"Ripples," is an electronic newsletter designed
to keep interested deans and directors, faculty members,
students, practitioners and others informed about the
Initiative's work. We welcome your feedback and encourage
you to contribute any story ideas, stories, resources,
news and other content to subsequent issues of the newsletter.
If you have an item you would like us to include, please
contact Ashley Groth at agroth@geron.org.
Faculty Scholars
Program: Signs of Success
The Faculty Scholars Program, launched in 1999 to
increase the visibility and capacity of geriatric
social work scholarship and practice through faculty
leadership, is already showing clear signs of success.
The Program is producing Scholars whose emerging individual
and collective leadership abilities are already making
a difference.
The ten Cohort I Faculty Scholars wrote many grant
applications during their two-year Hartford Program
to leverage their Hartford funding, receiving approximately
$1.5 million in grants. And in the first year since
completing their Hartford program, they received approximately
$6.9 million in additional funding to support their
research agendas-an impressive $8.4 million in total
leveraged monies. In addition, these Scholars have
made over 40 presentations at conferences and universities
throughout the United States and the world; developed
8 curriculum projects in the field of aging; published
32 peer-reviewed articles; 23 book chapters; and 2
commissioned reports.
The Cohort II Scholars, now in their second year
of the Program, have submitted 12 grant proposals,
of which six have been awarded for a total of $87,000
in leveraged monies; published 28 articles in peer-reviewed
journals, 13 book chapters, and ten commissioned reports;
and developed 15 gerontological curricula projects.
Cohort II Faculty Scholars, Mentors, and Sponsors
made 16 presentations at the Society for Social Work
and Research, a meeting that has previously not had
a significant gerontological presence, and 48 presentations
at GSA.
After completing only six months, Cohort III's accomplishments
are impressive. Scholars reported that fourteen grant
applications were submitted, three grant awards already
have been received for a total of $62,000 in funding.
They have published ten articles in peer-reviewed
journals and two commissioned reports; and Scholars
reported many efforts to strengthen the gerontological
content in their school's curricula. All ten Scholars
developed curricula for Master's level courses with
a focus on aging. The Faculty Scholars Program was
well represented at each of the major annual meetings,
with Cohort III Faculty Scholars, Mentors, and Sponsors
making 18 presentations at SSWR, and 35 at GSA.
All Scholars have been quite active in their universities
and wider communities, sitting on editorial, university,
agency, and public boards and task forces, and making
37 scholarly presentations to professional and community
groups.
Great Strides Made in Minority Recruitment
Targeted efforts to more effectively reach persons
of color in the Faculty Scholars application solicitation
process have paid off. This year, almost half of the
25 applications received were from persons of color.
Scholar Organizes Conference on Drug Use and HIV
Dr. Tazuko Shibusawa, a Cohort II Faculty Scholar
from Columbia University, organized a very successful
two-day conference on illicit drug use and HIV risk
among older adults, which was held March 7-8, 2003.
This interdisciplinary conference integrated leading
researchers in the drug abuse, HIV, and aging fields
to share current state-of-the-art knowledge of HIV
risks among older adults in relation to illicit drugs,
to identify gaps in the current literature, and to
advance HIV and drug abuse research and program agendas
for older adults. The conference was held in conjunction
with the NIDA-funded interdisciplinary Center for
Intervention and Prevention Research on HIV and Drug
Abuse (CIPRHDA), which is housed at the Scholar's
university and is directed by Dr. Shibusawa's Institutional
Sponsor, Nabila El-Bassel.
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Doctoral Fellows
Update: Program Enjoys Success, Seeks Applicants
The Hartford Doctoral Fellows program is in the midst
of its recruitment of a third cohort of outstanding
doctoral students in geriatric social work. The program
is designed to cultivate the next generation of geriatric
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 program is designed for outstanding doctoral students
at the dissertation research stage.
In addition to a substantial dissertation research
grant, the Hartford Doctoral Fellows program also
provides academic career development and leadership
training for these promising doctoral students. Hartford
Doctoral Fellows attend the annual meetings of The
Gerontological Society of America and the Council
of Social Work Education where special pre-conference
institutes are offered. For example, an institute
on how to publish was held at the recent GSA meeting.
Speakers included Charles Longino (articles), Barbara
Berkman (chapters) and Wendy Harris (books). Also
at the GSA pre-conference, Richard Campbell and Beth
Soldo conducted a seminar on panel studies that was
co-sponsored by the Hartford Faculty Scholars and
Doctoral Fellows programs. At the recent CSWE meeting,
a pre-conference institute on how to survive and thrive
in the academy was conducted by Nancy Kropf (teaching),
Ruth Dunkle (mentoring) and Nancy Hooyman (negotiating
a job offer).
The newest Hartford Doctoral Fellow is Eunice Park.
She will receive a $40,000 dissertation grant plus
$20,000 in matching support from the University of
Maryland, her home institution. This funding will
enable her to more fully concentrate on their dissertation
research projects over next two-years. Park's dissertation
is a qualitative study of older Korean Americans.
She is supervised by Julianne Oktay and Robert Rubinstein.
Ms Park was selected in the first of two selection
cycles for Cohort III.
Meanwhile, Hartford Doctoral Fellows from previous
cohorts are enjoying great success in landing faculty
appointments. Joan Davitt is the latest success story.
After weighing multiple job offers, Ms Davitt chose
to join the faculty at Columbia University in Fall
2003. She is the fourth Hartford Doctoral Fellow from
Cohort I to secure a faculty appointment in a School
of Social Work. Other universities that have recently
hired Hartford Doctoral Fellows include Iowa, Maryland
and Wisconsin.
The deadline for the next selection cycle of Hartford
Doctoral Fellows is August 1, 2003 at which time up
to another five Fellows will be chosen. The Gerontological
Society of America administers the program. James
Lubben is Principal Investigator and National Director.
For ongoing information about the Hartford Doctoral
Fellows Program and the other Hartford funded programs
under this initiative, see GSA web page at http://www.geron.org
(click on social work under the tab "Programs").
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Practicum Partnership Program
Update: Evaluation News
A preliminary evaluation of the Practicum Partnership
Program, an innovative model of field education involving
six demonstration sites and 11 master of social work
programs, supports the effectiveness of the model
in recruiting a diverse group of graduate social work
students into the aging field and demonstrates positive
outcomes related to participating students' knowledge
of aging and skill in working with older adults and
their families. The six sites have completed two years
of the program (academic years 2000-1 and 2001-2)
and are currently in their third year of implementation
(2002-2003).
The cross-site evaluation was developed during the
first year of the implementation of the PPP demonstration
projects under the leadership of JoAnn Damron-Rodriguez,
a Co-Principal Investigator in one of the sites, Partners
in Care Foundation, which leads a multi-school consortia
in southern California. Dr. Rodriguez works on the
evaluation through Partners in Care Foundation under
subcontract with the PPP Coordinating Center and chairs
the PPP Evaluation Committee. This evaluation has
been developed and implemented through strong collaboration
among the sites; the use of a collaborative evaluation
model and common instruments across sites has allowed
for a more powerful assessment of the program. The
Evaluation Committee is comprised of representatives
from each of the six sites: Ruth Dunkle (University
of Michigan), Anne E. Fortune (University at Albany),
Bernadette Hadden (Hunter College), Joann Ivry (Hunter
College), Andrew Scharlach (UC Berkeley), and Nancy
Wilson (University of Houston). Frances P. Lawrance,
program officer with the Coordinating Center, coordinates
the evaluation effort and provides staffing for the
Committee.
As a part of the evaluation process, a set of components
common to all sites was identified. As sites had developed
their innovative field education programs independently,
according to PPP guidelines, each program is individualized.
The common components include: university-community
partnerships, competency driven education, integrated
field education experiences across multiple programs,
populations, interventions and disciplines, expanded
field instructor roles, and focused recruitment of
students to geriatric social work.
Findings indicate that the program has been successful
in recruiting a diverse group of students into the
field of aging. Just over 300 students were admitted
to PPP programs in the six sites since 2000-2001.
In the last two academic years (2000-2), a total 184
students from 11 universities completed the program
and participated in the evaluation. The average age
of the students, a majority of whom were in their
second year of an MSW program, was 32 years, ranging
from 22 to 62 years old. Eighty-one percent of the
students were women, and 48% were from ethnic minority
groups. In addition, about one half of the students
did not have previous coursework and experience in
aging, suggesting that the programs are recruiting
new students to the field.
Students were given pre-tests at the beginning of
their intensive field education program and post tests
after completion to measure their knowledge of aging,
skill in working with older adults, and career interest.
Students improved significantly on their knowledge
of aging as evidenced from the Palmore Facts on Aging
Quiz (p<=.001). They also significantly improved
from pre to post test on the Social Work with Aging
Skill Competency Scale, self-rating version (p<=.001).
On the Skill Competency Scale, students rated themselves
highest (on both pre and post tests) in the domain
of values and ethics related to working with older
adults and their families. The lower area of confidence
was research and evaluation related to advocacy for
better programs and practice for older adults. Students
indicated a strong interest in the field of aging
at both pre and post test and were confident about
working in the aging field after graduation.
Student rating of the PPP educational experience
was high, with 90% recommending their Hartford program
experience to others. Their comments include praise
for the PPP seminars and didactics, fieldwork rotations
across the aging continuum, and the rich field supervision.
They noted challenges in participating in the rotational
model of field education, noting difficulties managing
communication and time across multiple sites.
Future work for the PPP evaluation, with continued
strong collaboration across sites, will examine data
that includes the third year of the program, reliability
and validity testing for the Competency Scale, content
analysis of questions related to social work knowledge,
an analysis of the post-graduation surveys on employment
for all student cohorts, and dissemination of lessons
learned.
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Faculty Development Program
Update
Since the writing of the last Ripples Newsletter,
the Faculty Development Program has been busy with
the coordination and implementation of various presentations,
projects, workshops and institutes. One of the highlights
of the Faculty Development Program was the launching
of the first National Gerontological Social Work Conference
[link to NCSWC story ] in Atlanta, Georgia, February
27 - March 2nd. Plans are underway for the second
National Gerontological Social Work Conference to
take place in Anaheim, California, February 27 - March
1, 2004. Abstracts are due June 15th. For further
information, visit www.cswe.org/sage-sw or contact
Cathy Tompkins (ctompkins@cswe.org; 703-519-2043).
During the last five months, two Faculty Development
Institutes (FDIs) have been held. The first FDI was
conducted at The Gerontological Society of America's
Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. This half-day
FDI was conducted by a special request of the Hartford
Scholars and Doctoral Fellows programs. Expert Trainers
Ginny Richardson (University of Ohio) and Nancy Wilson
(Baylor College of Medicine) led the institute. Denise
Burnett (Columbia University) presented the work she
and Nancy Morrow-Howell (Washington University) have
done on Gerontological Social Work Research.
The second FDI was conducted at the American Society
on Aging and National Council on Aging Joint Conference,
Chicago, IL. This unique half-day FDI was aimed at
Faculty Field Coordinators and Agency Field Supervisors.
Lead by Cathy Tompkins, and expert faculty JoAnn Damron
Rodriguez (UCLA) and Greg Paveza (University of South
Florida), participants engaged in lively interaction
and exercises. Participants were very positive about
the opportunity for Field Agency practitioners and
faculty to engage creatively and collaboratively in
the FDI's dynamic learning process.
The CSWE Faculty Development Program is moving more
toward regional FDIs that are collaborative efforts
with state social work education associations, NASW
chapters or a consortium of schools. If you think
your University may be interested in hosting a regional
FDI, please contact Cathy Tompkins (ctompkins@cswe.org,
703-519-2043).
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Geriatric Enrichment "GeroRich"
Program Update
Since its inception, the Geriatric Enrichment in Social
Work Education Project (GeroRich) has funded 67 social
work programs. The Project focuses on planning and
implementing organizational and curriculum change
to create aging-rich learning opportunities for all
social work students. The planning year emphasized
engaging key stakeholders (deans/directors, faculty,
students, practicum instructors and older adults)
to expand the number, quality and sustainability of
aging-rich learning experiences (in classroom curricula,
field practica, lectures, presentations and other
activities). The GeroRich Project is now in its second
implementation year.
The two primary criteria guiding implementation are:
· Pervasiveness: GeroRich projects are emphasizing
the infusion of geriatric social work content into
generalist courses; and
· Sustainability: These projects are also
committed to embedding or institutionalizing geriatric
social work content in the organizational culture
and curriculum so that it will continue after funding
ends.
The GeroRich projects have made some innovative and
exciting changes to date. Many projects have modified
the New York Academy of Medicine or CSWE SAGE-SW geriatric
social work competencies to fit their curricula. Faculty,
students and practitioners have participated in retreats
to learn about aging and agree on curricular changes.
Students are being exposed to gerontological knowledge,
skills and values through the classroom, practica,
and interest groups.
Teaching modules that focus on specific topics, such
as multicultural practice, assessment, and policy,
have been developed in cooperation with faculty and
practitioners. Practica in aging have been expanded
and marketed to students, and field instructors have
participated in gerontological training. In addition,
generalist practica have been expanded to include
some contact with older adults.
Winter regional workshops for project directors provided
opportunities to learn from each other's successes
and challenges. The workshops started with small group
discussions in the areas of Faculty Engagement, Student
Recruitment, Curriculum Infusion, and Gerontology
as Pedagogy. Lively and fruitful discussions evolved
as project directors shared what has and hasn't worked,
and the implications of these changes for their specific
programs. Major themes from these discussions are
relevant to other programs seeking to infuse gerontology
in their curricula. Please see our GeroRich website
(www.gerorich.org)
for preliminary lessons learned that can be adapted
or transferred to a wide range of educational settings.
Project directors also displayed website, videos,
teaching modules, board games on aging, and extensive
course syllabi at the regional resource fairs. For
the 2003 meeting of the Baccalaureate Program Directors,
a similar format for sharing and disseminating resources
will be available in the exhibit hall, at specified
times.
Project directors also participated in presentations
and discussions on sustainability, facilitated by
June Simmons from Partnerships in Care, Kaiser Permanente
in California for the West coast meeting and Kathryn
Hyer, co-PI of the Hartford GITT (Geriatric Interdisciplinary
Team Training Project) and from the University of
South Florida, for the East coast meeting. Key points
from the presentations and discussion included: conceptualizing
change as an evolution, engaging people with your
vision, collaborating at every opportunity, and being
visible wherever you can (e.g., marketing yourself).
Copies of Dr. Hyer and Ms. Simmons' PowerPoint presentations
are available on the GeroRich website (www.gerorich.org).
Although the third year of the project focuses on
evaluation and dissemination, both processes are already
underway. The evaluation instruments used by project
directors are being compiled and will be available
on the GeroRich website in the near future. We have
also developed a preliminary summary and synthesis
of Project Innovations, which will be continuously
updated. For more current information GeroRich project
innovations and lessons learned, please check out
the GeroRich website at www.gerorich.org.
(Go to Resources and Teaching Tools).
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