an expectation with age.

Alert! Volunteering Probably Touches Your Life
Amy Cohen-Callow, PhD Student, University of Maryland
Volunteers present multiple benefits for social work. Research is needed on how agencies can effectively retain volunteers and ensure that their experiences are meaningful.

 

Civic Engagement Resources

Suggested Readings on Civic Engagement and "Productive Aging" (Word Doc)

The Civic Enterprise is a visual representation, from the National Academy on an Aging Society, of a growing network of organizations that are committed to civic engagement for older adults.

 

Faculty/Student Opportunities

New CSWE Gero-Ed Center Funding Opportunity Announced Exclusively for BSW Programs
Watch your e-mail for the BEL Program RFP to be released in early 2008.

Cycle 2 CDI Program – Funding Opportunity
Apply for the Cycle 2 CDI Program – and join us at the BPD Annual Meeting for special information sessions.

2007 Gero-Ed Track – A Huge Success
Thanks to all who participated in the 2007 Gero-Ed Track.

Anita Rosen Award Recognizes the Work of Students at APM
Christopher E. Bargeron and Nancy Giunta are the 2007 recipients of the Anita Rosen Student Poster Award.

  
 

Civic Engagement and Aging: Asserting Social Work’s Public Purpose

By Jim Hinterlong
Social work has a rich tradition of providing leadership in periods of historical societal change. Population aging now presents a compelling opportunity for our profession to shape public priorities and support private choices. As policy makers, scholars, and community leaders seek innovative responses to an expanding older population, social work should ensure that a broader view of aging takes root: a view that protects the services required by frail older adults and their families yet explicitly recognizes the real and potential contributions of older adults to our families, communities, and society. This latter complementary vision is captured by work on late life productive engagement (e.g. Morrow-Howell, Hinterlong, & Sherraden, 2001), with “civic engagement” referring to efforts that tap older adults’ passions and experiences specifically to address pressing social needs. Unlike perspectives such as successful aging that suggest “how-to” strategies for aging, civic engagement advocates seek recognition and support for the wide range of voluntary social and political activities older adults (and others) undertake that impact their communities.

Finding ways to present older adults with greater opportunities for involvement makes sense. Declining public commitments to social welfare demand that we reinvigorate civic life and improve community capacity to meet growing human welfare needs. Visionary thinkers like Marc Freedman offer language and program models that coalesce social entrepreneurship and public-private partnerships around promising strategies to engage older adults toward these ends (Freedman, 2007). And the field is growing rapidly. Yet, civic engagement does not include or affect older individuals uniformly (Hinterlong & Williamson, 2006-2007). Marginalized and vulnerable older adults and communities can easily be overlooked as efforts and resources to promote and reward engagement are primarily directed toward individuals with greater human, political, and economic capital. Social work should ensure these opportunities are inclusive, voluntary, and meaningful for all older adults (Hinterlong, Morrow-Howell, & Sherraden, 2001). In short, the ongoing reinvention of aging affords gerontological social workers an opportunity to reassert the profession’s profound public purpose: promoting social justice in the face of significant change.

Since aging is a human rights issue, it is timely that social work is strengthening its gerontological capacity. Efforts to infuse curricula with aging competencies, train gerontological social workers, and stimulate aging research are critical. Yet, the prevalent concern that extended longevity will lead to a lengthened period of dementia, disease, dependency, and disengagement should not unduly influence the scope nor narrow the focus of these initiatives. Social work education should encourage the development of knowledge and skills that enable graduates to work with the large proportion of older adults who are vital, experienced, and seeking ways to be meaningfully engaged. Social workers should understand the importance of civic and productive engagement to the well-being of older persons and the reduction of disparities (Hinterlong, 2006; Hinterlong, Morrow-Howell, & Rozario, 2007). Similarly, older adults are and will increasingly become change agents within families and communities. Social workers need to be prepared to lead organizations that have the capacity to fully engage older individuals as a resource. Finally, evaluating and translating promising practices into new policy initiatives at all levels and within businesses and organizations is also important. The visibility of civic engagement during the 2005 White House Conference on Aging and within the 2006 Older Americans Act reauthorization illustrates this work is gaining traction on a broad scale. Given its recent successes in prioritizing aging, gerontological social work is well-positioned to offer continuing and necessary leadership to this emerging field. The opportunity is unprecedented and a perfect fit for our profession.

Jim Hinterlong, PhD, MSW, is an assistant professor in social work at Florida State University and a Hartford Geriatric Social Work Scholar. He is the co-director of the Live Oak Geriatric Practicum Partnership Program, and currently serves as the external evaluator for the Atlantic Philanthropies’ Civic Engagement and Ageing grantmaking in the United States.

References
Butler, R. N. (2007). The seven continents: Preparing for longevity and the triumph of survival. New York: International Longevity Center - USA.
Freedman, M. (2007). Encore: Finding work that matters in the second half of life. New York: PublicAffairs.
Hinterlong, J. (2006). Racial disparities in health among older adults: Examining the role of productive engagement.Health & Social Work, 31(4), 275-288.
Hinterlong, J., Morrow-Howell, N., & Rozario, P. (2007). Productive engagement and late life physical and mental health: Findings from a nationally-representative panel study. Research on Aging, 29(4), 348-370.
Hinterlong, J., Morrow-Howell, N., & Sherraden, M. (2001). Productive aging: Principles and perspectives. In N. Morrow-Howell, J. Hinterlong & M. Sherraden (Eds.), Productive aging: Concepts and Controversies (pp. 4-17). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Hinterlong, J., & Williamson, A. (2006-2007). The effects of civic engagement of current and future cohorts of older adults. Generations, XXX(4), 10-18.
Morrow-Howell, N., Hinterlong, J., & Sherraden, M. (Eds.). (2001). Productive aging: Concepts and challenges. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
 

 

Getting Older, Staying Busy: Civic Engagement and Productive Aging

By Martha Holstein
The media and scholarly texts remind us that the life course has been radically disrupted, that we are healthier in old age than ever before, and that we are eager to be productively engaged as long as we are able to do so, indeed, that we are obligated to keep on contributing (Bass et al., 2003; Morrow-Howell et al., 2001) Civic engagement and productive aging fit well within these current social and cultural parameters, which insist that baby boomers will transform old age. Popular phrases, such as we are only as old as we feel and 60 is the new 40, however, hide important complexities, and it is those complexities that make these cheerful scenarios problematic (see Holstein, 2006; Holstein & Minkler. 2003). If advocates of engagement and productivity sought only to open opportunities to volunteer - like the decades old RSVP program - or sought to remove barriers to employment for older workers who needed and/or wanted to work, then my problems would evaporate. But that is not the whole story. The story line is more complicated. Civic engagement has been described as a movement comparable to the civil rights movement and a new expectation—it is a duty for older people to keep contributing while they can (Reilly, 2006). This new obligation, based on good health and early retirement, can transform communities, thus relieving the pressure on public dollars (Freedman, 1999; Morrow-Howell, 2000; Harvard School of Public Health/MetLife, 2004).

Productive aging or, as some prefer, a “productive aging society” is both descriptive and proscriptive. Data on older people’s contributions to society “proves” that they are not “greedy geezers” draining society of resources but adding to it through employment, family caregiving, and volunteering. But here too, there is a proscriptive element—continued work is necessary for the well-being of society. A delayed retirement rather than an early or “normal” retirement is the goal. The operative word in the discourse around civic engagement and productive aging is choice, despite the strong elements of expectation and necessity, which are present in these discourses.

My warnings emerge from these mixed meanings. Which meanings we find most compelling depend in large part on the lenses we use to examine them. What we see through a lens of privilege is quite different than what we see through a lens of gender and class. A lens of privilege means “not having to notice or think about people who aren’t like you” (Lindemann, 2006). To be civically engaged or productive is a choice primarily for the privileged. There is a vast difference between using one’s life experiences and contacts to start a new housing service in one’s community or returning to work as a white collar consultant versus having to work at a minimum wage job just to make ends meet. Further, for the privileged, work and civic activities are sources of respect and often substantial earnings that also leave time for self-care and nurture and are a source of continued self-esteem. For women and people lower down on the income scale, work was often arduous and not a source of respect, leaving little time or resources for self-care and nurturance. Looking at civic engagement and productivity through their eyes might make it seem a burden rather than a privilege, one more expectation or necessity no different than what they experienced throughout their lives. This observation is not to suggest that many people, who worked very hard but have little in the way of income or assets, do not want to keep on giving. Many do but they ought not to be judged if they want to rest—even if they still have the good health to continue. That’s the difference between opening opportunities and creating new expectations.

The rush to decide what constitutes a good old age in the absence of serious and extended public discussion risks imposing a privileged perspective on everyone else. It means taking for granted that what is good for the privileged—healthy, white, relatively affluent, not disabled--is equally good for those people who do not share those characteristics. An important next step is creating opportunities for public discussion in settings where the risk of “group think,” which cannot see beyond the American myth of independence, is reduced. We need to hear from the poor and the near poor, from women, from people of color, from all those who do not wear the lens of privilege.

Martha Holstein, PhD, co-directs the Center for Long-Term Care Reform at the Health and Medicine Policy Research Group in Chicago. She is a respected speaker on ethical issues, feminist gerontology, and social constructionism, and has written or co-authored several books, including Ethics in Community-Based Elder Care.

References
Bass, S., Caro, F. & Chen, Y-P. eds. 1993. Achieving a productive aging society. Westport, CT: Auburn Press.
Freedman, M. (1999). Primetime: How baby boomers will revolutionize retirement and transform America. New York: Public Affairs.
Friedan, B. 1993. The fountain of age. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Gergen, K. & Gergen, M. 2000. The new aging: Self construction and social values. In Schaie, . & Hendricks, J. (eds.) The evolution of the aging self: The social impact on the aging process, pp.281-306. New York: Springer.
Gilleard, C. & Higgs, P. 2000. Cultures of aging: Self, aging and the body. New York: Prentice Hall.
Holstein, M. 2006. A critical reflection on civic engagement. Public policy and agency report. 16 (4), pp. 1, 21-26.
Holstein, M & Minkler, M. (2003). Self, society and the ‘new gerontology.’ The Gerontologist. 43(6), 787-796.
Lindemann, H. 2006. An Invitation to feminist ethics. New York: MGraw Hill
Morrow-Howell, N. (2000). Productive engagement of older adults: Effects on well-being. St. Louis, MO: Washington University.
Morrow-Howell, N., Hinterlong, J. & Sherraden, M. eds. 2001. Productive aging: Concepts and challenges.Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Post. S. & Binstock, R. 2004. The fountain of youth: Cultural, scientific, and ethical perspectives on a biomedical goal. New York: Oxford University Press.
Reilly, S. Fall 2006. Transforming aging: The civic engagement of adults 55+. Public policy and aging report. 16 (4): 1, 3-7.

 
 

Alert! Volunteering Probably Touches Your Life

By Amy Cohen-Callow
Whether you or an older family member volunteers or you are a professional in the human services, you are likely to cross paths with volunteers, and increasingly with those from the baby boomer cohort. At least 25% of adults 55 and older report that they volunteer (Unites States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 2007) with about one-third of baby-boomers indicating they will volunteer in later life (Pirsuta, 2004). In addition, more than 80% of charities (Hager & Brudney, 2004) and 98% of local government-based agencies include volunteers in their operations (Brudney, 1999). This suggests the importance of preparing human service professionals to work alongside of or to supervise older adult volunteers.

As a former practitioner, a researcher in volunteer management, and a social work faculty member teaching program management, I feel it is particularly important to educate leaders in human service agencies to develop, implement, and oversee volunteer programs. Volunteering provides benefits to both the volunteers themselves and the individuals and organizations affected by their services. Older adults are a particularly valuable group of volunteers with life skills, knowledge, and talents that complement the work of agency staff.

However, these benefits only accrue if we are able to effectively engage older adults in meaningful volunteer work. Baby boomers may seek different types of volunteer opportunities than previous older adult cohorts, requiring agencies to redesign their volunteer positions (Harvard/Met Life, 2004). Specifically, organizations need to consider challenging projects for highly skilled volunteers as well as special projects and short-term assignments for those balancing time demands (Eisner, 2005). Promising practices to guide volunteer program development point to the importance of thinking outside of the box when creating volunteer roles for the young and for the old alike (e.g., Campbell & Ellis, 2004). However, there is limited evidence-based information available for practitioners to use to develop their programs to meet the potential influx of newly retiring volunteers.

It is particularly important that our research on volunteerism provide tools that can be used to improve the volunteer experience. From a management perspective, knowing that an individual is disengaging from a volunteer assignment is valuable, because managers can then implement strategies to counteract this behavior before the volunteer terminates his or her relationship with the organization. This can maximize the benefits accrued from the volunteer-agency relationship which when terminated has the potential to be costly for the volunteer, the agency, and those served .

My dissertation study on volunteers 55 and older measures psychological climate (Brown & Leigh, 1996), which is an individual level measure of volunteers’ perceptions of the work environment. I anticipate that psychological climate will be related to the construct of organizational withdrawal, a measure of the degree of disengagement from one’s volunteer work (Laczo & Hansich, 2000). If there is support for this relationship, then managers may be able to identify when to intervene before a volunteer terminates his or her relationship with the organization. Such research may provide concrete, evidence-based tools that would be of particular use to human service practitioners who find themselves working alongside volunteers.

Amy Cohen-Callow, MSSW, is a doctoral candidate from the University of Maryland Baltimore School of Social Work studying volunteer work force development in the human services. After receiving her MSSW from Columbia University, she worked with the Community Service Society of New York’s Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), overseeing a number of volunteer programs and providing staff development related to managing volunteer programs engaging older adult. Ms. Cohen-Callow is also a Hartford Doctoral Fellow (Cohort VI).

References
Brudney, J.L., & Kellough, J.E. (2000). Volunteers in state government: Involvement, management, and benefits.Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 29, 111-118.
Brown, S.P. & Leigh, T.W. (1996). A new looked at psychological climate and its relationship to job involvement, effort, and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 353-368.
Campbell, K. N & Ellis, S.J. (1999). The (Help!) I Don’t Have Enough Time Guide to Volunteer Management, Energize Inc.: PA.
Eisner, D. (2005). Engaging baby-boomers in meeting the challenges of the 21 st century: White House Conference on Aging Policy Recommendations. Retrieved November 29, 2007, from http://www.whitehouseconferenceonaging.gov/blog/policy/post/healthy-aging-policy-brief
Hager, M.A., & Brudney, J.L. (2004). Volunteer Management: Practices and Retention of Volunteers. Washington D.C.: The Urban Institute.
Harvard School of Public Health-Met Life Foundation Initiative on Retirement and Civic Engagement (2004).Reinventing Aging: Baby Boomers and Civic Engagement. Cambridge, MA: Center for Health Communication Harvard School of Public Health and MetLife Foundation. Report retrieved June 2005 from http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/chc/reinventingaging/Report.pdf
Laczo, R.M., & Hanisch, K.A. (2000). An examination of behavioral families of organizational withdrawal in volunteer workers and paid employees. Human Resource Management Review, 9, 453-477.
Prisuta, R. (2004). Enhancing volunteerism among aging boomers. In Reinventing Aging: Baby Boomers and Civic Engagement. Boston, MA: Harvard School of Public Healht, Center for Health Communication.
United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistic ( January 10, 2007). Volunteering in the United States, 2006. Retrieved from the Website: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/volun.nr0.htm on December, 2007.

 

New CSWE Gero-Ed Center Funding Opportunity Announced Exclusively for BSW Programs

Up to 40 BSW programs will be funded in two cycles (approximately 20 programs per cycle) to develop innovative experiential student learning activities through the new BSW Experiential Learning (BEL) Program. Examples of experiential learning include:

• Conducting oral histories with elders;
• Practicing interviewing and observation skills with older residents of a housing complex;
• Developing a community outreach or marketing plan for an adult daycare center;
• Completing a community needs assessment for a local naturally occurring retirement community (NORC); and
• Setting up and participating in intergenerational programming.

By involving students in direct interaction with older adults through experiential learning activities, the BEL Program is intended to recruit undergraduate students early in their academic careers to gerontological social work field placements, MSW education in gerontological social work, and careers working with elders and their families.

Watch your email and check the Gero-Ed Center Web site frequently for the release of this RFP early in 2008. A BEL Program informational session will be held at the annual meeting of BPD in March 2008. For more information about the BEL Program, please visit the Gero-Ed Center Web site.

 

Cycle 2 CDI Program – Funding Opportunity

The CSWE Gero-Ed Center encourages social work programs to apply for a new, three-year Cycle 2 Curriculum Development Institute (CDI) Program, July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2011. Applications are welcome from CSWE-accredited BSW, MSW, and combined BSW/MSW programs that have not already participated in the Cycle 1 CDI Program (2004-2007) or the Geriatric Enrichment Program (GeroRich, 2001-2004). The application deadline is April 15, 2008.

If you are attending the 2008 BPD Annual Meeting, please join us at our Hartford Funding Opportunities Information Sessions to learn more about the Cycle 2 CDI Program and our other new funding initiatives. We will also be available for individual and group consultation to answer specific questions about the Cycle 2 CDI RFP. Check your tote bag for a flyer indicating date, time and location of these sessions.

Cycle 2 CDI Program highlights:

• Gain strategies to prepare social work graduates with the competencies to meet the workforce needs of our aging society
• Learn to implement, evaluate, and sustain gerontological competencies within foundation curriculum and program structure
• Receive support from a CDI Mentor, who is a social work faculty member with expertise in gerontology and planned curricular change
• Network with and learn from faculty participants nationwide at three, annual pre-APM CDI Workshops

Funded programs will receive $2,500 each of the first two years for programmatic implementation support, and up to $700 CDI Workshop travel reimbursement per participating faculty member all three years. For additional program and application details, review the Request for Proposals (RFP) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), available on the CDI Program web page, www.gero-edcenter.org/CDI.

We hope that you will apply and become part of the growing national movement to increase gerontological foundation competencies to ensure that all graduates are prepared to work with older adults and their families.

 

2007 Gero-Ed Track – A Huge Success

The CSWE Annual Program Meeting (APM), Gero-Ed Track was held in San Francisco, CA from October 27-30, 2007. Dr. Carmen Morano served as track Chair and Gero-Ed Center staff member Ashley Brooks-Danso as track Co-Chair.

The Gero-Ed Track was pleased to welcome 150 presenters from 80 social work education programs, 13 community organizations and representing three countries. Sessions included paper, poster, student poster, electronic poster, and panel presentations; curriculum and administrative and skills workshops; and the Film Festival.

Highlights included:

• The Kick-Off featuring keynote speech and book signing by Marc Freedman, CEO of Civic Ventures whose keynote address, "Encore: How We Can Make the Most of the Aging Opportunity?" was received by over 75 attendees.

• The fifth annual Gero-Ed Center/AGE-SW Joint Event and Reception which featured for the first time a hot topic panel, "Civic Engagement: What Does It Mean for Social Work?". Panelists included Drs. Nancy Morrow-Howell, James Hinterlong and Carmen Morano. Over 65 conference participants attended the event, which was followed by a business meeting of AGE-SW and the announcement of the Anita Rosen Gerontology Awards for Outstanding Student Poster (see Rosen Award article in this issue of Aging Times).

• CSWE’s Career Center sponsored a special session for gero doctoral students, Finding a Job: In the Field of Gerontology. The session featured panelists, Drs. Harriet Cohen, Colleen Galambos, Nancy Kropf, and Colleen Reed, and was moderated by Dr. Sherry Cummings. It aimed to demystify the hiring process for students searching for faculty positions, particularly in gerontological social work. The session featured a light breakfast sponsored by Dr. Anita Rosen and was well attended by nearly 20 students .

The CSWE Gero-Ed Center thanks all of you who participated in the Gero-Ed Track events. Initial feedback suggests that the Gero-Ed Track was extremely successful. For a recap of the entire CSWE Annual Program Meeting, please visit the APM Recap Page.

 

Anita Rosen Award Recognizes the Work of Students at APM

The Gero-Ed Center congratulates Christopher E. Bargeron, College of St. Catherine and University of St. Thomas, and Nancy Giunta, University of California at Berkeley, on winning the 2007 Anita Rosen Gerontology Awards for Outstanding Student Poster at the 2007 CSWE APM Gero-Ed Track. The two students were presented with the award and prize money at the 4 th Annual Gero-Ed Center/AGE-SW Joint Event.

With his winning poster Aging Well: Narratives of GLBT Seniors, former MSW student Christopher Bargeron highlighted his research on theories of successful aging and GLBT elders. Nancy Giunta’s poster Implementing the National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP): An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Study, which won the PhD student award, examined the factors contributing to the successful implementation by states of this federal caregiver support program.

The Rosen Awards are made possible by a generous donation from Dr. Anita Rosen, reflecting her career-long commitment to gerontological social work and advancing the inclusion of gerontology competencies for all social work students. More information on this year’s winners and on the Anita Rosen Awards is available on our Web site.

 
 

October 2007

Volume 3, Number 2 - October 2007

In This Issue: Leadership

Leadership is a critical issue for social work education. And meeting the challenges of our aging society requires innovative leaders among both social work faculty and students.

Leadership in Geriatric Social Work
Sandra Edge-Boyd, University of Oklahoma
Professor Edge-Boyd describes the need for leaders in gerontological social work education.

Leadership Resources
This page includes a leadership self-assessment, a presentation on leadership in the policy arena, and more information on the CSWE Scholars Program.

Recognizing and Promoting Leadership in Gerontological Social Work Practice
Karen A. Zurlo, PhD Student, University of Pennsylvania
One student witnesses leadership in practice at her local senior services agency.

 

Faculty/Student Opportunities

The CSWE Gero-Ed Center is committed to building and supporting faculty and student leaders with programs such as the following:

Gero-Ed Track Just Days Away!
Don’t miss these and other special Gero-Ed Track events at the CSWE APM (October 27-30)!

CDI Program: Gero Curricular Change Funding Available
The RFP for the Cycle 2 CDI Program has just been released. Find out how your program can apply.

New CSWE Gero-Ed Center Discussion Forum
A new way to stay connected to the CSWE Gero-Ed Center.

 

Leadership in Geriatric Social Work

By Sandra K. Edge-Boyd
Do you consider yourself a leader in social work practice or social work education? Do you find yourself in situations where leadership is needed but you don’t know what to do? Do you want to be more of a leader, but don’t know which leadership qualities are most effective? The CSWE Gero-Ed Center emphasizes building the gerontological leadership capacity of faculty and students.

Most of us are aware that by 2020, an estimated 54.6 million Americans will be age 65 and older, which will increase to 71.5 million by 2030 (AOA, 2005). The implications of this dramatic shift in longevity and the subsequent growth of the older population will have a dramatic impact on individuals, families, and institutions of all types, including social work and higher education (Scharlach, Damron-Rodriguez,  Robinson,  Feldman, 2000). Leaders are needed to unite and encourage social work faculty to prepare students for the reality of this demographic shift. Leaders are needed to envision and energize the way faculty include competencies and content on older adults and create innovative, engaging curricula for today’s students.

Leadership involves an influential relationship among leaders and followers that leads to authentic changes, reflecting shared goals ( Harrison, 1999). Some traditional interpersonal styles, such as authoritarian or passive, do not result in the trust and motivation of others that is needed for leadership in geriatric social work education and practice (Avolio, Bass, & Jung, 1999). The 21 st century educational environment requires leaders with styles that are intellectually stimulating, inspirational, collaborative, and forward-looking (Avolio, Bass, and Jung, 1999; Harrison, 1999; Maccoby, 2001).

Five exemplary leadership practices are identified as follows: modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, challenging the process, enabling others to act, and encouraging the heart (Kouzes & Posner, 2002). These practices are congruent with social work education and practice. A style of leadership, identified as transformational, is shown to have a more significant and positive impact on innovative effectiveness than the traditional transactional or paternalistic management styles (Kou, 2004). If leadership is essential in social work education and practice, as I believe it is, then the preparation of social work leaders is imperative and our graduate programs must prepare transformational, ethical, and visionary leaders (Siegrist, 1999). Those of us who can and are willing must step up to the task of preparing ourselves and our students for leadership. Further social work leadership research is also needed to bring about the organizational changes needed to respond to our rapidly changing aging environments (Gellis, 2001).

Please join with the CSWE Gero-Ed Center in its focus on gerontological leadership capacity-building. Meet with Geriatric Social Work Leaders at the CSWE APM and watch for the RFP for the Cycle 2 Curriculum Development Institutes Program. Your active involvement is essential in social work education and practice to meet the demographic challenges of the 21 st century.

Professor Sandra Edge-Boyd, MSW, is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and Program Director of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Gerontology. She was a GeroRich Project Director and CDI Mentor and continues to serve as an adjunct faculty member of the OU School of Social Work to advocate for aging curricula and field education.

References
Administration on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2005). Fact Sheet: A statistical profile of older Americans aged 65. Retrieved June 5, 2006, from http://www.aoa.gov/
Avolio, B.J., Bass, B.M., and Jung, D.I. (1999, December). Re-examining the components of transformational and transactional leadership using the multifactor leadership questionnaire. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 72(4), 441-462. Retrieved May 26, 2006, from ProQuest database.
Gellis, Z.D. (2001) Social work perceptions of transformational and transactional leadership in health care. Social Work Research. 25(1), 17-26. Retrieved June 18, 2006, from ProQuest database.
Harrison, B. (1999). The nature of leadership: Historical perspectives and the future. Journal of California Law Enforcement, 33(1), 24-30. Retrieved June 18, 2006, from ProQuest database.
Kou, C.-C. (2004). Research on impacts of team leadership on team effectiveness. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge. Sept.:266-277.
Kouzes, J.M. & Posner, B.Z. (2002). The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Maccoby, M. (May, 2001). Successful leaders employ strategic intelligence. Research-Technology Management, 44(3)58. Retrieved May 2, 2006, from InfoTrac OneFile.
Scharlach , A. Damron-Rodriguez. J., Robinson, B., and Feldman R. (Fall 2000). Educating social workers for an aging society: A vision for the 21st century.Journal of Social Work Education. 36(3) 521-539. Retrieved July 13, 2006, from ProQuest database.
Siegrist, G. (1999). Educational leadership must move beyond management training to visionary and moral transformational leaders. Education, 120(2), 297. Retrieved Tuesday, July 04, 2006 from the Academic Search Premier database.

 

Leadership Resources

Becoming a Leader in Geriatric Social Work (PDF)
Worksheet to assess your leadership skills, from the Becoming a Leader in Geriatric Social Work intensive workshop at the 2007 Gero-Ed Forum, February 3, 2007.

Presenters:

Linda Krogh Harootyan, Gerontological Society of America
Elizabeth Clark, National Association of Social Workers
Patricia Volland, New York Academy of Medicine
Robyn Golden, Rush University Medical Center

Developing Policy Leaders: Lessons to Share (PDF)
Presentation on lessons learned from the Policy Leadership Institute, part of the Hartford Faculty Scholars Program.

Presented by Linda Krogh Harootyan, Gerontological Society of America, at the 2006 Gero-Ed Forum, February 17, 2006.
CSWE Scholars Program (Web Site)
Some of the current and past participants in the CSWE Scholars Program have conducted research on leadership in social work education. While not focused on gerontology, this research is an excellent resource for understanding the current state of leadership in general.
Gerontology is one of the current funding priorities for the CSWE Scholars Program. We encourage our readers to learn more about this opportunity.

 

Recognizing and Promoting Leadership in Gerontological Social Work Practice

By Karen A. Zurlo
Leadership is a popular and contested topic in today’s world. Some define a leader as one who has vision, passion and the ability to articulate and communicate with a variety of individuals. Others define it as one who is consistent and in spite of adversity, never gives up. I argue that it is more accessible than we realize. By recognizing and promoting leadership opportunities among ourselves and with our older clients, leadership can be a common form of expression in gerontological social work and as a result, more successfully advance our goals as educators, practitioners and researchers.

Over the past year, I have been working with the Executive Director (ED) of a senior services agency, located in the suburbs of Philadelphia and dedicated to “neighbor helping neighbor.” It was founded 30 years ago to promote the well-being of its members through volunteer and social opportunities and assist members who “age in place.” Today this agency is a full-service non-profit that serves almost 3,500 individuals annually. The ED asked me to assist her with assessing the needs of a growing membership. Although she never had conducted a needs assessment, she knew that if her agency was to remain an influential member of the community, she must understand the actual needs of a growing and diverse membership.

We conducted a needs assessment through three focus groups. All participants were members of the agency, age 75 and older, and living independently in a suburban, single-family home. Initially, we met with single women, then with couples, and lastly with single men.
The consistent finding from members of all three groups was their appreciation for the time we took to meet with them and ask their opinions. They were grateful to be heard by someone who could potentially create change in their lives. Secondly, they wanted to give back. Many felt they had demanding work lives in their earlier years and had skills that could benefit others. How could we, as administrators of this agency, help them put those skills to good use? One widower offered to host group discussions on antiques, a hobby which he and his wife shared years earlier. And an older couple offered the opportunity for members of the agency to learn about meditation, a practice that helped them deal with a significant loss in their lives.

I would argue that the leadership skills of the ED and me were reflected in the questions asked and our careful listening to their answers. This simple act was a catalyst that recognized and promoted leadership opportunities for the older members of this agency. As gerontological social workers, I ask you to find leadership opportunities for yourselves and your clients in your everyday interactions. As simple as these opportunities may appear, they can enhance well-being and increase life satisfaction. What a great way to spend one’s later years!

Karen A. Zurlo, MSW, MBA, is a PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice. She received a John A. Hartford Foundation Pre-Dissertation Award and is currently serving as a student representative on the AGE-SW Board.

 

Gero-Ed Track Just Days Away!

There are only 2 weeks until the CSWE Annual Program Meeting (APM) in San Francisco (October 27-30). Although online registration has closed, you can still register onsite at the San Francisco Hilton, starting October 26.

The Gero-Ed Center encourages all CSWE APM registrants to attend the Gero-Ed Track educational sessions and special events. Highlights include:

Gero-Ed Track Kick-Off 

Sunday, October 28, 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Keynote speaker: Marc Freedman, a leader in the field of civic engagement. Snacks will be served.

 

Gero-Ed Center/AGE-SW Joint Event & Reception

Sunday, October 28, 6-9 PM

• Hot Topic Panel – Civic Engagement: What It Means for Social Work 
  • Panelists: Nancy Morrow-Howell, Carmen Morano, and Jim Hinterlong
• Anita Rosen Gerontology Awards for Outstanding Student Poster announcement
• AGE-SW business meeting

 

Second Annual Gero-Ed Film Festival

Sunday, October 28 - Monday, October 29
View films that address intergenerational/aging issues and are appropriate for classroom use.

Check the Gero-Ed Center Web site (www.Gero-EdCenter.org) for other special events!
Registrants and non-registrants are encouraged to check the online personal scheduler for more specific information about all Gero-Ed Track sessions as well as all other APM events.

 

CDI Program: Gero Curricular Change Funding Available

The CSWE Gero-Ed Center announces funding for a new, 3-year Cycle 2 Curriculum Development Institute (CDI) Program, July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2011. Applications are welcome from all CSWE-accredited BSW, MSW, and combined BSW/MSW programs that have not already participated in the Cycle 1 CDI Program (2004-2007) or the Geriatric Enrichment Program (GeroRich, 2001-2004). The application deadline is April 15, 2008.

If you are attending the 2007 CSWE Annual Program Meeting, please visit with us at the Cycle 2 CDI Program information session on Sunday, October 28, from 8 - 9 am, in room Union Square 10.

Cycle 2 CDI Program highlights:

• Gain strategies to prepare social work graduates with the competencies to meet the workforce needs of our aging society
• Learn to implement, evaluate, and sustain gerontological competencies within foundation curriculum and program structure
• Receive support from a CDI Mentor, a social work faculty member with expertise in gerontology and planned curricular change
• Network with and learn from faculty participants nationwide at three, annual pre-APM CDI Workshops

Funded programs will receive $2,500 each of the first two years for programmatic implementation support, and up to $700 CDI Workshop travel reimbursement per participating faculty member all 3 years. For additional program and application details, review the Request for Proposals (RFP) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), available on the CDI Program Web page.

We hope that you will apply and become part of the growing national movement to increase gerontological foundation competencies to ensure that all graduates are prepared to work with older adults and their families.

 

New CSWE Gero-Ed Center Discussion Forum

The CSWE Gero-Ed Center is pleased to announce the newly launched Gero-Ed Center Discussion Forum, part of the new CSWE Discussion Forums. This Web-based forum functions as a combined listserv and message board. Participants can read, post, and reply to messages regarding gero social work education using e-mail.

If you were on our “SAGE Listserv,” you are already a member of the Gero-Ed Center Discussion Forum list and should have received an email inviting you to participate. If you were not on this list or did not receive an email to participate and would like to, please contact us at Gero-EdCenter@cswe.org.

We hope you will find this new feature valuable for connecting you to news from the Gero-Ed Center and as a forum for discussion on gero related topics. If you are a member of CSWE, you will be able to access many other members-only discussion groups later this fall. If you are not a member of CSWE, we encourage you to join today for this and many other membership benefits.

Should you have any general questions about the new Discussion Forums, please direct them to DiscussionForums@cswe.org.

 
 

August 2007

Volume 3, Number 1 - August 2007

In This Issue: Experiential Gerontological Learning

As we begin a new year of Aging Times, this issue focuses on some experiential activities and resources to make gerontological social work and its benefits "come alive" for students.


Gerontology as Pedagogy
Nancy R. Hooyman, University of Washington, Seattle
Experiential learning opportunities are central to changing students’ negative attitudes toward older adults. This article presents ways to bring such experiences into your classroom.

 

Resources

Aging Times is proud to introduce its newest feature - student articles:

Exploring Gerontological Social Work: A Student Perspective
Kathryn MacLean, MSW Student, St. Louis University
"My classmates thought I was having a financial crisis. Why else would a person choose to work with older adults?"

 

Faculty/Student Opportunities

Gero-Ed Track Events at the 2007 CSWE APM
Don’t miss special Gero-Ed Track events at the CSWE Annual Program Meeting. Register by September 14 for a special Early Bird discount.

$25 Off - Still Time to Save with eLearning Summer Discount
Act now to save $25 off the regular price of our eLearning course! Use the following coupon code at checkout: AGINGTIMES – Discount continues until August 31.

New Gero-Ed Center Curricular Opportunities Coming Soon
The Gero-Ed Center highlights several of its new initiatives. There will be special informational sessions at APM.

Awards Announced for MAC Project Gero Innovations Grant
14 MSW programs were awarded funding for gero innovations.

 

Gerontology as Pedagogy

By Nancy R. Hooyman
Recruiting students to gerontology field placements, specialized aging courses, and careers in aging is a challenge for most social work programs. Opportunities for personal interaction with older adults are generally found to be both an effective recruitment strategy and teaching tool. One of the Project Directors in the Geriatric Enrichment Project (GeroRich) developed the term Gerontology as Pedagogy, in recognition that experiential learning opportunities are central to changing students’ negative attitudes toward older adults and their subsequent placement and career choices. This concept also articulates the importance of attending to the how of teaching, not just what we teach.

Personal interaction with elders is typically found to be more compelling to students than written documents citing demographics or workforce needs. Experiential opportunities typically include interviewing older adults, oral history projects, service learning, voluntarism, field placements, and joint learning activities for both elders and undergraduates. Effective joint learning activities – or respectful partnerships - encompass lobbying on legislation affecting older adults, intergenerational projects, inviting elders into the classroom as speakers or students, and involving retired social workers in acting out and discussing case studies or participating in classroom simulations and tapings. For students who have had limited opportunities to interact with elders, sensory kits (insert link) can enhance their empathy but should also allow time to debrief the sensory experience and differentiate normal vs. disease-related changes.

Some programs that participated in GeroRich or the Curriculum Development Institute program implemented the expectation that all students interact with at least one older adult before graduation. While this may seem a modest proposal, its implementation could have profound effects. The field of social work will be more inclusive of all groups when opportunities to interact with elders are viewed as normative in the same way as with children and families.

Dr. Nancy R. Hooyman is the co-Principal Investigator of the CSWE Gero-Ed Center and the Hooyman Gerontology Professor at the University of Washington, Seattle.

 

Exploring Gerontological Social Work: A Student Perspective

By Kathryn MacLean
My classmates thought I was having a financial crisis. Why else would a person choose to work with older adults? I had only worked with youth in the past but I wanted to explore a career path where I could make a difference not just in someone's life, but also in their day.

I began my journey working with older adults at an assisted living facility run by the Catholic Church in Saint Louis, but I wasn't sure what to expect. My first thought was: How fast can I complete my hours and move on to someplace less depressing? I held on to these thoughts for the first few days. Then, something amazing took place. One of the residents' daughters brought her dog to the assisted living facility. I had never seen such a dramatic response. How rewarding, to make someone's entire day, if not week, with one furry guest. My previous ideas about aging were slowly fading into new ones.

I had two additional practicum placements -- the St. Louis Area Agency on Aging (SLAAA) where I organized the local chapter of the Silver Haired Legislature and the St. Louis Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association where I recognized my macro-level interest and talents.
In addition to working with the Silver Haired Legislature, a group of active, articulate older adults who taught me about the political process, SLAAA was an especially interesting agency to work at during the summer, because St. Louis suffered a storm-related blackout. For a significant part of my practicum experience, I helped triage phone calls and got to be a part of an evacuation of residents to local cooling sites. It was a crash course in collaboration.

At the Alzheimer's Association, I worked on several community projects and initiatives including the Faith Leaders Conference. My other tasks included law enforcement outreach and education, as well as fundraising events. In a burst of good fortune, my practicum at the Alzheimer's Association led to a temporary employment position with the association's Memory Walk.

By the end of these placements, my view of older adults and their needs had dramatically changed. I learned new ways of thinking about aging and the venues in which services are provided and realized that working with older adults can be a dynamic experience. As the aging population increases, so will the opportunity to work with the aging in new ways. My thanks go to the Hartford Foundation for recognizing a need for gerontologically-competent social workers and offering support to bring people into the field.

Kathryn MacLean is an MSW student and Graduate Admissions Assistant at St. Louis University School of Social Work. As part of her Hartford Practicum Partnership Project rotational field work, she spent 10 weeks at each of the three sites discussed in this article. She will graduate in August 2007.

Editor's Note: This article is excerpted from the new book, Days in the Lives of Gerontological Social Workers, edited by Linda May Grobman and Dara Bergel Bourassa, and is reprinted with permission from the publisher.
MacLean, K. C. (2007). A graduate student’s experience in the Hartford Practicum Partnership Program. In L. M. Grobman & D. B. Bourassa (Eds.), Days in the lives of gerontological social workers: 44 professionals tell stories from "real-life" social work practice with older adults (pp. 253-256). Harrisburg, PA: White Hat Communications.

Visit the book's Web site.

 

Gero-Ed Track Events at the 2007 CSWE APM

With the new Gero-Ed Track, gerontological sessions are now formalized in the APM and open to all participants. The new Track structure ensures that aging content will be ongoing at future APMs. Over 75 paper, poster, workshop and roundtable presentations on research and curricular gerontological issues. Popular events from past gero sessions include a Film Festival, the Kick-Off, and a joint event with AGE-SW.

The second annual Gero-Ed Film Festival will feature films on aging issues appropriate for the classroom. The schedule of films will be listed in the APM Final Program.
Another Track event not to be missed is the Gero-Ed Track Kick-Off on Sunday morning, October 28. This year’s featured keynote speaker is Marc Freedman, a leader in the field of civic engagement and older adults. Mr. Freedman will have his latest book Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life available for purchase and signing after the event.

The fourth annual Gero-Ed Center/AGE-SW joint event will continue the discussion on civic engagement with a hot topic panel on Sunday evening, October 28. Panelists include Drs. Nancy Morrow-Howell, Washington University, and Carmen Morano, Hunter College. The AGE-SW meeting, announcement of the Anita Rosen Student Poster Award, and reception will follow the panel discussion.

Register today for the CSWE Annual Program Meeting (APM) to participate in Gero-Ed Track events and sessions. Early Bird registration ends September 14; there’s still time to take advantage of this discount and save on registration. We also encourage you to reserve your room at the conference hotel, the Hilton San Francisco, before it sells out. For more information on the CSWE Annual Program Meeting, please visit www.cswe.org/apm.

Informational sessions on the Gero-Ed Center’s new programs will also be held at APM. Read the article on new programs in this issue for more information.

 

$25 Off – Still Time to Save with eLearning Summer Discount

Purchase A Planned Change Model: Preparing Gerontologically-Competent Graduates today and save $25 off the regular price. Our special eLearning summer discount ends August 31.

This user-friendly course gives you the tools to infuse gerontology throughout your curriculum. As one social work faculty member commented, the resources are "helpful and focused," allowing users "to customize this work immediately"– and to develop competency-based courses individualized for your program.

There’s still time to take advantage of this great opportunity! Simply purchase this course and enter the following coupon code at checkout:

Coupon Code: AGINGTIMES (case-sensitive; expires 8/31/07)
Price with code: 
CSWE Members: $50 (regularly $75)
Non-CSWE Members: $70 (regularly $95)

 

New Gero-Ed Center Curricular Opportunities Coming Soon

With its recent five-year renewal grant from the Hartford Foundation, the CSWE Gero-Ed Center will be launching several new initiatives, which we highlight here. Several of these programs will have informational sessions at APM, and we encourage you to join us in San Francisco for more details on how you can become involved.

Curriculum Development Institute Program (Cycle 2 CDI)

The Cycle 2 Curriculum Development Institute Program (CDI) will start in 2008 with a new blended learning format (a combination of face-to-face training and eLearning). The CDI Program is an opportunity for approximately 55 funded BSW, MSW or joint BSW/MSW programs to work together in infusing aging throughout their curriculum. An informational session will be held at APM, and the RFP will be released early this fall.

BSW Experiential Learning Opportunities Program

Approximately 20 BSW programs will be funded to develop innovative experiential student learning experiences to recruit students into gerontological social work early in their academic careers. An informational session will be held at APM, and the RFP will be released early in 2008.

Expanded eLearning Courses 

Four more eLearning courses will be offered to expand on our eLearning initiative that began with our first course A Planned Change Model. Course topics will include: implementing specialized aging content; one of the three specialty areas of the MAC Project (mental health, substance use, or health); strategies to prepare culturally and gerontologically-competent social workers; and cross-generational approaches in child welfare courses.

Specialized Gero Content Program 

Our curriculum infusion approach in foundation courses has been so successful that many faculty have asked how to expand into specialized gerontology courses. With the new Specialized Program, beginning in 2009, approximately 35 BSW and MSW programs will receive funding and curricular resources to develop specialized gerontological content. More information will be available in late 2008.

We invite you to attend the informational sessions at APM in San Francisco on the Cycle 2 CDI Program and the new BSW Experiential Learning Opportunities Program (see tote bag insert for times and rooms). As always, continue to check www.Gero-EdCenter.org for more information on all Gero-Ed Center programs.

 

Awards Announced for MAC Project Gero Innovations Grant

We are pleased to announce the 14 recipients of the Masters Advanced Curriculum (MAC) Project’s Gero Innovations Grant. The RFP generated 50 highly competitive proposals which points to a growing interest in increasing the gerontological competencies of all MSW students regardless of their intent to specialize in aging. Each of the selected programs will develop, implement, and evaluate different methods to infuse gerontological competencies into classes and related field opportunities for one or more of the three specialty areas - mental health, substance use and health

Programs were funded based on 1) the quality of the innovation in addressing the specialty areas and aging; 2) how well the innovation reaches students specializing in areas other than aging; 3) the utility of the deliverables to other social work programs nationally; and 4) commitment to the innovation and its infusion as evidenced by faculty leadership in the specialty area of health, mental health or substance abuse, the administrative support and the budget match. Each proposal was reviewed by two reviewers.

We encourage all programs to continue with infusion of gerontology into other substantive areas and to watch the Gero-Ed Web site for resources developed by these funded programs. More information on the MAC Project is available www.Gero-EdCenter.org/mac.

The Grant awardees are as follows (Institution, Project Director):

Adelphi University Judy Fenster, Ph.D. Case Western Reserve University Kathleen Farkas, Ph.D. Monmouth University Robert Youdin, Ph.D. Saint Louis University Michael Mancini, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles Steven Clark, Ph.D. University of North Carolina at Greensboro Jay Poole, Ph.D. University of Texas at Arlington Norman Cobb, Ph.D.

Arizona State University Craig LeCroy, Ph.D. Fordham University Margaret Hanson, Ph.D. New York University Caroline Rosenthal Gelman, Ph.D. University at Albany Zvi Gellis, Ph.D. University of Chicago Stanley McCracken, Ph.D. University of Oklahoma Julie Miller-Cribbs, Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin Diana DiNitto, Ph.D.

 
 

June 2007

Volume 2, Number 3 - June 2007

In This Issue: LGBT and Aging

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Elders are often invisible in discussions on aging. This issue ofAging Times highlights the intersections between age and sexual orientation.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Elders
Sandra S. Butler, University of Maine
"Social workers must be leaders in eliminating both the subtle and blatant discrimination and oppression faced by current and future GLBT elders..."

 

LGBT and Aging Resources

As a reflection of the invisibility of LGBT Elders in aging, we are unable to identify any syllabi submitted to the Gero-Ed Center that infuse aging into a LGBT course, or LGBT issues into a gerontology course. We are eager for your submissions of resources, especially course syllabi, which infuse both aging and LGBT content. Please submit your syllabi or other teaching materials to sstpeter@u.washington.edu. The following resources on our Web site address the intersections between age and sexual orientation:

Aging and Sexual Orientation Bibliography (MS Word) 
 

Faculty/Student Opportunities

Mark Freedman to Open Gero-Ed Track - Register Today
Freedman, nationally-renowned expert in civic engagement, is our keynote speaker. Registration is now open.

eLearning Summer Discount: $25 Off
Save $25 off the regular price by purchasing A Planned Change Model with the following coupon code at checkout: AGINGTIMES

Gero-Ed Center Renewed for Another 5 Years

Specialists Meet at CSWE to Review Resources for MAC Project

CDI Participants Complete 3-Year Program

Gero-Ed Center Staff Updates

Beginning with this issue, Aging Times is now bimonthly. We hope this better links you to the opportunities, curricular resources, and new programs of the CSWE Gero-Ed Center. Look for our next issue in August.

The 2007-09 Hartford Faculty Scholars were announced in April. We congratulate all awardees, especially those who have provided leadership in the Hartford curricular development initiatives:

Malitta Engstrom, 
The University of Chicago
CDI Faculty Participant

Anna Faul, 
University of Louisville
CDI Faculty Participant

Caroline Rosenthal Gelman, 
New York University
CDI Faculty Participant

Cathy Tompkins, 
George Mason University
Past SAGE-SW Faculty Coordinator

For More Information

 

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Elders

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals are a minority group that is largely invisible to society as a whole, and often to health care providers and social workers as well. NASW policy statements have made clear that social workers have a commitment to advance “policies and practices that improve the status of all lesbian, gay and bisexual people” (NASW, 2000, p. 197). Nonetheless, it is well documented that LGBT individuals, no matter what their age, often perceive health and social service systems as unwelcoming. A study by Brotman, Ryan, and Cormier (2003) revealed the types of negative reactions gay men and lesbians frequently face by service providers: “embarrassment, anxiety, inappropriate reactions, excessive curiosity, pity, condescension, ostracism, refusal of treatment, detachment, avoidance of physical contact, or breach of confidentiality” (p. 192). For LGBT elders, the situation is more severe, due both to widespread ageism and the invisibility of a cohort of individuals who learned in their younger years how to “pass” as heterosexual in order to avoid harassment. LGBT elders have years of practice at concealment.

Given this concealment and because most national surveys do not ask about sexual orientation and identity, it is very difficult to get an accurate count of the number of LGBT elders in the U.S. Estimates of the number of GLB individuals age 65 or older range from about 1 to 2.8 million, increasing to 2 to 6 million by 2030 (Cahill, South and Spade, 2000). The number of transgender elders is even more difficult to estimate, and only recently have efforts been made to do so ( Witten, 2002). While LGBT elders certainly face some distinctive challenges as they age, many approach aging with unique resiliency and particular strengths. For example, skills developed through the coming out process and the management of social perceptions of “difference” throughout life prepare LGBT individuals for society’s generally negative view of older people in a youth-oriented society. Nonetheless, gay and lesbian people do experience some obstacles in their later years not shared with their heterosexual counterparts. One such challenge is access to gay-sensitive services. There are a very small number of organizations whose mission is specifically to meet the needs of LGBT elders; they exist in large cities with relatively visible gay communities. Most mainstream aging organizations are not competent in addressing the needs of LGBT elders. Numerous myths serve to maintain this status quo and to keep these agencies from doing outreach or providing gay-sensitive services. Three such myths are: 1) “there aren’t any GLBT elders around here”; 2) “we’re open to anyone”; and 3) “no one has ever asked, so there is obviously no need” (Smith & Calvert, 2001).

Culturally-competent practice must include sensitivity to the needs of elders who have lived decades in a heterosexist, homophobic, and transphobic society. Social workers must be leaders in eliminating both the subtle and blatant discrimination and oppression faced by current and future LGBT elders through proactive policy changes at the organizational, state and federal levels. Accordingly, social work curricula must include content and competencies for working with LGBT elders and their families to enhance their health and well-being.

Dr. Sandra Butler is a professor at the University of Maine and a Hartford Faculty Scholar. She works closely with the University of Maine Center on Aging and has published in the areas of poverty, homelessness, welfare, older women, rural aging, and LGBT aging.

References
Brotman, S., Ryan, B., & Cormier, R. (2003). The health and social service needs of gay and lesbian elders and their families in Canada. The Gerontologist, 43 (2), 192-202.
Cahill, S. South, K., & Spade, J. (2000). Outing age: Public policy issues affecting, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender elders. Washington, DC: Policy Institute, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
National Association of Social Workers (NASW). (2000). Social work speaks: National Association of Social Workers policy statement 2000-2003, (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Smith, H. & Calvert, J. (2001). Opening doors: Working with older lesbians and gay men. London: Aging Concern England.
Witten, T.M. (2002). Geriatric care and management issues for the transgender and intersex populations. Geriatric Care Management Journal, 12 (3), 20-24.

 

 Marc Freedman to Open Gero-Ed Track - Register Today

We are pleased to announce that Marc Freedman, a leader in the field of civic engagement and older adults, will be the keynote speaker at our popular Gero-Ed Track Kick-Off event on Sunday, October 28. As founder and CEO of Civic Ventures, Mr. Freedman spearheaded the creation of Experience Corps, which engages people over 55 in tutoring and mentoring elementary school students. He also helped establish the Purpose Prize, given to individuals over age 60 who direct their creativity and talent to address critical social problems. A frequent commentator in the national media, he is the author of both Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America and The Kindness of Strangers. More special events are currently being planned and will be announced in the coming months, so please watch your email and future issues of Aging Times.

Registration for the CSWE Annual Program Meeting (APM) is now open! Please be one of the first to reserve your spot at the conference and in the conference hotel, the Hilton San Francisco, to take advantage of early bird discounts. For more information on the CSWE Annual Program Meeting, please visit www.cswe.org/events-meetings/apm-archives/.

 

eLearning Summer Discount: $25 Off

From now through August 31, the Gero-Ed Center is offering a $25 discount on A Planned Change Model: Preparing Gerontologically-Competent Graduates, our eLearning course. This valuable course gives you the tools to infuse gerontology throughout your curriculum. As one social work faculty commented, the resources are “helpful and focused,” allowing users “to customize this work immediately” – allowing you to develop competency-based courses individualized for your program.

To take advantage of this opportunity, simply purchase this course and enter the following coupon code at checkout:

Coupon Code: AGINGTIMES (case-sensitive; expires 8/31/07)
Price with code: 
CSWE Members: $50 (regularly $75)
Non-CSWE Members: $70 (regularly $95)

 

Gero-Ed Center Renewed for Another 5 Years

The John A. Hartford Foundation recently awarded a $4,700,000 five-year grant for the renewal of the CSWE Gero-Ed Center. The Center staff thanks many of you who provided feedback on future directions for the Center. We are delighted to announce a new format for the Curriculum Development Institutes, a specialized gero content project for both BSW and MSW programs, an experiential learning project for BSW programs, and increased funding for student recruitment and leadership development. Year 1 will be devoted to intensive outreach to programs that have not yet had an opportunity to participate in the Hartford curricular initiatives and to faculty and students from underserved populations. The launching of new initiatives will be announced through the Aging Times and on the Gero-Ed Center Web site in the coming months. Outreach and consultation sessions will be held at the CSWE APM and BPD annual meetings. www.Gero-EdCenter.org

 

Specialists Meet at CSWE to Review Resources for MAC Project

The Resource Reviews project of the MAC Project began in June with three meetings of national committees of specialists in the fields of mental health, substance use, health, and aging. Group members included social work faculty, representatives from governmental agencies involved in research and dissemination, and other experts in the specialty areas.

The goal of the meetings was to define an agenda for social work education, practice and research in aging and the specialty areas. Each committee discussed the organization, content, and strategies for dissemination of the resource reviews. Each group provided feedback on areas in the literature to be addressed in the reviews and generated a wealth of existing research and curricular resources in aging and the specialty areas.
Committees will work to create specific guidelines for social work educators in terms of gerontology-related topics in the specialty areas and include supporting data for their inclusion into the curriculum. The reviews will also examine existing curricular resources and their usefulness to social work educators in increasing gerontological knowledge and competencies in the specialty areas.
We encourage social work faculty nationwide to send their current curricular resources for inclusion in this review (send to sdiwan@casa.sjsu.edu).

Find more information on the MAC Project and the Resource Reviews.

 

CDI Participants Complete 3-Year Program

Congratulations are in store for the 69 programs that have completed the three year Curriculum Development Institutes (CDIs). Over 90 percent of the 151 CDI faculty participants implemented strategies to infuse gero competencies and content into foundation curriculum and their programmatic structure. As a result of their leadership, new gero infused foundation course syllabi and other teaching materials, along with updated lessons learned, will soon be added to the Gero-Ed Center Web site. And warm thanks are extended to the 16 national mentors who provided guidance and support to CDI faculty during the curricular and organizational change process. In addition to positive outcomes identified in terms of common measures, many of the CDI participants have institutionalized sustainable changes and plan to collaborate in the future on dissemination of findings through conference presentations and articles.

 

Gero-Ed Center Staff Updates

The January 2007 implementation of the MAC Project brought about two exciting CSWE Gero-Ed Center staff changes. First, Shannon Dorsey, the former Gero-Ed Center Administrative Assistant, was promoted to Project Assistant for the MAC Project.

As a result of Shannon’s promotion, we were pleased to welcome Arya Karki as our new Administrative Assistant. She recently graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia with a BA in Sociology.

In February, we said goodbye to Jeanie Hines, our former Program Coordinator, who took another position at the University of Washington. Currently, a temporary coordinator is filling the position, with a new Program Coordinator to be hired during the summer.

 

Spring 2007

Volume 2, Number 2 - Spring 2007

In This Issue: Competency-Based Education

Competency-Based Education, a future direction for social work education, has always been at the core of the Gero-Ed Center’s mission to prepare gerontologically-competent graduates and is the foundation for all our programs, including our eLearning courses.

Gerontological Social Work Competency-Based Education and Evaluation
Harriet L. Cohen, Texas Christian University
One professor reflects on the importance of Competency-Based Education and how it can transform the profession.

Reflections on the End of the Center’s First Three Years
Nancy R. Hooyman, CSWE Gero-Ed Center Co-PI
As the CSWE Gero-Ed Center comes to the end of our first three years of funding, Nancy Hooyman looks back at where we've been and where we're going. 

Three Groups Brought Together for a Successful Forum
The recent Gero-Ed Forum included the annual meetings of the PPP and CDI programs, highlighting the interconnectons of these three groups.

 

Competency-Based Education Resources

Gero Competencies - Includes list of gero competencies, how to measure them, the history of their development, & much more.

Planned Change Course - Our eLearning course is a guide to understanding and applying Competency-Based Education.

 

Faculty/Student Opportunities

Gero-Ed Track Submission Deadline Approaches
Submissions to the CSWE APM, which includes the new Gero-Ed Track, are due April 27, 2007. 

MAC Project Gero Innovations Grant: Proposals Due Soon
The Gero Innovations Grant RFP is now available online and proposals are due April 16, 2006 by 5:00 PM EDT. 

Students – Submit Today for the Anita Rosen Gero Student Poster Awards
Students are encouraged to submit to the APM Gero-Ed Track to be eligible for the Rosen Awards.

 
 

Gerontological Social Work Competency-Based Education and Evaluation

By Harriet L. Cohen
Several days ago I had a disgruntled student in my office protesting the grade she had received on an assignment regarding aging. She desperately explained, “But I worked all weekend on this assignment, didn’t go out with my friends, and even stayed up late to finish on time. Doesn’t that make a difference in my grade?” To which I responded, “It is not what you put in, but what comes out” that will help you develop confidence as a social work practitioner.

After the conversation with that student, I found myself reflecting on the organizational and curricular changes that have occurred in gerontological social work education since I made the transition from social work practitioner to educator in 2001. Because of my many years of practice with older adults, I was able to make the most of the opportunities offered through the Hartford Geriatric Enrichment Social Work Program (GeroRich), which introduced me to the concepts of “competency-based education and evaluation” and a “competency-based approach to curriculum development.” We learned that gerontological social work competencies should be clearly defined by stakeholders and embedded within a larger institutional strategic planning process. There should be multiple strategies to assess outcomes (e.g. extent to which the competencies are attained), with performance expectations clearly identified by faculty. Competencies are important in communicating with students what is expected of them and how their performance will be measured. Also, the assessment of students’ progress in meeting competencies can result in instructors’ strategies to improve student learning.

With the dramatic increase in the 65+ population and its increasing racial and ethnic diversity, gerontological social work competencies are critical in communicating with other social workers and health care providers, employers, families and the larger community about what students know and are able to do. The social work profession holds the potential to change and even transform the current fragmented and under-funded health, social service and long-term care aging network to be a culturally-competent, community-oriented, elder-friendly network of programs and services that involves older adults, not just as recipients of service, but as participants in the creation and evaluation of services (Greene & Cohen, 2005; Greene, Cohen, Galambos & Kropf, in press). This challenge requires a well articulated set of competences that identify the skills, knowledge, attitudes, and critical and reflective thinking that will prepare social work students as practitioners, researchers, advocates and policy makers with and for older adults.

Harriet L. Cohen, PhD, LCSW is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at Texas Christian University. She has been actively involved in Hartford-funded programs as a former GeroRich Project Director, CDI Mentor, member of the Gero-Ed Center’s National Advisory Board and Hartford Faculty Scholar.

References
Greene, R.R., Cohen, H.L., Galumbos, C., and Kropf, N.P. (In press). Foundation of social work practice in the field of aging: A competency based approach. Washington, DC: NASW Press.
Visit our Web site for more information on the CSWE Gero-Ed Center’s Competencies.

 

Reflections on the End of the Center’s First Three Years

The accelerated momentum for gerontological social work education, initiated and funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation, was highly evident at the February 2007 Gero-Ed Forum, including the CDI and PPP meetings. From my perspective, the level of commitment and energy reflected by the over 270 participants is an indicator that the gero social work movement has reached a new level. For the past eight years of Hartford-funded curriculum development programs, staff associated with SAGE-SW, GeroRich, or the Gero-Ed Center often felt that they needed “to pull” faculty along. What appeared to shift dramatically with the 2007 Forum, however, is the emergence of a critical mass of gero-committed BSW and MSW faculty eager to further “gerontologize” social work education. These faculty are now poised to propel forward gero curricular and organizational changes. I imagine that many of us will be referring back to the 2007 Gero-Ed Forum for years to come as the time when gerontological social work “came fully of age!”

What an energizing way to close the first three years of the Gero-Ed Center. Since 2004, 70 social work programs participated fully in the CDIs, infusing gero competencies into their foundation curriculum. Over 750 faculty attended three Gero-Ed Forums. One hundred three (103) faculty participated in five Gero-Ed Institutes, our one day faculty development workshops on gerontological topics. Nine textbook authors and two editors learned ways to infuse gerontology into their foundation texts. The Gero-Ed Center Web site (www.Gero-EdCenter.org), which has served as our main portal for disseminating gero-related curricular resources, was launched in March 2005 and has since logged over 60,500 visits. Since October 2006, over 75 individuals have registered for the introductory module to our new eLearning course on planned curricular and organizational change. Finally, this eNewsletter, Aging Times, has been sent quarterly to over 3,800 CSWE members and other individuals interested in aging since January 2006.

The Center has also worked to make a lasting impact on the profession. Gains were made in terms of influencing educational policy and accreditation to advance gerontological competency-based social work education In addition, questions that include gero competencies were written for the national licensure exam, which will be an ongoing process of question-writing; the extent of gero content within 45 accreditation self-studies was analyzed; and gero statistics collected as part of CSWE’s annual statistics identify an increase in gero content within social work programs.

Gero-Ed Center staff recently submitted a renewal proposal to Hartford for an additional five years of funding. We will update you in the next Aging Times about the initiatives in the renewal. We are most appreciative of faculty who provided input into the new directions outlined in the renewal and look forward to working with many of you on multifaceted initiatives.

By Nancy R. Hooyman,
Hooyman Endowed Professor of Gerontology, University of Washington, School of Social Work 
Co-Principal Investigator, CSWE Gero-Ed Center

 

Three Groups Brought Together for a Successful Forum

The 2007 Gero-Ed Forum, held in Charleston, SC from February 2-4, 2007, was a huge success. Highlighting the interconnections of field and classroom curriculum, the Forum presented an opportunity for the Social Work Leadership Institute’s Practicum Partnership Program (PPP) at the New York Academy of Medicine, and the Gero-Ed Center Curriculum Development Institute (CDI) to join forces at this annual meeting. The Gero-Ed Forum provided networking opportunities and resources to “gerontologize” programs for the more than 270 conference attendees. Many of these resources are now available in the 2007 Gero-Ed Forum section of our Web site.

We were delighted to welcome our partners from the PPP. Nearly 40 faculty from 35 PPP sites across the country attended a workshop on sustainability and strategic planning for their programs. Grantees also shared opportunities to present their programs to the larger gerontological social work community, particularly through a lively Showcase reception. A third and final funding cycle for 25 additional schools seeking to implement the PPP model will be announced in fall 2007. For more information on the PPP, please visit www.socialworkleadership.org.

One hundred four (104) CDI faculty from 64 social work programs joined the PPP grantees. Faculty from across the nation met and collaborated for the first time at this third and final annual CDI, in contrast to prior regional meetings. Innovative accomplishments from this three-year curricular infusion program were disseminated at the CDI Resource Fair and the Gero-Ed Forum Showcase, where Forum participants also had a chance to interact with and learn from CDI faculty. CDI faculty collaboration will continue however, since many CDI regional groups made plans to present and meet at the 2007 CSWE APM and other future conferences.
The CDI and PPP programs both held pre-conference meetings on Friday, with a joint networking session in the afternoon, then joined the other Gero-Ed Forum participants for the intensive workshops on Saturday and Sunday. Thus, the Gero-Ed Forum presented a new opportunity for CDI and PPP participants to interact and collaborate as well as for faculty not affiliated with the Hartford Geriatric Social Work Initiative to network with and learn from their colleagues.

A highlight of the Gero-Ed Forum was an interactive and dynamic Showcase Event that featured 50 presentations of the best practices in gerontology infusion nationally. Select presentations from this event, the Gero-Ed Forum intensive workshops, and a summary of the conference are available in the 2007 Gero-Ed Forum section of our Web site.

 

Gero-Ed Track Submission Deadline Approaches

Submissions to the CSWE Annual Program Meeting (APM), which includes the new Gero-Ed Track, are due April 27, 2007. Please review the Call for Proposals to submit your gerontology-related proposal today.
The Gero-Ed Track invites all abstracts on issues related to aging and intergenerational social work research, policy, education and practice, which have implications for faculty, students, field supervisors, and/or practitioners across a range of practice and educational settings. The Gero-Ed Track will debut at the 53rd CSWE Annual Program Meeting (APM) in San Francisco from October 27-30, 2007 and is consistent with the new format of APM tracks.

We also encourage social work students at each level (BSW, MSW, and PhD) to submit poster presentation proposals to the Gero-Ed Track in order to be eligible for the Anita Rosen Gerontology Award for Outstanding Student Poster. (Please read the Rosen Award article in this same issue of Aging Times.)

For more information about the Gero-Ed Track, please visit our Web site: www.Gero-EdCenter.org.
Deadline: April 27, 2007

 

MAC Project Gero Innovations Grant: Proposals Due Soon

The Master’s Advanced Curriculum (MAC) Project, the Gero-Ed Center’s newest project, is now accepting proposals for its Gero Innovations Grant. The Request for Proposals (RFP) is available online and proposals are due April 16, 2006 by 5:00 PM EDT.

The Gero Innovations Grant will provide funding for up to 20 MSW programs to infuse gerontological competencies into their curriculum for one or more of the three Master’s advanced specialty practice areas - mental health, substance use, and health. Please visit the MAC Project Web pages to access the RFP and supporting informational documents: www.Gero-EdCenter.org/mac/ .

The MAC Project is also seeking existing evidenced-based literature and curricular resources relevant to the aging population in the three practice areas. These materials will be reviewed and incorporated into a resource guide that will be disseminated to all social work programs. Examples of items that will be considered for this resource guide include but are not limited to: syllabi, case studies, and online teaching modules. Please contact Project Principal Investigator Dr. Sadhna Diwan at sdiwan@sjsu.edu with any materials to be considered for this guide.

 

Students – Submit Today for the Anita Rosen Gero Student Poster Awards

The deadline (April 27, 2007) for the 2nd Annual Anita Rosen Gerontology Award for Outstanding Student Poster is fast approaching. This award for outstanding gero student posters also comes with a cash prize of $1000. This is an excellent opportunity for BSW, MSW and PhD students to share their research and participate in a large, national social work conference.

To be eligible for a Rosen Award, students must submit a poster presentation to the 2007 CSWE Annual Program Meeting (APM) under the new Gero-Ed Track (in the Online Submission site, select “Gero-Ed” track and then “poster” as presentation format). Posters will be judged on-site and one student poster will be selected from each level (BSW, MSW and PhD).

Please review the CSWE APM Call for Proposals and the Rosen Award Guidelines before submitting your proposal on our Online Submission site. This award is made possible by a generous personal donation from Dr. Anita Rosen who has dedicated her career to advocating for social work students interested in gerontology and to the advancement of the field of gerontological social work education.

 
 

Winter 2007

Volume 2, Number 1 - Winter 2007

In This Issue: Diversity

Aging as an issue of diversity is often overlooked even though ageism is a prejudice that all groups in our society face. This issue of Aging Times promotes the infusion of aging through the intersections of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, social class, and disability.

Diversity & Aging: New Perspectives on Cultural Competence
Molly Everett Davis, George Mason University
Social workers are expected to be culturally-competent, but what does that mean and what does it require in terms of working with older adults? One professor presents her framework for addressing this challenge.

 

Diversity Resources

Syllabi
Teaching Modules
Class Exercises
Bibliographies

 

Faculty Development Opportunities

CSWE Now Accepting Proposals for the Gero-Ed Track!
Submit your gero proposal today for the Gero-Ed Track at APM.

2nd Annual Anita Rosen Gerontology Awards for Outstanding Student Poster
Submission Deadline: April 27, 2007
Encourage your students to submit a poster at the upcoming APM to be eligible for this generous award.

Gero-Ed Forum - February 2-4, 2007 - Charleston, SC
Special events announced for the upcoming Gero-Ed Forum.

 

Gero-Ed Center Updates

New Funding Opportunities for MSW Programs in Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Health
The new MAC Project promotes gero infusion for MSW specializations in health, mental health and substance abuse.

GeroRich Monograph Online
The recently released GeroRich Monograph is now available on the Gero-Ed Center Web site.

Gerontology Content Increasingly Found in Self-Study Documents
The results of a new CSWE study show an increase in gerontological content in BSW & MSW self-studies.

 
 

Diversity and Aging: New Perspectives on Cultural Competence

By Molly Everett Davis
A social work student recently asked me a question in response to a classroom discussion on cultural competence. “Are you telling me that social workers are expected to be culturally competent with clients regardless of their ethnicity, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, spirituality or socioeconomic status? Is that possible?”

Social workers are facing new challenges in our understanding of and in effectively intervening with the diverse populations we serve. We are expected to be culturally-competent, but what does that mean and what does it require? As someone committed to working effectively with older adults, I believe it requires us to develop new perspectives on diversity that include understanding the centrality of age in shaping values, beliefs, norms, behavioral patterns and lifeways. We need new conceptual models that cut across multiple categories of diversity and help us understand how diversity impacts people throughout their life course trajectory and across generations. This is the requirement of cultural competence in the 21st century.

The lifeways framework (Davis, 2003) is one such model that has potential to help understand individual difference that cuts across multiple forms of diversity. It challenges the notion of stereotypes and promotes the need for understanding rather than judgment. It is based upon the ecological processes of person and environment transactions that produce adaptive responses. These responses can be called lifeways. Lifeways are reflected in values, traditions, rituals, behaviors and customs that can be unique to the individual or may be in common with others. In fact, culture really represents the lifeways of an individual or group.

I recently spent some time with my mother during the holidays and faced a lifeways challenge. My mother, who was raised during the Depression, is extremely frugal and consistently demands that we eat all of our food at each meal. Any leftovers are to be consumed at the next meal. Since my immediate family, including teen sons, has had different lifeways and hate leftovers, you can imagine the clash of lifeways. This recent experience demonstrates the uniqueness of lifeways and the role of age, socio-economic, gender, ethnicity and historical context in shaping them. If a social work professional were called upon to understand my mother’s concerns about food, it would be necessary to understand the context of the development of her lifeways. She might share commonalities with others raised during the Depression,such as frugality and distrust of banks, but she might also have some unique lifeways, such as cooking small portions to ensure not wasting food, figuring out ways to reuse “disposable” plates and baggies or putting so much emphasis on saving money that she denies herself comfort items.

Approaches to diversity that help us appreciate individual differences as well as commonalities that exist among each of us provide the key to real cultural competence. Meeting this challenge requires an openness toward a process of lifelong learning that sees each encounter with a client as a new opportunity to learn about their lifeways and to provide the best and most appropriate intervention for effective service delivery. This is the challenge of real cultural competence as we work with diverse aging populations.

Davis, M. (2003). Module on Cultural Competence, developed for SAGE- SW Faculty Development Institute, Council on Social Work Education and John A. Hartford Project.
Dr. Molly Davis is an Associate Professor at George Mason University, where she is the Director of BSW Field Education. She also has served as a Gero-Ed Center Expert Trainer and a GeroRich Project Director.

 

CSWE Now Accepting Proposals for the Gero-Ed Track!

The Gero-Ed Center is proud to announce the new Gero-Ed Track at the CSWE Annual Program Meeting (APM)! The Track, which is consistent with the new format of APM, will debut at the CSWE 53rd APM in San Francisco from October 27-30, 2007. The Gero-Ed Track replaces the previous NGSWC/Gero-Ed Forum. The Gero-Ed Center will oversee the Track and will continue to sponsor its most popular gerontology events from past APMs. We consider the institutionalization of gerontology into the APM as a victory for gerontological social work education!

The Gero-Ed Track invites abstracts on issues related to aging and intergenerational social work research, policy, education and practice, which have implications for faculty, students, field supervisors, and/or practitioners in the United States and throughout the world and across a range of practice and educational settings.

Please review the Call for Proposals before submiting your gerontology-related proposal on the Online Submission site.

 

Announcing the 2nd Annual Anita Rosen Gerontology Awards for Outstanding Student Poster

BSW, MSW and social work PhD students are strongly encouraged to submit a poster presentation to the Fall 2007 CSWE Annual Program Meeting (APM) to be considered for a Rosen Award. In submitting the gerontology-related poster proposal, students must select the “poster” format and “Gero-Ed” track in order to qualify for this award. Posters will be judged on-site and one student poster will be selected from each level (BSW, MSW and PhD) to win a cash prize of $1,000 each!

The Call for Proposals closes on April 27, 2007. Please review the CSWE APM Call for Proposals and the Rosen Award Guidelines before submitting your proposal on our Online Submission site.

This award is made possible by a generous personal donation from Dr. Anita Rosen who has dedicated her career to advocating for social work students interested in gerontology and to the advancement of the field of gerontological social work education.

 

Highlights of the upcoming Gero-Ed Forum!

We are putting the final touches on the February 2-4, 2007 Gero-Ed Forum in Charleston! Registration is now full. For more information visit our Web site: www.Gero-EdCenter.org.

We are happy to highlight several events:

Keynote address by Kathy “GIDGET” Kohner Zuckerman, the little surfer girl with big ideas is now an inspiring nationally-regarded speaker who resumed surfing as an older adult. Book signing to follow the ceremony.

Learn the latest directions in social work education related to competency-based education, presented byPhyllis Black, Chair of the CSWE Commission on Curriculum and Educational Innovation, and JoAnn Damron Rodriguez, one of the authors of the current gero social work competencies.

Showcase Event and Reception – Over 50 peer reviewed abstracts will showcase the best practices in gero infusion from across the country. The Showcase will include a sponsored reception. A free gift will be given to the first 100 participants who visit the Gero-Ed Center table during this event!

Stump the Funder – Four funders, representing national, regional and local foundations, will answer participants’ questions about funding and grantwriting.
Although registration is full, you can still join the gero movement by taking the CSWE Gero-Ed Center’s first eLearning course A Planned Change Model. This eLearning course concisely and practically guides you through our infusion and sustainability models.

 

New Funding Opportunities for MSW Programs in Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Health

The John A. Hartford Foundation recently awarded a $1,500,000 four-year grant, beginning January 1, 2007, to the CSWE Gero-Ed Center to fund the Increasing Gerontological Competencies in MSW Advanced Curriculum Areas Project (MAC Project). In collaboration with Gero-Ed Center leadership and staff, this project is led by Project Principal Investigator Dr. Sadhna Diwan from San Jose State University.

The MAC Project promotes the gerontological preparation of MSW students who are specializing in health, mental health and substance abuse, since practitioners in those settings often work with older adults. The project will produce and disseminate reviews of existing evidence-based literature relevant to aging in each of these specialized content areas. It will also provide grants for up to 20 MSW programs to develop gerontological infusion methods for their classroom and field courses on health, mental health and substance abuse.

The RFP will be released in the coming months (please watch your email and check the Center’s Web site -www.Gero-EdCenter.org), and an informational session will be held at the Gero-Ed Forum in Charleston, SC. The project is also seeking existing evidenced-based literature and resources relevant to the aging population in the three practice areas. Please contact Dr. Diwan if you have materials to share: sdiwan@sjsu.edu.

 

GeroRich Monograph Is Now Online

The CSWE GeroRich Monograph, Achieving Curricular and Organizational Change: Impact of the CSWE Geriatric Enrichment in Social Work Education Project, was recently released and is now available on the CSWE Gero-Ed Center Web site (www.Gero-EdCenter.org). Synthesizing data gathered from the former CSWE Geriatric Enrichment in Social Work Education (GeroRich) Project (2001-06), this monograph incorporates strategies, lessons learned, and teaching resources that can facilitate and sustain ongoing curricular and organizational changes to prepare gerontologically-competent social workers. It is a useful resource for anyone committed to “gerontologizing” their social work programs.

 

Gerontology Content Increasingly Found in Self-Study Documents

CSWE Senior Scholar Dr. John Rife of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro recently completed an extensive review, with permission, of accreditation self-study documents from 45 social work programs. The primary purpose of this review, the first of its kind at CSWE, was to document the frequency of gerontology-related content in social work curricula.

Using qualitative analysis software, it was found that the majority of gerontology content was infused in the self-study sections on HBSE, diversity, social-economic justice and vulnerable populations, and policy. Overall, the number of gerontology-related key words increased over time, and programs involved in the GeroRich or Gero-Ed Center CDI programs showed a greater amount of gerontology content in their curricula than programs that had not participated in any Hartford curriculum development initiatives. Finally, programs had the most gerontology content if they articulated specific program goals or objectives for gerontology education.

The executive summary of this study, which provides a baseline snapshot of the frequency and context of recent gerontology infusion, is available on the CSWE Gero-Ed Center Web site: www.Gero-EdCenter.org.