1. Field Instructor Training 2013
Anne E. (Ricky) Fortune, Ph.D., ACSW - Principal Investigator
Estella Williamson, MSW – Director of Field
Linda K. P. Mertz, LCSW-R – Project Coordinator
Sarah Maynard, MSW – Doctoral Assistant

2. Agenda for Field Instructors’ Meeting
Introductions
Requirements for Interns
Rotations
Other requirements
Supplemental Information

3. Internships in Aging Project (IAP) Objectives
To increase the number of MSW-level social workers educated in gerontological social work practice
To provide knowledge about aging to all MSW students
To create new roles and opportunities for social workers in the aging field
To help agencies develop and expand programs for the aging population

4. Participating Agencies – Past and Present
Albany County NY Connects
Alzheimer’s Association of NENY
AARP
Atria Shaker
Bethlehem Senior Services
Capital District Psychiatric Center
Catholic Charities of Albany and Schenectady County
Centro Civico of Amsterdam
Center for Excellence in Aging & Community Wellness at SSW
Daughters of Sarah Nursing Center
Ellis Medicine, Ellis Mental Health
Greene County Mental Health
Good Samaritan Nursing Home
Independent Living Center of the Hudson Valley
Jewish Family Services of NENY
Montgomery County Office for Aging
NYS Department of Health (IPRO)
NYS Office for Aging
NYS Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services
Northeast Health (Eddy Ford Nursing Home, Marjorie Doyle Rockwell Center, Samaritan Hospital, Eddy PACE program, DayBreak, Eddy Geriatric Center)
Palliative Care Program of Community Hospice
Schenectady ARC
Schenectady County Office for Aging
Senior Services of Albany
St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam
St. Peter’s Hospital
Stratton VA Medical Center
Wellness Center of Capital Cardiology
Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Center

5. IAP Requirements for Interns
Complete 96 days in field (more for advanced standing students)
A rotational field experience
Included in Field Time:
Integrative seminar
Professional development project (experiences with both direct service and administrative, etc.)
16 hours of outside training or education
Optional: Participate on IAP committee

6. Why Rotations? Increase interns’ exposure to:
the continuum of services for seniors – from healthy to end of life
To different populations within aging i.e. Ethnic or cultural groups, rural, gay and lesbian, etc
Enhance career choices for interns
Encourage collaboration between agencies or departments
Train interns in collaboration

7. What’s a Rotation?
A meaningful learning experience which will increase intern skills
Not a “drive by”
Should develop different skills or exposures
How many rotations are required?
No less than two, no more than four

8. What Does a Rotation Look Like?
Intra-agency vs. Inter-Agency
Within 1 agency (intra-agency)
Between several agencies (inter-agency)
Block time (sequential)
One agency or department for a period of time (8-10 weeks) and then move to another agency or department
Integrated time (concurrent)
Different agencies or departments during the same week

9. Planning Rotations
How have you planned for the rotations at your site?
How do you determine assignments?
How do you assess if the work load will be too much or too little?
Depth vs. Breadth – what can you do to give students some depth of learning within the structure of rotations?

10. Planning Rotations: Ideas
Identifying learning needs of students
Core competencies
Student evaluation
Identifying learning opportunities at agency
Identifying who will be responsible (task supervisor)
Planning the rotation
Use of IAP learning agreement

11. Rotations: Challenges
Communication and Coordination
With the Intern
Be clear about expectations around time and attendance, communication with all involved
Between field instructor and task supervisors
Evaluations
With the school
Linda is field liaison for all sites

12. Questions
How have you dealt (or plan to deal) with communication between task and field supervisors?
What has worked best?
How do field instructors handle supervision when the student is at the other site?

13. What is the Role of the Field Instructor?
Oversight of entirety of learning experience
“taking the student through the journey”
Evaluation
Integration of theory and practice
Transfer and integration of learning/skills across sites

14. Supervision Conceptual Shift
Student as learner, not employee
Training in field of aging services, not just agency
Individualized to specific student
However, the supervisor maintains the authority of knowing what is best
Determining rotations and tasks assigned
Pace of learning

15. Other Requirements : Integrative Seminars
Every other week, on-site at agencies
Case presentations & guest “experts” from community
Previous topics include:
Program evaluation & performance based outcomes
End of life issues & palliative care
Religious differences in aging & grief
Elder abuse & fraud
Housing options for the elderly
Managed care

16. Other Requirements: Professional Development Projects
Opportunity to develop a variety of skills in their field agency
Clinical interns participate in management projects
Management interns participate in clinical projects
Examples for Clinical Students:
Completed a needs assessment
Planned & marketed a new group
Wrote grant
Examples for Macro Students:
Co-lead support group for rehab patients
Participated with Senior Center meals program
Lead focus groups with seniors

17. Other Requirements: Professional Development Projects – Ideas
Struggling for a professional development project for your intern?
Work with another agency or department in your agency to develop a rotation that would focus on the different skill set
Consider if your intern could represent your agency at Senior Issues Forum or other volunteer program

18. Other Requirements: Outside Education
16 hours required of education outside of your agency
Purpose: to promote awareness of continuing education opportunities and to develop a culture of continued learning
Examples
Brown Bag lunches
State Society on Aging Oct conference
Senior Issues Forum

19. Benefits to Field Instructors
Benefits from SSW
Seminar in Field Instruction (SIFI) for first time supervisors
Library privileges
Course voucher for FI (if requested)

20. Benefits to Field Instructors
From IAP
Liaison from project will visit sites to support site development and monitor student learning
Provide input to the project through service on committees
Give feedback to the project through a focus group in the spring
Opportunity to be a class guest lecturer
Project listserv to get information on grants, web sites, conferences

21. Question
For people who have supervised an IAP student before, what advice would you like to give to those who are starting this year?

22. IAP Committees Recruitment & Public Relations Field & Curriculum
To implement a comprehensive plan to recruit and select students for IAP
Includes planning Brown Bag Lunch Series
Field & Curriculum
To implement, monitor, and evaluate curriculum and field related aspects of IAP

23. Financial Sustainability
Received funding from ( ):
The John A. Hartford Foundation
The William Randolph Hearst Foundation
NYS Legislature
School of Social Welfare
Schenectady Foundation
Americorps ACES Project through the Foundation for Long Term Care
Troy Savings Bank Foundation
SSW alumni, other individual donors
Hudson-Mohawk Area Health Education Consortium
United Way
Jewish Federation of NENY
Support from agencies for their interns:
Veteran’s Administration
Susan Sherman Endowment (for JFS)
NYS Office for Aging
NYS Office for Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services
Greene County Mental Health
Center for Excellence in Aging and Community Wellness
AARP
NYS Dept. of Health /IPRO

24. Project Evaluation
On-going program evaluation using focus groups with interns, field instructors, SSW faculty, and agency executives
A longitudinal study of MSW students’ attitudes toward and knowledge about older people (finished Spring 2007)
Exit survey of intern’s self-assessed competencies