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SSW receives $4.4M grant to train social workers in geriatric care
By David J. Craig
As the American population ages and more elderly people receive care for chronic illnesses at home, social workers are increasingly working with older adults and their families.
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| SSW professors Judith G. Gonyea, Robert B. Hudson, and Scott Miyake Geron (from left) are forming the new Institute for Geriatric Social Work, with a $4.4 million grant from the Atlantic Philanthropies. Photo by Kalman Zabarsky | |
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But few social workers have received formal training in geriatrics, says
Scott Miyake Geron, a School of Social Work associate professor and director
of BU’s Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Sociology and Social
Work.
“Historically, the field of social work has been oriented toward
caring for children and families,” says Geron. “But the field
has to respond to changing demographics. There were 35 million adults
over the age of 65 in the United States in 2000, and that number is expected
to double by 2050. As risk of chronic illness or disability increases
with age, a significant percentage of older Americans will be coping with
health conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease. Many
of these disabling conditions require ongoing community-based health and
social supports.”
To create the Institute for Geriatric Social Work, the School of Social
Work recently was awarded a five-year, $4.4 million grant from the Atlantic
Philanthropies, which is based in Bermuda and has affiliate organizations
in the United States, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Great Britain. The
Atlantic Philanthropies describes itself as working “globally to
identify and support leaders, institutions, and organizations dedicated
to learning, knowledge-building, and solving pressing social problems,”
and has a “longstanding interest in aging.”
The institute, directed by Geron, will train social workers in geriatric
care, as well as conduct research on the cost-effectiveness of geriatric
social work and disseminate information about geriatric social work to
lawmakers.
“Social workers, who are trained to address clients’ health
and social needs in a holistic way, are ideally suited to coordinate and
help provide the kind of care that older people need,” Geron continues.
“But many experienced social workers don’t have adequate practice
skills or understanding to deal with some of the complex needs of older
adults, which may include isolation, poor nutrition, and mental confusion.”
Serving as associate directors of the institute will be Judith G. Gonyea,
an SSW associate professor and chair of the research department, and Robert
B. Hudson, an SSW professor and chair of the social welfare policy department.
According to SSW Dean Wilma Peebles-Wilkins, the institute will “continue
the pioneering efforts of the late Louis Lowy, former associate dean for
academic affairs at the School of Social Work. Dr. Lowy has gained a prominent
place in social work history for his nationally recognized work in aging.
Dr. Geron and his gerontological social work colleagues at the School
of Social Work are preserving this very fine legacy.”
A primary goal of the institute is to address the needs of practicing
social workers, who are increasingly working with older adults, but who
lack formal gerontological training. The institute will collaborate with
the American Society on Aging -- the nation’s largest professional
organization in the field of aging -- to develop short-term education
and training programs. They will include distance learning approaches
such as CD-ROMs, Web-based seminars, audiotapes, and text-based self-learning
tools, as well as traditional half-day and daylong seminars and workshops
offered at professional conferences. Training sessions will be available
at annual meetings held by state chapters of the National Association
of Social Workers, for instance, and at companies that employ large numbers
of social workers.
“Social workers will want to participate,” says Geron, “because
there is growing recognition in the profession of the importance of obtaining
specialized training in working with older adults, and because social
workers in most states are required to earn a certain number of continuing
education credits each year. With the grant from the Atlantic Philanthropies,
our training will also be very affordable.”
In addition, the institute will conduct two major clinical trials to demonstrate
the effectiveness of social work involvement in health programs and services
designed to improve the lives of older people and their families. One
study will involve a social work intervention with elderly people living
at home with chronic illnesses; the other will involve an intervention
in hospital care or end-of-life care.
“Currently, neither Medicare nor Medicaid reimburses for treatment
by social workers, and that’s obviously a major impediment for social
workers to go into geriatric care,” says Geron. “To make the
case to policy makers that there should be reimbursement for social workers,
research is needed to show that the specific social work interventions
involving services that already receive Medicare reimbursement are effective.”
The institute also plans to organize high-visibility informational meetings
with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., Geron says, to disseminate its research
results and educate policy makers about the importance and effectiveness
of social work with older people. In addition, it will “support
the development, evaluation, and replication of new educational and training
models for social workers working with older adults.”
“The formation of the Institute for Geriatric Social Work is a great
opportunity for the School of Social Work, which is in the vanguard of
research and practice in caring for elderly clients, and for the social
work profession in general,” says Geron. “This project is
unique because while there have been other recent efforts to support geriatric
social work, we will provide training to social workers who are already
working in the field. It is also unique in that we will address the need
for basic research in this area.”
11 October 2002
Boston University
Office of University Relations