Centers, Institutes, and Professional Education Programs
BOSTON UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF ADDICTIONS RESEARCH & SERVICES
INSTITUTE FOR GERIATRIC SOCIAL WORK
BOSTON UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR ADDICTIONS RESEARCH & SERVICES
The Boston University Center for Addictions Research & Services, based in the School of Social Work, is committed to addressing a broad range of addiction issues affecting individuals, families, and communities struggling with substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, and access to substance abuse treatment. Through research, community involvement, and teaching, the center provides the School of Social Work community with opportunities to study and work in the addictions field.
Dr. Lena Lundgren, Professor of Social Welfare Policy, is the Director of the Center for Addictions Research & Services, and Dr. Melvin Delgado and Dr. Maryann Amodeo are each Co-Directors of the center. Dr. Lundgren provides wide-ranging, nationally recognized leadership and expertise in the field of addictions, including evaluation, qualitative and quantitative research, and community development. Dr. Delgado, Professor of Macro Practice, has extensive field, research, and scholarly experience, particularly in the Latino community. Dr. Maryann Amodeo, Professor of Clinical Practice, has more than 20 years of professional experience in the alcoholism and drug abuse fields as a clinician, educator, and researcher. The directors’ combined expertise has resulted in an impressive record of high-quality successful research and evaluation projects, dissemination of research findings through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations, and innovative intervention and prevention community collaborations.
The center’s primary activities are: (1) research and evaluation, (2) consultation on clinical services and programming, (3) community development and prevention, and (4) training and education.
Research and Evaluation
Research activities focus on substance abuse issues affecting individuals, families, and communities. Generous funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation enables the center to examine critical research issues:
- Role of substance abuse treatment in preventing HIV/AIDS
- Patterns of service utilization among substance users
- Racial/ethnic disparities in substance abuse treatment
- Factors affecting access to substance abuse treatment
- Parental substance abuse and effects on children
- Methadone maintenance and other medically assisted treatments
- Assessment of outcomes in substance abuse training
- Influence of acculturation on use/abuse of alcohol and other drugs
- Substance abuse and co-occurring psychiatric disorders
Consultation on Clinical Services and Programming
The center’s consultation and programming activities focus on the needs of substance abuse agencies and methods for improving client care:
- Helping addiction agencies adopt evidence-based treatment practices
- Adopting and improving culturally competent and responsive substance abuse treatment
- Developing logic models to guide service delivery
- Designing improved assessment methods and individualized treatment plans
- Measuring client outcomes
- Refining the methods and focus of clinical and administrative supervision
Program Assessment and Community Development Services
The center’s community development and prevention services focus on empowering communities, coalitions, and grass roots organizations by helping them build the capacity to address substance abuse and HIV/AIDS problems in ways that are compatible with their culture, physical environment, membership, and goals. Activities include:
- Assess and define community assets focusing on unidentified resources and supports within neighborhoods and communities
- Connect and engage with informal helping networks such as religious groups, herbalists, beauty parlors, pharmacies, and grocery stores to implement prevention activities
- Build community strength by utilizing the Positive Youth Development approach to engage and involve youth within the community
- Use community murals, quilts, theater, and other group activities to assist in healing from violence, disease, trauma, and loss
INSTITUTE FOR GERIATRIC SOCIAL WORK
Established in 2002, and funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies, the Institute for Geriatric Social Work (IGSW) is a leader in the effort to build a stronger social work workforce for an aging society. With 36,000 IGSW-trained practitioners currently working in the field and IGSW online training now available in all 50 states and overseas, the mission of IGSW is to strengthen the quality of the geriatric workforce through educational innovation, assessment, and policy-relevant research. Located at the Boston University School of Social Work, IGSW brings together expertise in instructional technology, educational design, testing, and evaluation to improve the preparedness and quality of practice of social workers and other social service practitioners who work with older adults and their families.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), Office of Disability, Aging, and Long-Term Care Policy, reports that 110,000 professional social workers will be needed in long-term care by 2050 if the ratio of workers to the older adult population remains the same. By continuing to develop its capacity to provide high-quality training to social work and social service practitioners, IGSW is actively seeking to address this training need.
IGSW has become a national leader in social work online training. Four years in development, IGSW has created an innovative program of Internet-based training by utilizing the best in educational content, technology, and design to meet the diverse learning needs and styles of social work practitioners. IGSW now has a library of more than 30 academically grounded, easily accessible, and competency-based online courses for social workers and other health care professionals, and has also created a 30-hour Online Certificate in Aging program. For information on IGSW’s education programs, please visit www.bu.edu/igsw.
IGSW is also committed to supporting policy change that will expand the practice and reimbursement options for social workers, and to conducting scientifically sound research to demonstrate the effectiveness of social work interventions with older people and their families. Among its research and evaluation projects, IGSW completed a large randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of a social work intervention in primary care.
IGSW’s long-range goal remains to create demonstrable improvements in the readiness of the social work and social service workforce to care for older adults, to increase the use of evidence-based interventions by practitioners and agencies alike, and, ultimately, to demonstrate improvements in the lives of older adults as a result of these efforts. Through partnerships with other leading organizations, assistance from the best online training experts, strategic marketing advice, and business leadership, IGSW will strive to continue its education and workplace initiatives.
Dr. Scott Miyake Geron, Associate Professor of Social Welfare Policy and Research at Boston University School of Social Work, is the Director and Principal Investigator of IGSW.
PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
The Professional Education Program (PEP) at the School of Social Work has provided professional development opportunities and continuing education to social workers since 1946. Courses, workshops, postgraduate certificate programs, and training/technical assistance are offered to individuals and organizations throughout the human service field. PEP programs are evidence-based, skills-oriented, and focused on contemporary practice issues in both macro and clinical social work. Employing adult education methods, instructors and workshop educators tailor the content of programs to the educational needs of today’s practicing professional social workers. The School is an approved provider of Continuing Education Credits (CECs), and has been authorized by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Board of Social Work Registration to approve offerings from other institutions for Continuing Education Credits.
Workshops and Courses Half-day, one-day, and two-day workshops take place throughout the year and cover a wide range of topics, including clinical practice; public health social work; urban practice, nonprofit management; emerging issues in social work; and evidence-based practice skills. PEP can also design special training programs for public and private agencies.
Postgraduate Certificate Programs PEP offers postgraduate certificate programs in a number of different content areas: Assessment and Treatment of Psychological Trauma; Clinical Practice with Adolescents; and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Interventions. These programs help experienced practitioners strengthen their skills and competencies in the multiple roles required of them. New certificate programs in Mind/Body Interventions and Effective Practice with Refugees and Immigrants are offered.
Training and Program Evaluation PEP develops specialized training programs and provides other forms of technical assistance to state agencies and local organizations.
Alumni Association Workshops The BUSSW’s Alumni
Association occasionally sponsors workshops on topics of current interest. Some are conducted by members of the social work faculty. Among the topics have been stress management, suicide prevention, group work, cultural diversity, community politics and social work practice, and health care.
Field Instructor Workshops The Field Education Department offers the following continuing education programs, for which CECs are available:
Seminar for New Field Instructors This 20-hour seminar is required for all field instructors supervising an MSW student for the first time. It is offered in the fall on the Charles River campus, and at locations in Chelmsford, Fall River, Cape Cod, and Worcester. Each year approximately 100 new field instructors participate in the seminar.
The Professional Development Series of the New England Consortium of Field Education Directors Workshops offered through this series are scheduled by each of the New England graduate schools of social work, and are open to field instructors from all of the schools. Each year approximately eight to ten workshops are on the program.
Curriculum-Related Workshops These workshops, open to field instructors affiliated with the Boston University School of Social Work, typically address topics related to the integration of classroom content in the field education experience. Past workshops have focused on group work and on macro practice.
Published by Trustees of Boston University
One Silber Way
Boston, MA 02215
28 October 2009
Boston University
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