GeroRiching a BSW Curriculum: More Carrot, Less Stick

Abstract

With the aging of the American population, all social workers, regardless of their field of practice, are increasingly finding themselves working with elderly clients or with clients' aging family members. A number of schools and departments of social work are actively engaging in a new emphasis to prepare future practitioners to meet the growing challenge and are seeking effective methods of enriching their curricula. This article examines current literature on institutional change that suggests effective curriculum change strategies fit institutional culture. It then reports the efforts of one rural BSW program to infuse its curriculum with content on aging, and demonstrates how the selected strategies fit the institutional culture of that social work program.