Boston GEM Consortium
About
Evaluation
The Boston GEM Consortium uses the Hartford PPP competency scale to assess competency gains through pre- and post-training assessments, and also conducts supervisor assessments of student learning gains. In addition, each student has a structured exit interview with project administrators. To receive a copy of the PPP competency scale, please visit SWLI's website.
Evaluation Summary of Geriatric Education Model (GEM) Years 1 - 5
Goal and Purpose
To examine the effectiveness of a collaborative partnership between the Boston University School of Social Work and community agencies serving elders in the Boston area that is designed to educate and train MSW students in geriatric social work practice.
Results
- There was significant improvement in all competency domains, demonstrating that participants assess their geriatric social work skills as substantially improved following participation in the GEM program. Values and Ethics was the skill area ranked the highest at both pre-test and post-test. This area was also the area of least growth. The domain with the highest growth was Assessment: Aging Services, Programs and Policies.
- When considering overall experience, 91.7% of all participants interviewed reported that their expectations for the GEM program were met or exceeded. All participants evaluated their learning experience as very good or higher, with 66% of these participants evaluating their experience as excellent.
Implications
Results show that the GEM program is an effective model for educating and training geriatric social workers. Further, GEM students reported that this program and method for learning met or exceeded their expectations. The evaluation results from the GEM program demonstrate the effectiveness of bringing together school and community agencies to increase the geriatric social work competencies and skills of MSW students to meet the needs of older adults.
