Barriers to the Infusion of Gerontology Content in Social Work Curriculum

1
Challenges to the Infusion of Gerontology
Content in Social Work Curriculum SAGE-SW
Faculty Development Institute

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Background

• Demographic Data
• Professional education not responsive
• Comprehensive approach of social work ideal
• Need and demand for specialists

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Challenges Facing Academic Gerontology

• Preparation of adequate supply of health and
  human services professionals
• Sensitize students to own and societies aging
  process
• Education of research scientist
• Wendt Peterson (1993)

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Challenge Requires

• Faculty Leadership
• Takes years to develop
• Program Development
• Programs mature and develop before can have
  significant impact

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Current Status of Social Work Education

• Social work education not responsive to
  demographic data (Sharlach et al., 2000)
• Fewer MSW programs than 10 years ago
  (Damron-Rodriguez et al.,1997)
• Greater need for gerontological competency for
  all social workers

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Phase I SAGE-SW Data Sources

• Data and literature
• Data gathering (1999, DC) 400 SW students 17
  SW programs
• 6 student focus groups (3 levels)
• 4 field faculty supervisor
• focus groups
• National gerontological competencies survey
  social work practitioners and academics

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Current Gerontological Social Work Education

• 16 MSW Gerontology
• 5 Sub-concentration
• 12 Aging Field of Practice
• 4 Gerontology Certificate
• 2.4 MSW 1999 chose aging

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Students Cited Gerontology Study Limitations

• Inadequacy of resources
• Limited opportunity to specialize
• Limited opportunity to take electives
• Few BSW gerontology electives, minor/certificate
  programs available

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Restructuring Curriculum

• Infusion aging content throughout course
  objectives, subject areas, readings, field and
  outcomes
• Integration Uniting content with rest of
  curriculum (placing aging content into curriculum
  in strategic places).
• Integration or infusion of content, combined with
  specialized courses, may be better than for
  instance specialization.

10
Early Social Work Education Efforts

• Early proponents of SW curricula integration or
  infusion Lowy (1983) Schneider, (1984)
• Limited impact

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John A. Hartford Foundation commissioned
article
Called for development of model curricula that
would integrate aging content into the foundation
curricula mandated by CSWE Scharlach et al., 2000
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Small Group Exercise

• Challenges
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Challenges to Infusion

• Organizational Commitment
• Incentives
• Competing Interest
• Faculty Comfort
• Limited Resources
• Rosen et al., (forthcoming)

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My List

• Time in curriculum
• Faculty Time
• Priorities of individual and full faculty
• Lack of faculty knowledge (content and special
  needs)
• Lack of faculty understanding of need
• Not much to be done anyway
• Few studentscost justification

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References

• Lowy, L. (1983). Incorporation
  and specialization of content on aging in the
  social work curriculum. Journal of Gerontological
  Social Work, 5( 4) 37-54.
• Meredith, S. D., Watt, S. (1994). Gerontology
  development project Infusing gerontology into
  social work curriculum. Gerontology and
  Geriatrics Education, 15(2), 91.
• Peterson, D.A. Wendt, P.F. (1990). Employment
  in the field of aging A survey of professionals
  in four fields. The Gerontologist, 30, 679-684.
• Rosen, A. Zlotnik, J.L.,
  Singer, T. (Forthcoming). Basic gerontological
  competence for all social workers The need to
  Gerontologize social work education. Journal of
  Gerontological Social Work
• Rosen, A., Zlotnik (2001). Social Works
  Response to a Growing Older Population.
  Generations 25(1), 69-71.
• Scharlach, A., Damron-Rodriguez, J., Robinson,
  B., Feldman, R. (2000). Educating Social
  Workers for an Aging Society A Vision for the
  21st Century. Journal of Social Work Education,
  36,(3), 521-538.
• Singer, T. (2000). Structuring Education to
  Promote Understanding of Issues of Aging Online
  at www.cswe.org/sage-sw/.