Chapters in this volume reflect a variety of issues related to education for gerontological social work. Chapters in section 1, "Geriatrics and Gerontology in Social Work Education," are: (1) "Social Work's Pursuit of a Common Professional Framework: Have We Reached a Milestone?" (Roberta Greene and Colleen Galambos); (2) "Basic Gerontological…

During the coming years the need for professionals to work with the nation's elders will increase several fold. This will place a great responsibility on university educational programs to prepare enough qualified future professionals to work in the greatly expanding field of gerontology. Prior research has identified several nonacademic and…

A training curriculum on mental health and aging was developed and disseminated to 32 natural caregivers throughout a frontier state using a train-the-trainer model. Those certified as trainers included social workers, religious professionals, volunteers, long-term care employees, nurses, home health workers, and professional and informal…

Today more people are living beyond 65 years of age than ever before. The 1980s can be critical in determining the future of the aging, and the advocacy of the social worker can be the decisive factor. (Author)

The rapidly growing older population has generated the need for more gerontological or geriatric care professionals. This study evaluated the undergraduate programs offered by the departments of medicine, nursing studies and social work at a university in Hong Kong, based on the data of a recent alumni survey. It also identified factors that…

This paper describes development, implementation, and evaluation strategies of a longitudinal geriatric curriculum, the Senior Mentor Program (SMP). The rationale for exposing undergraduate medical students to healthy, community-dwelling older adults is to use the relationship and activities as vehicles for improving knowledge of aging and…

The educator-advocate as gerontologist must simultaneously develop a core training in aging, induce other faculty members to add gerontological content, build interdisciplinary bridges with other academic units, and influence other educational institutions. (Editor)

The effectiveness of social work education can be improved by including applied research in field work experiences. The systematic approach to problem study developed through research training can be applied to real-world practice problems encountered in field settings. (Contains 35 references.) (SK)

This article describes a Delphi study to identify research priorities of gerontological social work practitioners and to compare these priorities with those of social work academic researchers. A national expert panel of 52 gerontological social work practitioners completed questionnaires to delimit a set of high-priority research topics. Findings…

The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-Expanded (BPRS-E) is a widely used outcome measure that assesses change in psychiatric symptoms. The focus of the present study was to clarify and determine the factor structure of the BPRS-E with geriatric and nongeriatric psychiatric inpatients. Two previous studies found different factor structures for the…

Interdisciplinary health care training is advocated by numerous government and philanthropic organizations. Educators in the health professions are increasingly offering training in interdisciplinary health care in a variety of contexts, including ambulatory settings. This paper describes a three-year program to teach skills in interdisciplinary…

Examines personnel needs for geriatric social workers, explores growing demand for geriatric social work practitioners, reviews argument for specialized training in geriatrics, and identifies number of social workers specializing in geriatrics. Discusses state of the art of geriatrics in social work education. Makes recommendations for increasing…

The John A. Hartford Foundation, in collaboration with the Gerontological Society of America, has developed new models to create geriatric faculty capacity within social work. The Faculty Scholars Program is building faculty leadership in academic geriatric social work through a strategic approach that includes long-distance national and…

Changing U.S. demographics and family composition are challenging social work education programs to reposition and reconsider how to prepare students for practice in the field of geriatrics. Implications for future social service and health care needs include ongoing training and education of students with competencies in serving geriatric…

Describes a two-year, multisite, curriculum-development project aimed to increase the pool of professionals trained in geriatric and/or gerontological social work. Methods included providing advanced training in aging, cultural competence, and interdisciplinary practice; developing, implementing, and testing an innovative student curriculum based…