Community Engagement

Hartford Partnership Program in Aging Education

The Hartford Partnership Program in Aging Education (HPPAE) is a 12-year national initiative to recruit and train the next generation of social workers who specialize in aging by transforming how geriatric education is taught at Masters of Social Work programs nationwide.

Funded with seed support from the John A. Hartford Foundation and developed by the Social Work Leadership Institute at the New York Academy of Medicine, HPPAE is anchored by local partnerships between universities and community-based agencies that develop their own local model to best fit their needs. At its heart is a unique fieldwork model that rotates students through different agencies so they gain a rich perspective of the full spectrum of aging and of the diverse services that older adults and their care givers need.

The UB School of Social Work HPPAE offers MSW students opportunities for a rotational field experience which includes in depth exposure to a minimum of three distinct models of service delivery and programming for older adults within an agency setting. Hartford Interns have had field experience at a variety of community agencies which include: Amherst Center for Senior Services, Beechwood Continuing Care, Hospice Buffalo, Buffalo VA Medical Center, Niagara Lutheran Home and Rehabilitation, Greenfields Court and Manor, Schofield Residence and Long Term Home Health Care, Orchard Brooke Living Centre, Erie County Home, Erie County Senior Services, TOTAL Aging in Place at the Weinberg Campus and Delaware Nursing Home.

The UBSSW HPPAE was built through collaboration with the Greater Rochester Consortium MSW Program has resulted in the development of a regional network The Buffalo-Rochester Consortium for Gerontological Social Work. The Consortium providesinteractive field seminars and opportunities to build on internship experiences and focus on competency development in social work practice with older adults. Consortium-wide seminars are conducted via distance learning technology, involving presentations by field educators who serve as “master teachers” and introduce both the issues and diverse populations hat are found within their continuum of care specialties in the Buffalo-Rochester region.

Semi-annual regional networking meetings bring students, field educators, agency representatives, and faculty members from the Buffalo and Rochester programs together for structured dialogue about gerontological social work practice and to foster networking. Regional seminars are required for HPPAE interns but all MSW students are invited to attend.

For more information about the UBSSW HPPAE please contact:

Deborah Waldrop: Phone 645-3381; ext. 270 Email: dwaldrop@buffalo.edu
Sharon Herlehy: Phone 645-3381; ext. 254, Email: sherlehy@buffalo.edu