ASU Social Work Department part

ASU Social Work Department part of Nationwide Effort to Prepare

Social Workers to Work Effectively with Older Adults

The number of older persons, particularly the oldest old (85+), is increasing dramatically, and they need assistance to remain active and independent. Older adults, when they need help, receive it mainly from their families or a combination of family care and an assortment of community-based health and social services. Therefore, coordinating care with older adults, their families, and complex service networks is crucial. Aging-savvy social workers serve as "navigators" and "expediters," enabling older adults and families to understand and choose among the bewildering array of available health and social services. They empower older adults and families to find the care they need. They also facilitate family support, provide counseling and direct services, and coordinate care delivered through professional systems.

As our nation's population ages rapidly in the next three decades, social work education programs must prepare students with the competencies to improve the care and well-being of an increasing number of older adults and their families. The common image of the social worker as hardworking, dedicated child-welfare advocate embodied by Maxine, Tyne Daly's character in the TV show "Judging Amy," no longer suffices as a portrayal of what our society needs from its well-trained social workers. The ASU Social Work Department is one of 75 institutions nationwide participating in a project focused on changing social work education at all levels, with the goal of preparing social work graduates to be just as effective as advocates and resources for the older citizens of our communities as they are for our children.

This exciting new initiative, called the National Center for Gerontological Social Work Education (Gero-Ed Center) Curriculum Development Institutes, is administered through the Council on Social Work Education and supported by the John A. Hartford Foundation, which has committed over $26 million nationwide for its Geriatric Social Work Initiative. The overall program's primary mission is to ensure the

pervasiveness of gerontological learning experiences and sustainability of curricular changes in each of the participating programs.

The emphasis of the project's first year is planning changes to the curriculum and gaining faculty support for the infusion of gerontological competencies into foundation courses. ASU faculty members Charles Joiner and Loretta Brewer participated in the first Curriculum Development Institute, where they learned how to engage faculty colleagues, students, and practitioners in this process of curriculum change, and met with regional mentors who will provide ongoing consultation and support across the three years of funding. In the following years, CDI participants will focus on implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of findings so that other social work programs around the country can use these programs' "lessons learned" to make similar improvements to their curriculum.

The Geriatric Social Work Initiative, supported by the John A. Hartford Foundation, also includes the Hartford Scholars for faculty, Hartford Fellows for doctoral students, and the Practicum Partnership Program. The CDIs are one component of this broad initiative and of the CSWE Gero-Ed Center. The goals of the Gero-Ed Center also encompass educational policy and accreditation, electronic dissemination, and other types of faculty development.

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For more information contact Loretta Brewer, PhD, Assistant Professor, Social Work Department at 972-3169 or visit