ABSTRACT
Despite a growing need for geriatric social workers, there is a question as to whether MSW graduates who are gerontologically prepared actually enter the workforce to serve older adults. By tracking MSW graduates who had special training in aging, this study aims to explore their job search and career experience. Findings show that most graduates located aging-related jobs 4 months postgraduation and remained committed to the field 1 to 2 years later. The majority were working in direct service provision in clinical settings. Their salaries compare favorably with those of generic social workers. Implications for geriatric social work education are discussed.
Subject(s)
Career Choice , Geriatrics , Social Work/education , Adult , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Salaries and Fringe BenefitsABSTRACT
The Practicum Partnership Program (PPP), an innovative field education model developed and implemented by six demonstration sites over four years (2000-2004), uses a structured university-community partnership, or consortium, as the foundation for designing, implementing, and evaluating internships for graduate social work students specializing in aging. This paper describes the site consortia and PPP programs, presents evaluation findings, and identifies future directions for the PPP. Student learning outcomes were positive and both students and consortia agencies reported positive PPP experiences. The PPP model underscores the value of the community agencies as equal partners in educating future geriatric social workers.
Subject(s)
Aging , Cooperative Behavior , Curriculum , Geriatrics/education , Program Development , Residence Characteristics , Social Work/education , Universities , Adult , Age Factors , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Humans , Leadership , Male , Models, Educational , Program EvaluationABSTRACT
Preparing social workers to effectively practice with the growing older population requires the identification of geriatric competencies for the profession. The John A. Hartford Geriatric Social Work Initiative provided the impetus and direction for a national strategy to improve the quality of preparation of geriatric social workers. The Geriatric Social Work Practicum Partnership Program (PPP) is the project with the Hartford Initiative that emphasizes field education. The Geriatric Social Work Education Consortium (GSWEC), one of the PPP programs, initiated the development of competencies for work with older adults. GSWEC utilized Geriatric Social Work White Papers and the pioneering work of the Council on Social Work Education's (CSWE) Strengthening Aging and Gerontology Education for Social Work's (SAGE-SW) comprehensive competency list as well as conducted focus groups locally to delineate key competencies for field education. The Coordinating Center for the PPP, located at the New York Academy of Medicine, led in collaboratively developing knowledge based skill competencies for geriatric social work across all 6 demonstration sites (11 universities). The competencies adopted across sites include skills in the following five major domains: values and ethics; assessment (individuals and families, aging services, programs and policies); practice and interventions (theory and knowledge in practice, individual and family, aging services, programs and practice) interdisciplinary collaboration; and evaluation and research. The identified competencies have proven effective in evaluating students (n = 190) pre- and post PPP field education. The implications for further development of competency driven education for geriatric social work are discussed.