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$4.9 Million for Hartford
Doctoral Fellows Program in Geriatric Social Work
A $4.89 million five-year grant from The John A. Hartford
Foundation of New York City to The Gerontological Society
of America (GSA) will continue and significantly expand
the Hartford Doctoral Fellows program. The Hartford
Doctoral Fellows program supports outstanding doctoral
students whose dissertation research is focused on improving
the health and well being of older persons and their
families. The Hartford Doctoral Fellows program, begun
in 2000, is designed to cultivate the next generation
of social work faculty, who will become teachers, role
models, and mentors for future generations of social
workers caring for older persons and their families.
The new grant supports three additional cohorts of
Hartford Doctoral Fellows to be selected in 2005, 2006
and 2007 for a two-year fellowship. The award includes
a $25,000 dissertation grant for each year matched by
$10,000 from the student's university resulting in a
total financial aid package of $70,000 over two years
for the selected Doctoral Fellow. In addition to the
dissertation grants, the fellowship provides an array
of career development enhancements including supplemental
career counseling and pre-conference institutes at professional
meetings such as the annual scientific meeting of GSA.
Funding is available to support the selection of up
to 42 new Doctoral Fellows. Additional information about
the Doctoral Fellows program is available at http://www.gswi.org/programs_services/index.html.
A new addition to the Doctoral Fellows program is a
pre-dissertation award designed to encourage more social
work doctoral students to consider gerontology. Three
waves of 20 students in the second or third year of
their doctoral programs will be selected in 2005, 2006
and 2007 for a one-year award. This part of the Doctoral
Fellows program will be conducted in conjunction with
the Association for Gerontology Education in Social
Work (AGE-SW).
There are over 600,000 practicing social workers in
the United States, but few are specifically trained
for geriatric practice. While most practicing social
workers report that geriatric knowledge is essential
in their professional work, less than 10% of social
work students at the doctoral level presently conduct
dissertation research that focuses on older adults.
The Hartford Doctoral Fellows Program was specifically
created by the Hartford Foundation to increase the number
of social work doctoral students choosing aging now
and in the future. Among other requirements, applicants
to the Hartford Doctoral Fellows program must commit
to seeking a full-time faculty position in an accredited
social work program. The Doctoral Fellows program compliments
the Hartford Faculty Scholars Program, also administered
by The GSA, which is designed to create social work
faculty leaders specializing in geriatric research and
training.
The Principal Investigator and Program Director for
the Hartford Doctoral Fellows program is James Lubben,
the inaugural holder of the Louise McMahon Ahearn University
Chair at Boston College. A distinguished group of geriatric
social work scholars serve on the National Program Advisory
Committee: A.E. (Ted) Benjamin, University of California,
Los Angeles; Barbara Berkman, Program Director of the
Hartford Faculty Scholars Program; Denise Burnette,
Columbia University; Namkee Choi, University of Texas
at Austin; Larry Davis, University of Pittsburgh; Ruth
Dunkle, University of Michigan; Jay Greenberg, University
of Wisconsin; Carmen Morano, University of Maryland
at Baltimore; and Nancy Morrow-Howell, Washington University
at St. Louis.
The Doctoral Fellows program is part of a major initiative
funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation to improve
the care and well being of older adults and their families
by strengthening geriatric social work. A copy of their
2003 Annual Report featuring geriatric social work is
available on line at: http://www.jhartfound.org/JAHF_03_AR_Single_Page.pdf
The Gerontological Society of America was founded in
1945 and, with 5,500 members, is the largest research
organization in aging and a leader in the advancement
of knowledge, generation of new ideas and translation
of research findings into practice. The Society publishes
the field's leading multidisciplinary scientific journals.
The National Academy on an Aging Society serves as the
Society's policy institute and forum on aging issues.
The Association for Gerontology in Higher Education
is a special unit within the Society that focuses on
education and training issues. More information about
GSA is available at http://www.geron.org/.
Founded in 1929, the John A. Hartford Foundation is
a committed champion of training, research and service
system innovations that promote the health and independence
of America's older adults. Through its grant making,
the Foundation seeks to strengthen the nation's capacity
to provide effective, affordable care to this rapidly
increasing older population by education "aging-prepared"
health professionals (physicians, nurses, social workers),
and developing innovations that improve and better integrate
health and supportive services. John A. Hartford established
the Foundation. Mr. Hartford and his brother, George
L. Hartford, both former chief executives of the Great
Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, left the bulk of
their estates to the Foundation upon their deaths in
the 1950s. Additional information about the Foundation
and its programs is available at www.jhartfound.org.
Posted on September
21, 2004
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