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The National Institute of Aging estimates the nation will require 70,000 trained, “aging savvy” professional social workers by 2020 (a 43% increase over the current social work labor force), though fewer than 3% of social work students currently specialize in aging. It is crucial that social workers are not only trained in the field of aging, but that they develop skills to become leaders to meet these expanding needs. The Hartford Partnership Program in Aging Education (HPPAE), (formerly the Practicum Partnership Program “PPP”) funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation and led by the Social Work Leadership Institute (SWLI) at The New York Academy of Medicine, addresses one facet of this need by developing incentives for students to become specialists in the field of aging. It is recognized, however, that this and other social work initiatives cannot be sustained merely by keeping pace with the need. A group of national experts in aging and social work education, representing leadership across the social work profession, formed the National Leadership Coalition to recruit, retain, and sustain social work professional who elect aging as their expertise.
The Social Work Leadership Institute at the Academy is an initiative with a dual purpose. Its first aim is to cultivate leaders in the field of social work to extend their responses beyond the individual level to the needs of the population at-large. A second aim is to establish itself as a central agent in cultivating and enhancing multidisciplinary partnerships in systems of care. This Schema provides a macro-level view of social work possibilities, and Patricia Volland has been instrumental in creating opportunities that align with national social work leadership priorities.
The first SWLI project, the Hartford Partnership Program in Aging Education, is an educational initiative to enhance field practicum experiences in master’s level schools of social work nationwide, and is composed of six essential components: university-community partnerships, competency-driven education, integrated rotations across multiple populations and disciplines, expanded roles for field instructors, leadership development and especially, focused recruitment of students to the field of aging. The SWLI provides continuous technical assistance to HPPAE sites to sustain funding for their programs. From 2000-2004, the HPPAE was pilot-tested in six sites across the country (11 MSW programs and over 100 community agencies), and demonstrated positive results for students and schools alike. For example, the HPPAE cultivated relationships between universities and local aging organizations, with the number of aging field placements increasing to 43% at these sites. In addition, over 400 social work leaders with an aging-specific focus have been trained in HPPAE sites, with nearly eighty percent of HPPAE graduates working in the field of aging one to two years out of school. Following these successes, the John A. Hartford Foundation will continue to partner with SWLI at the Academy to fund 60 graduate social work programs to adopt high quality, aging-rich field experiences for MSW students during the next eight years. The aim is to continuously promote increasing numbers of graduate students who specialize in gerontology, as well as develop new sites for aging-related fieldwork to become a permanent foundation of social work education.
The second SWLI initiative is known as the Center for Aging Policy(CAP). CAP aims to build upon the work of the National Leadership Coalition, in collaboration with the Academy's Division of Health Policy, by solidifying initiatives in public policy so that health and support services for older adults will be enhanced. Objectives include developing a long range policy agenda, adopted by relevant national and regional organizations, to ensure that the social work profession can meet the needs of a rapidly aging population. CAP would also design a systematic process for coordinating and monitoring the public policy-relevant activities of entities involved in promoting the future of social work with older adults. By articulating evidence-based research for social work practices in serving elderly, as well as for public policy agendas, CAP's plans to develop comprehensive and targeted communication plans for consumers, practitioners and policy-makers as to the value and contributions of geriatric social workers. Funded through Atlantic Philanthropies starting in June 2005, the CAP’s activities will lay the groundwork to lead and coordinate public policy advocacy campaigns to ameliorate key barriers to social work’s effective role in elder care.
Additional SWLI projects entail a partnership with National Association of Social Worker's Center for Workforce Studies in developing an online training course on geriatric social work competencies, as well as collaboration with the National Association of Deans and Directors to foster leadership development and trainings.
Part of the challenge of enhancing the readiness of the social work profession to respond to an increasingly multidisciplinary care system, and to be leaders in responding at the population level, is being able to sustain these changes over time. Promotion of diverse fundraising strategies, a dedicated advocacy and policy development initiative, and creative solutions will further establish aging as a central part of the professional social work experience. Gratefully, partnerships with other foundations are working to build capacity and promote education and training for social workers to meet the aging imperative. Atlantic Philanthropies has created the Institute for Geriatric Social Work at Boston University School of Social Work to improve education and policy links for global social work professionals. The Hearst Foundation has also established a scholarship program in several schools of social work.
The Social Work Leadership Institute at the Academy is committed to making certain that cultivating leadership become the norm in social work education, and that public policies support the retention of qualified social workers in the aging labor force. At present, with the life spans of older persons ever-increasing, we work to ensure that the social work profession is grounded in sound research and practice. As social workers, our response on multiple levels and through multiple venues is vital to us, both as professionals and to the wide range of people we aim to serve.
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