This article presents an interdisciplinary collaboration to address the needs of older adults at risk of social isolation exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. An intergenerational service-learning program developed by the Pennsylvania Department of Aging was offered to several universities across the state of Pennsylvania. The authors share their…

An intergenerational initiative was developed and implemented to enhance gerontology in the first course of the practice sequence. Seventeen students met with older adults (ages 82-98) in the classroom and at an assisted living facility. The evaluation of this older adult infusion project was conducted through two questionnaires and by the review…

Attention to preparing social workers for our aging society has increased with concern that there may be insufficient professionals to meet the need. Interest in training gerontologically-savvy social work students had led to the development of models to achieve this end. This article reports on a collaboration among a university's school of…

There is a national shortage of social workers who have the knowledge and skill competencies needed for practice with our rapidly growing older adult population. In the last decade, research has identified many reasons for the lack of interest in gerontological social work and steps that could be pursued within social work education to remedy the…

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…

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…

Describes an experimental program focusing on network approaches to the solution of social work clients' problems. The sample was composed of 156 residents of a Manhattan hotel. Only 16 percent of the problems were successfully resolved through network interventions, although some problems were more amenable to intervention than others. (JAC)

The American population aged 65 years and older is growing rapidly, creating an increased demand for social workers. Reimbursement structures of Medicare and Medicaid present significant barriers for aging individuals seeking social work services as well as social workers wanting to provide services to the elderly. To build a case for the…

Objectives: This study examined health care cost outcomes resulting from a health education program (HEP), a social work intervention for spouse caregivers of frail older adults. Method: One-hundred five spouses were recruited and randomly assigned to HEP or usual care (UC). Health care utilization and cost data were collected from the HMO's…