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Leadership Spotlight

Social Work Leaders Named for “Outstanding” Contributions to Aging Education and Service

Please join us to celebrate this year’s winners of the 2011 Hartford Partnership Program for Aging Education Leadership Awards. Award winners will be Honored at CSWE Annual Conference in October

The awards will be presented at the Council on Social Work Education’s annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia on Friday, October 28th, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm 2011, at the Marriott Atlanta, Imperial Ballroom A.

The Leadership Award, administered by The Social Work Leadership Institute (SWLI) of The New York Academy of Medicine, is awarded to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in aging education in the following four categories: Outstanding Dean in Aging, Principal Investigator Faculty/Field Director in Aging, HPPAE Student or Graduate, and Community Partner. Finalists are nominated by their peers and selected by SWLI.

The HPPAE Leadership Award Winners are:

Outstanding Dean: Laura Bronstein, PhD, LCSW-R, ACSW, Department of Social Work, College of Community and Public Affairs, Binghamton University
Outstanding Faculty/Principal Investigator: Kristina Hash, LICSW, PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Social Work, West Virginia University
Outstanding Community Partner: Allegheny County Department of Human Services, Area Agency on Aging, Pittsburgh
Outstanding Student: Rochelle R. Ramirez, MSW, California State University, Bakersfield

Laura Bronstein is recognized for her “breathtaking leadership” in the work she has undertaken to advance aging programs. Drawing on her scholarship on inter-professional and intergenerational practice, she has spearheaded some innovative, if not path-breaking, initiatives as part of her HPPAE program. Using HPPAE as the centerpiece, she has developed interdisciplinary and inter-professional educational activities for the students. She has exponentially increased the participation of the University with the community partners and through her tireless efforts the HPPAE program has expanded beyond the initial grant period adding a Certificate in Gerontological & Geriatric Social Work. Dr. Bronstein has brought her exceptional vision to social work in the field of aging impacting both local and national levels and is currently a member of the National Association of Deans and Directors (NADD) facilitating work in gerontological social work. A community partner wrote “Here in Broome County we are fortunate to have Dr. Bronstein, a person of integrity, vision and tenacity in our midst”.

Kristina Hash receives the award for outstanding HPPAE faculty/Principal Investigator for her profound level of support and mentorship of HPPAE students and to building the network of HPPAE partners focused on providing care and services for the older adult population in both the rural and small town environments of West Virginia. In addition to developing committed and enthusiastic leaders to the field of geriatric social work Dr. Hash is commended for her management of the Mountain State Partnership Program (MSPP), as the HPPAE is known, that has become the foundation of the gerontological movement within the Social Work Division. As a Principal Investigator for the MSPP she has successfully built a statewide consortium where she has used the Gero Social Work Competencies extensively. In addition to her activism Dr. Hash is pursuing geriatric education scholarship with a particular focus on gerontological competencies and her ongoing and substantial body of work related to LBGT aging. As one former student wrote “She inspires everyone around her with her wisdom, devotion, high moral standard, and caring”.

County Department of Human Services, Area Agency on Aging was chosen for the award due to their unwavering commitment to HPPAE and the training of MSW social work students. As a founding partner of HPPAE at the University of Pittsburgh in 2005, the ACAAA agency and its professional staff have played a leading role in training students, expanding the partnership and building community support. Since the HPPAE’s inception, the ACAAA has annually been a field placement site for two students. Recognizing that the field may not pay as well as other fields of practice and the need for stipends to help students commit to education for this type of work, the ACAAA has provided direct stipends to these students. Dedicated professional staff members provide supervision and task supervision at the various rotations. Students leave this field placement with a strong understanding of community-based services, having opportunities to see senior centers, adult protective services, community care management, Aging Waiver programs, information and referral programs, home delivered meals, congregate meals, senior transportation services and the ombudsman. In addition, under the leadership of Ms. Morrison an undergraduate HPPAE has been developed with the collaboration of community partners who provide student stipends.

Rochelle R. Ramirez is recognized for her innovative practice and commitment to social work in the field of aging. In the academic year 2010 -2011 the social work department at the California State University, Bakersfield piloted an inter-professional training program providing in-home services. As the social work student participating in this program Ms. Ramirez demonstrated great leadership in engaging student nurses and public health nurses in the role of promoting social work in the provision of services. The host agency did not have social workers on the staff thus Ms. Ramirez’s role provided leadership in the process of assessing and offering treatment. She has since been asked to consult on a number of inter-professional projects. In addition Ms. Ramirez worked with the agency’s billing staff to identify billing codes for the services provided in order to sustain the role of social work at the agency. Her leadership skills have been described as “transformational”; she is able to transcend professional boundaries to
work collaboratively in order to address a community need. Ms. Ramirez has been recognized by the Network for Social Work Managers as the Moses Award recipient.

About The Social Work Leadership Institute
The Social Work Leadership Institute of The New York Academy of Medicine is a national initiative that supports healthy aging by ensuring that America’s older adults receive the care they need to stay in charge of their lives—and that their caregivers also get the support they deserve. Our goals are to improve long-term, community-based care for older adults and to grow the workforce of social workers who specialize in aging. www.socialworkleadership.org.

About The New York Academy of Medicine
The New York Academy of Medicine has been advancing the health of people in cities since 1847. An independent organization, NYAM addresses the health challenges facing the world’s urban populations through interdisciplinary approaches to innovative research, education, community engagement and policy leadership. Drawing on the expertise of diverse partners worldwide and more than 2,000 elected Fellows from across the professions, our current priorities are to create environments in cities that support healthy aging; to strengthen systems that prevent disease and promote the public’s health; and to implement interventions that eliminate health disparities.

About the John A. Hartford Foundation
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 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 “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 1950s. www.jhartfound.org.

>> Download all of HPPAE's presentations from the 2011 CSWE Annual Program Meeting.

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