The prestigious Hartford Doctoral Fellows and Hartford Faculty Scholars programs have awarded $800,000 in combined new grants to ten researchers in the field of geriatric social work.
Both programs — funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation and administered by The Gerontological Society of America — are components of the nationwide Geriatric Social Work Initiative (GSWI), which seeks to expand the training of social workers in order to improve the health and well being of older people and their families. Over 194 individuals have received grants to date.
The 2010 fellows and scholars are examining such topics as advance care planning, Chinese American Alzheimer's family caregivers, and gender and racial disparities in cost-related medication non-adherence.
The GSWI collaborates with social work programs, organizations, and other funders around the country to meet the demand for social workers with training in geriatrics. These professionals help people understand and choose from an array of available health and social services.
The Hartford Doctoral Fellows Program welcomes four new distinguished doctoral students. Each recipient receives a $50,000 dissertation grant plus $20,000 in matching support from their home institutions, which enables the awardees to concentrate fully on their dissertation research projects over the next two years.
Fellows also receive supplemental academic career guidance and mentoring, as well as professional development to help them successfully launch an academic career in gerontology and social work. James Lubben, DSW, MPH, of Boston College directs the national program committee that selects the fellows. The newest cohort is listed below:
Louanne Bakk
Michigan State University
Dissertation Topic: Gender and Racial Disparities in Cost-Related Medication Non-adherence: The Effect of Medicare Part-D and Factors Impacting Compliance Among Older Women and Blacks
Melissa Brown
Boston College
Dissertation Topic: The Work-Eldercare Interface: Workplace Flexibility and Well-Being Among Family Caregivers of Older Adults
Daniel Kaplan
Columbia University
Dissertation Topic: Home Health Care for Persons with Cognitive Impairment: The Influence of Home Health Care Agency Characteristics on the Relationship Between Consumer Cognitive Status and Service Volume and Cost
Tam Elizabeth Perry
Regents of the University of Michigan
Dissertation Topic: Leaving Home Later in Life: Negotiating Moves Among Older Adults and their Networks in the Mid-western United States
Six outstanding individuals have been chosen as the newest inductees into the Hartford Faculty Scholars Program. They will be provided with opportunities for professional development and $100,000 in funding over the next two years.
Now in its eleventh year, the award aims to improve the lives of older adults by increasing the number of adequately trained geriatric social workers. Barbara Berkman, DSW, PhD, of Columbia University directs the national program committee that selects the recipients. Listed below are the new faculty scholars and their primary research topics:
Leslie Hasche
University of Kansas
Research Topic: Measuring and Understanding Organizational Readiness to Adopt Health IDEAS
Eunjeong Ko
San Diego State University
Research Topic: Advance Care Planning and Low-Income Older Adults: Consideration of Socio-Cultural Factors Among Racially Diverse Groups
Jung Kwak
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Research Topic: Decisional Conflicts at the End of Life: The Needs of Surrogates for Persons with Dementia
Tina Maschi
Fordham University
Research Topic: Exploring the Relationship between Trauma, Coping Resources, and Physical and Mental Well-Being among Older Adults in Prison
Noell Rowan
University of Louisville
Research Topic: Resiliency and Quality of Life of Older Adult Lesbians with Alcoholism
Fei Sun
Arizona State University
Research Topic: Coping with Behavioral Problems: A Longitudinal Qualitative Study of Chinese American Alzheimer's Family Caregivers
The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is the nation's oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. The principal mission of the Society — and its 5,200+ members — is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers, and the general public. GSA's structure also includes a policy institute, the National Academy on an Aging Society, and an educational branch, the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.
The John A. Hartford Foundation, founded in 1929, is a committed champion of training, research, and service system innovations that promote the health and independence of America's older adults. Through its grantmaking, the Foundation seeks to strengthen the nation's capacity to provide effective, affordable care to this rapidly increasing older population by educating health professionals and developing innovations that improve and better integrate health and supportive services.