Five Hearth Staff Receive Free Training from the Institute of Geriatric Social Work at Boston University

By Sara Tribe

Sara Tribe is a Macro-Social Work Graduate student at Boston University and a 2006-2007 intern at Hearth through the GEM Program.

The Institute of Geriatric Social Work (IGSW) is providing their on-line Certificate in Aging to five Hearth staff members in 2007, as part of Boston University’s collaboration with Hearth through the Boston GEM Consortium.  The certificate program consists of seven online courses that focus on important issues related to working with older adults.  Participants will also earn 27 hours of CEU training.  Staff members representing each of Hearth’s six sites are enrolled in this program.

In association with Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW), IGSW provides social service practitioners with the knowledge, skills and tools they require to meet the needs of older adults.  The online classes focus on a variety of topics, including Mental Health, Caring for the Caregiver, Housing, Legal and Ethical Issues, Cultural Competence, Elder Abuse, End of Life Care and Substance Use and Abuse.

Hearth began its collaboration with Boston University in 2001 when it became one of the original sites for BU’s Geriatric Education Model (GEM) Program (now the Boston GEM Consortium Program) in which social work students from BU’s Graduate School of Social Work complete their one-year internships at Hearth.  Other health and social service organizations providing internship opportunities for the Boston GEM Consortium are Boston Housing Authority, Boston University Geriatric Service, Kit Clark Senior Services, Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly, Upham’s Corner PACE Program, Hale Barnard Services for Older People, and IGSW. 

Hearth has three BU GEM interns this year: Sara Tribe, who is working with the Institutional Advancement (IA) Department, and Hope Maynard and Jody Miesel, who are completing enrichment projects at Hearth in addition to their primary internship assignments in other agencies.  Hope co-leads a weekly support group for women at Ruggles Assisted Living and Jody assists the IA Department with grant research.   Through participation in GEM’s two core educational components: (1) an internship comprised of both a primary and an enrichment placement; and (2) a monthly integrative seminar, interns in the Boston GEM Consortium develop knowledge of the range of services provided to older clients.  They also learn the importance of communication, teamwork, policy, and collaboration among multiple provider systems.  The field supervisors for each of the interns are Debbi Cutler, Dawn Matchett and Jen Bonardi, respectively.

During the 2006-2007 academic years, IGSW is providing its online Certificate in Aging program free of charge as a third educational component of the Boston GEM Consortium. In recognition of the commitment and contribution that each of the GEM placement sites make to BUSSW, its students, and the field of aging, IGSW has offered this innovative program to field instructors and four staff members at the GEM agencies including Hearth.  Through this type of collaboration and training, IGSW continues to work with community agencies to pursue its mission of enhancing social work practice with older adults.