title: Using collaboration to maximize outcomes for a John A. Hartford Foundation geriatric enrichment project.
abstract: Two institutions representing two BSW and one MSW program and a geriatric education center collaborated in a John A. Hartford geriatric enrichment project. Sharing the risks and benefits of a collaborative model, 75 percent of faculty participated in mini faculty fellowships, and bi-monthly dinner meetings with colleagues from each of the three programs, and actively engaged in the curricula revisions. Faculty report pervasive geriatric enrichment in each program's foundation content areas, and increases in students placed in geriatric enriched field practicum settings, from pre-project levels of 8.1 percent to a high of 24 percent. The features of the collaborative project include: respecting each program's autonomy while actively sharing ideas, resources and partnering with community's aging experts; and strengthening mutually reciprocal relationships among faculty and the gerontologic practice community. This model of shared risks and benefits also provides opportunities for innovation, diverse thinking, and shared decision making.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fromm Faria
authors.forename: Virginia V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: David
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dauenhauer
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dwyer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003479:Curriculum; D004500:Education, Graduate; D005178:Faculty; D005582:Foundations; D005853:Geriatrics / Q000193:education*; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D009518:New York; D010865:Pilot Projects; D016730:Program Development; D012949:Social Work, Psychiatric / Q000193:education*; D016896:Treatment Outcome