Proven impact
o
New insights
into diversity, aging and health across generations
In 2014, the Gerontological Society of America selected the School as the site of a Healthy Generations Hartford Center of Excellence in Geriatric Social Work—one of only five such centers in the nation. The Center
Innovations in indigenous health
educates social work students in cross-generational health and wellbeing, develops curriculum for students and practitioners, and advances research, particularly in marginalized communities. “The Center enables us to respond in innovative ways to the changing nature of aging in our
With more than $17 million in
society,” says Karen Fredriksen-Goldsen, an expert on the intersection of
funding since 2012 from sources
health, aging and well-being in diverse communities.
including the National Institutes of Health, the School-affiliated
The Center is currently piloting an initiative called Hidden Strengths,
Indigenous Wellness Research
which aims to transform how kinship caregivers—such as grandparents
Institute has created a pipeline of
caring for grandchildren—are served and supported. This project breaks
projects that apply science-based
down barriers to fragmented age-based services and helps practitioners
innovations to improving the health
enhance the strengths of families facing intergenerational trauma and
of indigenous peoples. They include
other health challenges.
a culturally adapted counseling program to address risk factors for cardiovascular disease, an online
A MODEL FOR ONCOLOGY SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION
HIV prevention tool that taps the
Over the past decade, the School’s Carol LaMare Oncology and Palliative
power of social networking, and an outdoor-based experiential program to reduce obesity among Choctaw women. The NIH has designated the Institute as a national Comprehensive Center of Excellence—a first for a school of social work. The Institute works with tribal organizations to build their research capacity and encourage indigenous youth to develop science and research skills.
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2015 ANNUAL REPORT
Care Scholars Program has become a model for training practitioners in working with people who have life-threatening illnesses. Under the leadership of Associate Professor Taryn Lindhorst—recipient of a 2015 UW Distinguished Teaching Award—the program has expanded to include intensive mentoring and field placements at local hospices and Seattle’s leading cancer centers, as well as research opportunities for affiliated scholars. Of the 52 scholarship recipients to date, nearly one-fourth have been people of color. Several are cancer survivors. The professorship, scholarships and success of the program are the result of a generous endowment and gifts from alumna Lynn and Howard Behar.
