Using Collaboration to Maximize Outcomes for a John A. Hartford Foundation Geriatric Enrichment Project

Abstract

Two institutions representing two BSW and one MSW program and a geriatric education center collaborated in a John A. Hartford geriatric enrichment project. Sharing the risks and benefits of a collaborative model, 75 percent of faculty participated in mini faculty fellowships, and bi-monthly dinner meetings with colleagues from each of the three programs, and actively engaged in the curricula revisions. Faculty report pervasive geriatric enrichment in each program's foundation content areas, and increases in students placed in geriatric enriched field practicum settings, from pre-project levels of 8.1 percent to a high of 24 percent. The features of the collaborative project include: respecting each program's autonomy while actively sharing ideas, resources and partnering with community's aging experts; and strengthening mutually reciprocal relationships among faculty and the gerontologic practice community. This model of shared risks and benefits also provides opportunities for innovation, diverse thinking, and shared decision making.

Implementing a Gero-Infused Curriculum in Advanced-Level MSW Courses in Health, Mental Health and Substance Abuse: An Evaluation

“…To date, much of the organization's efforts have focused on enriching the gerontology content of the Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Social Work foundation year, resulting in the testing of a range of approaches to infuse aging content throughout the foundation curriculum (Corley & Bach, 2007;Dorfman & Han, 2007;Faria & Dwyer, 2007;Frederiksen-Goldsen & Bonifas, 2006;Johnson-Dalzine, 2007;Lee & Boucher, 2006;Lee & Waites, 2006). Such efforts have been sorely needed, as a review of 10,000 pages of social work textbooks by one research team found aging content to be present in an average of only three percent of foundation-level texts (Tompkins, Rosen, & Larkin, 2006).…”