This renewal application seeks partial support from NIA to offer a research training program for 15 social work faculty. The requested grant will be supplemented by a $70,000 commitment that has been approved by the Hartford Foundation through a liaison with the Gerontological Society of America. The proposed program builds upon a highly successful research training program for social work faculty offered since 2004. The overarching goal remains the same: to expand the pool of social work faculty engaged in aging research. This, in turn, will reinvigorate their teaching, prepare them to update aging-related content in the curriculum, and enhance their ability to motivate new generations of social work students to pursue the study of aging.
Specific aims i nclude: (1) To increase social work faculty's knowledge, skills, and motivation for pursuing an active program of aging research;(2) To provide participants an opportunity to interact intensively with senior investigators and to promote the development of networking relationships among current and prior participants;and (3) To increase participants'awareness of grant support available from NIH and how to develop and submit strong applications. The success of this training model is documented by the fact that more than 56 percent of those who participated in the social work program between 2004 and 2008 have already secured research funding. Moreover, 30 percent of the participants from an earlier NIA-funded psychology institute have secured NIA/NIH funding and an additional 50 percent have received grants from other sources. All of the proposed activities will involve continuing strong collaboration with the Gerontological Society of America, John A. Hartford Foundation, Society for Social Work and Research, Council for Social Work Education, The Hartford Geriatric Enrichment Program, Institute for Advancement of Social Work Research, and National Association of Social Workers. Institute topics and instructors include: Research Design, Measurement, and Analysis (Aloen Townsend), Evaluation of Interventions (Susan Hughes), Caregiving and Disabilities (Marsha Seltzer), Ethnicity and Aging (Keith Whitfield), Preparing Grant Applications (Chandra Mehrotra), NIA Support Available for Aging Research (NIA staff), and Submitting Grant Applications Electronically (Chandra Mehrotra and Aloen Townsend). Given the program's success in achieving 40 percent minority participation to date, recruitment efforts will continue to focus on attracting participants from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds and those with disabilities. Quantitative and qualitative program evaluation will be conducted to monitor implementation of proposed activities and to assess their effectiveness in achieving the intended outcomes. Program faculty and participants will disseminate NIA-supported activities via conference presentations, publications, and websites. In the spirit of translational research, the focus will be on sharing research findings and their implications with health and social service professionals who work with older adults and their families. This, in turn, will enhance the health status of older adults, especially those from underserved populations.
The social work profession has developed significant clinical expertise in working with and across systems of care and services on a variety of levels in the context of interdisciplinary teams and in direct practice with diverse populations. The proposed research training program will stimulate social work faculty and their students to undertake empirical research aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of these interventions to optimize health outcomes for older adults. In addition, the participants will conduct widespread dissemination of their research findings, thereby making a unique and important contribution to improving the health status of older adults, especially those underserved in the past.
| Mehrotra, Chandra M; Townsend, Aloen; Berkman, Barbara (2014) A National Training Program in Aging Research for Social Work Faculty. Educ Gerontol 40:242-247 |
