I’d like to congratulate two of our Geriatric Social Work Initiative project leaders, Barbara Berkman and Pat Volland, for their recent awards acknowledging their contributions to social work.
Berkman, DSW, PhD, LICSW, received the Distinguished Achievement in Cancer Award from the American Cancer Society for her tireless research, practice, and advocacy of social work and its importance in caring for cancer patients and their families. Among many achievements, she is responsible for advancements in the assessment instruments that oncology social workers use to identify patients and families who are at risk for poor psychosocial adjustment to changes in health status. Her many published books, book chapters, and scholarly articles also help to inform the training, faculty, and practice skills that are necessary to meet future challenges in oncology social work.
Berkman is the Helen Rehr/Ruth Fizdale Professor of Health and Mental Health at Columbia University School of Social Work, and Adjunct Professor, Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She is the project leader of the Geriatric Social Work Initiatives Faculty Scholars program, which has sponsored 125 scholars in schools of social work to date.
The Council on Social Work Education presented Volland, MSW, MBA, with the 2012 Distinguished Recent Contributions in Social Work Education Award for her work in revolutionizing social work education and field practice with older adults. Recognizing the urgent need for social workers trained to work with older adults, she founded the Social Work Leadership Institute (SWLI) at the New York Academy of Medicine. SWLI has advanced social work’s capacity to improve the lives of older adults and their families through field education and leadership development.
Volland serves as the senior vice president and the director of SWLI at the New York Academy of Medicine. She also is the project leader for the Hartford Foundation’s Geriatric Social Work Initiative’s Hartford Partnership Program for Aging Education (HPPAE) as well as for the Leadership Academy in Aging for Deans and Directors of Schools of Social Work (LAA). Under Volland’s leadership, HPPAE and LAA helped train social work educators and students in more than 88 social work programs in 33 states, and inspired more than 50 deans and directors to become leaders and develop programs on aging. Volland has had a profound influence on social work education.
The Hartford Foundation is proud to partner with these two accomplished and passionate leaders and is pleased that other organizations recognize the many contributions both Barbara and Pat have made in social work.