The New York Academy of Medicine Receives $9.5 Million in Grants to Address Workforce Shortage in Care for Aging Americans

NEW YORK CITY, April 3 2007 - The Social Work Leadership Institute (SWLI) at The New York Academy of Medicine has been awarded more than $9.5 million in grants from The Atlantic Philanthropies and the John A. Hartford Foundation to address the rising demand for care for the nation’s aging population.

“The country is undergoing a demographic sea change. One in five Americans will be 65 or older in the next three decades and an increasing number will be members of racial and ethnic minorities. This change represents an opportunity to develop new models of care that promote active aging, but will also present a challenge to a health workforce that is already stretched dangerously thin,” said Jo Ivey Boufford, MD, President of The New York Academy of Medicine. “This infusion of support for the Social Work Leadership Institute will go a long way to expanding the ranks of trained professionals who can help older Americans and their caregivers navigate the complex world of health care and social services.”

The four-year, $4.685 million grant from the Hartford Foundation is earmarked for SWLI’s Practicum Partnership Program (PPP), an initiative that partners with community-based care agencies and masters-level social work programs at universities across the country on an innovative, hands-on geriatric curriculum model designed to attract more social workers to the field. The Atlantic Philanthropies’ three-year grant of $4.9 million will support the ongoing work of SWLI’s policy arm, the Center for Aging Policy. The Center is working to advance policies that will set standards for care and create job stimulation initiatives for aging-care professionals.

“Growing a qualified workforce to care for America’s older adults will take a two-pronged strategy. We need to encourage and retain future generations of social workers and other care managers to care for older adults, and we also must make sure that they meet high professional standards,” said Patricia J. Volland, MSW, MBA, Director of the Social Work Leadership Institute. “These two generous grants will allow us pursue both tracks with equal vigor so we will see results in our lifetime.”

“Our multi-year investment in the Social Work Leadership Institute is a strategic investment designed to devise public policy solutions that will ensure that there is a strong workforce of professionals whom we can trust to care for our aging parents,” said Christopher Langston of The Atlantic Philanthropies. “We need a more systemic approach to creating policy that meets the needs of this burgeoning field and the needs of the growing older American population, and SWLI can help drive this effort.” “The Hartford Foundation seeks out grantees committed to long-term, sustainable change, and the Social Work Leadership Institute, with its vision for transforming geriatric education to attract talent to the field of aging care, more than fit the bill,” said Corinne H. Rieder, Executive Director & Treasurer of the John A. Hartford Foundation.

Founded in 1847, The New York Academy of Medicine is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit institution whose mission is to enhance the health of the public. The Academy is a leading center for urban health policy and action working to enhance the health of people living in cities worldwide through research, education, advocacy, and prevention. Visit us online at www.nyam.org.

A division of The New York Academy of Medicine, the Social Work Leadership Institute is a national initiative working to ensure that America's older adults receive the care they need to live life to the fullest - and that their caregivers also get the support they deserve. Visit us online at www.socialworkleadership.org.

The Atlantic Philanthropies are dedicated to bringing about lasting changes in the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people. Atlantic focuses on four critical social problems: Ageing, Disadvantaged Children & Youth, Population Health, and Reconciliation & Human Rights. Programmes funded by Atlantic operate in Australia, Bermuda, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United States and Viet Nam. To learn more, please visit www.atlanticphilanthropies.org.

Founded in 1929, the John A. Hartford Foundation is a committed champion of training, research and service system innovations that promote the health and independence of American’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 “aging-prepared” health professionals (physicians, nurses, social workers), and developing innovations that improve and better integrate health and supportive services. The Foundation was established by John A. Hartford. Mr. Hartford and his brother, George L. Hartford, both former chief executives of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, left the bulk of their estates to the Foundation upon their deaths in the 1950’s. Additional information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.jhartfound.org.

Posted on April 3, 2007

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Andrew J. Martin
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The New York Academy of Medicine
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