Principal Investigator:
Roberta Greene, Ph.D.
Duration: 8/1/2006 – 7/31/2009
As part of a highly visible national initiative to educate and attract social workers to the field of gerontology, the University of Texas at Austin is developing curriculum and placement opportunities in gerontology through the Hartford Partnership Project for Aging Education (HPPAE).
The project two primary goals: (1) to improve student learning and training in geriatric social work education and (2) to develop an innovative multi-institution collaboration for social work education in geriatrics with emphasis on working with Hispanics/Latinos in the Central Texas area. The HPPAE initiative will graduate students with the knowledge, commitment, and skills to meet the requirements of an aging population. All graduates will receive knowledge and skills necessary for cross cultural social work practice. Students will rotate through practicum sites selected because of their excellence in field instruction, diverse population of older adults, range of learning experiences from micro through macro, and willingness to take a leadership role in geriatric field work placements. Students, faculty liaisons, and agency field instructors will actively participate in four Consortium-level training workshops each year. Field instructors will be mentors, consult on curriculum modules, guest lecture, obtain CEUs, receive honorariums, and be recognized at award ceremonies. All students will complete both pre- and post-tests of competencies, with a strong emphasis on competency with our fast-growing Hispanic/Latino aging population. Students will take on leadership roles by developing community projects and presenting their work at national and state conferences in addition to presentations on campus. The School of Social Work at UT Austin is one of 35 schools participating in this initiative which was launched by The New York Academy of Medicine’s (NYAM) Social Work Leadership Institute with financial support from the John A. Hartford Foundation. The HPPAE initiative seeks to establish the partnership field education model as the norm in training aging specialists in graduate schools of social work across the country.
Sponsor:
The New York Academy of Medicine
Keywords: gerontology, education