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Careers in Social Work and Aging
In This Issue:
Upcoming Deadlines
Announcements
Research & News
Funding Opportunities
Resources
Policy
Upcoming Deadlines
Gerontological Social Work Pre-Dissertation Initiative
The Association for Gerontology Education in Social Work announces a new Gerontological Social Work Pre-Dissertation Initiative for doctoral students. This is a wonderful opportunity for pre-dissertation students to receive valuable training in research methods, writing for publication, seeking dissertation funding and being socialized into the academic gerontological social work family. Applications to the Pre-Dissertation Initatives are due by May 1, 2010. If you have any questions about the program or application process, contact Dr. Carmen Morano at cmorano@hunter.cuny.edu.
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Announcements
Congratulations to the Following:
Newly Selected Hartford Faculty Scholars - Cohort XI
Newly Selected Hartford Doctoral Fellows - Cohort X
Interested in Funding Opportunities in Geriatric Social Work?
Please join James Lubben, DSW, MPH, Principal Investigator and National Director of the Hartford Doctoral Fellows Program, for an important informational recruitment webinar on Thursday May 20th 12-12:30 pm ET. Anyone interested in applying for the August 2, 2010 Hartford Doctoral Fellows program should plan to attend. Please register by emailing your name and contact information (University and email address) to gswi@geron.org.
National Volunteer Week: Celebrating People in Action (April 18-24)
Established in 1974, National Volunteer Week is about inspiring, recognizing and encouraging people to engage in their communities. This year’s theme, Celebrating People in Action, honors individuals who take action and solve significant problems in their communities and commemorates the one-year anniversary of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act and the Volunteer Generation Fund. This is a great time to showcase how older volunteers are making a difference in their communities, and how volunteers of all ages are helping the Aging Network. The HandsOn Network website offers a logo, toolkit, and a flyer to help you celebrate the week. For additional information, please visit the AoA Civic Engagement website.
Enter the “My Recipe for Strength” contest sponsored by the U.S. Administration on Aging
May 1st kicks off Older Americans Month, and it is our opportunity as a nation to recognize the contributions of older Americans. What better way to do so than to provide a forum for Americans to share their opinions, experiences and wisdom for the benefit of others? As part of this year’s activities and events to honor older Americans, the U.S. Administration on Aging is inviting individuals to share their “recipe for strength” in a national contest. Entries should creatively promote the Older Americans Month 2010 theme “Age Strong! Live Long!” and may be submitted as a video, photograph, poem, or essay. Entries must be submitted by April 30, 2010. To find out more or to enter the contest visit olderamericansmonth.org
Profiles in Social Work
Read the latest edition of Profiles in Social Work, Identifying as a Gerontologist: Finding your Niche, a profile of Tracey Schroepfer. Also, check out the archives to read about the many social workers who have benefited from our programs. Profiles in Social Work is periodically updated with information on some of the gerontological social workers who have been a part of the Gerontological Social Work Initiative.
Geriatric Academic Recruitment in the 21st Century
The latest blog post on healthAGEnda, by Rachael Watman, Program Officer, describes an innovative approach to geriatric nurse recruitment. Penn State’s Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, together with WPSU Public Broadcasting Production House, created inspiring videos to recruit nurses to an exciting career in academic geriatrics. With funding from Johnson & Johnson, Penn State used the 2008 Institute of Medicine Report: Retooling for an Aging America as a framework for the videos to bring national attention to the critical need for development of a health care workforce prepared to care for older adults. The Geriatric Social Work Initiative was proud to host its own This is Social Work and Aging video contest around its 10th Anniversary. You can view the top five videos on the YouTube channel here. Also check out the Hartford Foundation’s brand new YouTube Channel.
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Research & News
Careers in Aging Week Events Educate on Opportunities in Gerontology
Careers in Aging Week was celebrated April 4-10. Below is a summary of some of the events that were planned around the country:
Universiy of Georgia
At the University of Georgia, BONE, the Institute of Gerontology in the College of Public Health and Sigma Phi Omega, the gerontology honor and professional society, sponsored Second Annual Careers in Aging Week Networking and Roundtable Discussion to educate students on opportunities in the field of aging. During the event, students sat down with a professional working in the aging field, who spoke for 15 minutes, before switching tables to hear from another expert in the field, giving those interested an opportunity to find out about the multidisciplinary nature of gerontology and the potential careers available to them.
Mercer Community College
Patricia Polansky spoke at Mercer County Community College as part of their Distinguished Lecture Series for Careers in Aging Week. The Assistant Commissioner for the Division of Health and Community Services at the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services spoke about opportunities in the field of older adult care.
Portland State University
Portland State University held a panel discussion entitled "Careers Promoting Healthy Aging". The panelists included: Bob Scarfo, a landscape architect with a doctorate in Social Geography who practices under Aging in Place Design in Spokane, Washington; Teresia Hazen, the coordinator of Legacy Therapeutic Gardens & Horticultural Therapy program who focuses on therapeutic horticulture and senior living; Jessica McLaren, a program associate with Experience Corps, a mentor program through which older adults work with elementary school children; and Sue Scott, an exercise consultant, balance specialist and active living consultant, who focuses on bettering the health and well-being of seniors through her company Renewable Fitness.
University of Utah
The University of Utah offered a handful of events, including a screening of Young@Heart, which was followed by a panel discussion. The feature film documentary contains 16 songs by the Young@Heart Chorus, who are a fluctuating group of about two dozen singers whose average age is 80. Included in the film are their renditions of the Ramone's "I Wanna Be Sedated," Bruce Springsteen's "Dancin' In The Dark," David Bowie's "Golden Years," Sonic Youth's "Schizophrenia," James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and Talking Head's "Road To Nowhere," among others.
If you celebrated Careers in Aging Week, please send us an email about your event. We would love to feature it on our Careers in Aging Web Page.
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Careers in Gerontology
Sunday, March 21, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590), which President Barack Obama signed into law on Tuesday, March 23. This comprehensive health care reform bill previously was passed by the Senate on December 24, 2009, and contains a number of provisions which affect older adults. Included in these provisions are the following items that relate to careers in gerontology:
- Expand the Geriatric Academic Career Awards to advanced practice nurses, clinical social workers, pharmacists, and psychologists, and create a parallel Geriatrics Career Incentive Award program for Master’s level candidates ($10 million over 3 years);
- Establish federal traineeships for individuals who are preparing for advanced education degrees in geriatric nursing, long-term care, and gero-psychiatric nursing;
- Provide grants to foster greater interest among health professionals (advanced practice nurses, clinical social workers, pharmacists, and students of psychology) to enter the field of geriatrics, long-term care, and chronic care management;
- Authorize $10 million over three years to establish advanced training opportunities — such as tuition support for obtaining a nursing degree or specialized training — for direct care workers (certified nurse aides, home health aides and personal/home care aides) who already are employed in long-term care facilities.
For more information on how this legislation affects older adults, download the summary from the Gerontological Society of America here: http://www.geron.org/HCRprovisions.pdf.
Minding Our Elders and How Serving Families Helps Individuals
Over the course of the month, columnist and speaker Carol Bradley Bursack, the author of "Minding Our Elders: Caregivers Share Their Personal Stories,” has been speaking to gerontology professionals and students of the profession to teach them how to better help caregivers. Her book contains six stories of her own and interviews with 20 other caregivers. Bursack is touring and speaking on behalf of those in need of care and their families, advocating that caregivers make time for elders' families in order to better serve the elders themselves.
UNLV to Cut Gerontology Program as Nevada's Elderly Population Grows
Even as the elderly population grows, the University of Las Vegas is considering cutting their gerontology program. A result of the request to trim the budget by 4 millioin dollars, the proposal to cut the gerontology program would only benefit the university by $10,000 in direct operating costs and $70,000 in salary to one professor. In cutting the program, it would free up gerontology professors to teach in their "home" disciplines, such as nursing, social work, allied health, and community health sciences. How will this affect a state whose senior population is going to increase more than 60% over the next ten years? Cutting the gerontology program would be a shortsighted move, says Lee Drizin, a Las Vegas attorney who specializes in elder-care issues and serves on the program’s advisory board. Gerontology students, including caregivers and social workers, will benefit from coursework addressing such issues as dementia, elder abuse and exploitation, Drizin said. For more on the UNLV and the proposal to cut the gerontology program, please see the original article posted in the Las Vegas Sun.
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Funding Opportunities
HRSA to Reissue RFP to Extend Funding Opportunity to Social Workers
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will be re-issuing the Geriatric Academic Career Award (GACA) funding opportunity to reflect changes in the authorizing legislation as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The GACAs, which had been previously available only to MDs, will now be available to geriatrics specialized faculty focused on education in other disciplines. Junior faculty in nursing, social work and other health professions will now be eligible to apply. HRSA has requested that anyone who is working on an application please take no further action until the revised funding opportunity announcement has been released. Although they do not have a timeline for when the revised application will be available, HRSA advises that potential applicants should check: http://www.hrsa.gov/grants/default.htm for the revised application.
AoA Funds To Support Alzheimer's Sufferers
U.S. Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee has announced the availability of approximately $10 million for Alzheimer’s Disease Supportive Services Program Projects. These projects will provide the opportunity for the Administration on Aging’s (AoA) national network of community-based organizations and its partners to strengthen their approach in providing services and supports for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders and their family caregivers. Funding is available through two opprtunities: “Evidence-Based Programs to Better Serve People with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders” and “Innovation Programs to Better Serve People with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders.” Instrumentalities of state governments are eligible to apply, including State Agencies on Aging. Applications for both announcements must be received no later than May 10.
NIH Critical Illness and Injury in Aging
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) are requesting research grant applications that are focused on mechanisms and management of critical illness and injury (including trauma and neurotrauma) in aging. The type of investigation may be mechanistic, observational or interventional. Proposals that utilize existing datasets, such as from large observational studies or clinical trials, are acceptable. Animal studies are appropriate in cases where human studies are not feasible. Deadline: June 5 & October 5, 2010. For more information, please click here.
New Funding Opportunities from NIH
The National Institute of Health has a number of grant opportunities, for a complete listing on the NIH funding available for aging-related research, please click here.
Secondary Analyses of Social and Behavioral Datasets in Aging (R03)
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Resources
Community Colleges and Caregiver Training
The Caregiving Project for Older Americans has issued a guide called Community Colleges and Caregiver Training: Implications for Policymakers. The issue brief contains sections on the increased trend towards home and community-based care, care giver training and support for long-term care rebalancing, and how community colleges can help address long-term care policy goals.
RAND Working Paper: What Can We Learn from (and about) Global Aging?
The National Insitute on Aging-funded RAND Center for the Study of Aging and National Institute of Health and Human Development-funded RAND Population Research Center have released a working paper on global aging. The paper discusses under what circumstances data from different countries can be used for inference about policy effects. To download the paper, click here. To see the original announcement from RAND, click here.
University of Miami Launches Ethics and Geriatrics Website
The University of Miami has created a rich website offering curriculum modules on issues such as autonomy, end-of-life choices, long-term care, and more. You can view this new site here.
Structuring Decisions in Adult Protective Services
The National Council of Crime and Delinquency has issued a report called Stucturing Decisions in Adult Protective Services. It addresses the benefits of structuring decisions, the Structured Decision Making system, and current research on the subject. To download the .pdf, click here.
Mainstreaming Ageing
The second issue of Mainstreaming Ageing from European Centre for Social Welfare and Policy in Vienna is now available online. This issue focuses on women, work, and pensions. It addresses such issues as mainstreaming gender in international meetings, poverty risks for older women in European Union countries, links to additional resources, and upcoming events. To download the newsletter, please click here.
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Policy
Webinar: Reauthorization of Title V of the Older Americans Act
The Administration on Aging is offering a webinar on the reauthorization of Title V of the Older Americans Act, the Senior Community Services Employment Program (SCSEP), and other senior workforce issues on Monday, April 26th, 2010 from 1:00 to 3:00pm EDT. The webinar is open to SCSEP grantees, workers, and the National Aging Network. It is hosted by the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration and will include opening remarks by Assistant Secretary of Labor Jane Oates, and Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee. Stakeholders wishing to participate must create an account on the Workforce3One website. You may then follow the registration link in their invitation email to register for this event. Once registered, you will be sent log-in information as well as email reminders. Persons unable to participate in the webinar can submit comments regarding reauthorization of Title V only to Assistant Secretary Oates at TitleVlisteningsession@dol.gov.
Kaiser Issues Timeline on Implementation of Major Health Reform Provisions
With the enactment of a comprehensive health reform law, the Kaiser Family Foundation has prepared a timeline detailing when specific provisions of the legislation are scheduled to take effect. The implementation timeline reflects the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which President Obama signed, as well as provisions of the Health Care & Education Reconciliation Act, which the House and Senate both recently passed. It includes more than a dozen key provisions scheduled to take effect this year, including the creation of a national high-risk pool for people with pre-existing conditions that can't buy insurance on their own, tax credits for some small businesses that provide health coverage for their workers and assistance for Medicare beneficiaries with high drug costs who reach the drug benefit's coverage gap or "doughnut hole." The timeline continues through 2014, when the major reforms to expand access to health coverage are fully implemented, and beyond.
How Health Care Reform Affects Direct Care Workers
The Direct Care Alliance has published a brief addressing the impact of the recent health care reform bill on direct care workers and their families. It outlines what the new law will do and when it takes effect. Click here to download the brief or visit the Direct Care Alliance for more information. Another article from the Direct Care Allicance directly addresses how the bill will improve the lives of people in long-term care and people who work in long-term care.
Victory for Alzheimer’s Advocates
The Social Security Administration announced that is has added early-onset Alzheimer’s disease to the list of conditions under its Compassionate Allowance Initiative. This will streamline the application process for benefits for people living with the disease and hopefully decrease wait time to receive benefits. This is a major victory for Alzheimer’s advocates as individuals with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias face challenges when applying for Social Security benefits. Source: Alzheimer’s Association, National Legal Resource Center e-alert.
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