Hot off the press is our 2008 Annual Report, A Call for Leadership in Aging. Unlike Hartford reports of years past that have showcased a single discipline or initiative, this report focuses on the need for leaders in aging from all facets of health care. As it stands, our health care system is broken and unprepared for the impending age wave. Change cannot happen without leaders. Our 2008 Annual Report acknowledges that leaders do not spontaneously emerge from within the ranks; leaders are grown. And the need to grow leaders in the field of aging has never been more urgent.
This charge is made very explicit in the 2008 Institute of Medicine report, Retooling for an Aging America, which confirms we will not be able to grow enough gero-specialists to care for our rapidly aging society. Therefore, we must ensure that all health care professionals are armed with the skills to care for older Americans. We must also create and test service delivery models that will improve the care of older adults. To address both mandates, we must support programs that attract leaders to the field of aging and place them at the helm of education, research, practice, and policy initiatives.
The 2008 Hartford Annual Report traces the 26-year history of leadership efforts at the Foundation and applauds the pioneering leadership work launched by other funders. The report also identifies four essential elements of a leadership development program: formal training, mentoring, peer networking, and answering the call. These elements are then featured in four specific Hartford leadership projects: the annual Leadership Conference of the Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity Initiative, the Social Work Faculty Scholars Policy Leadership Institute, the Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs Geriatric Leadership Scholars program, and Sigma Theta Tau's Geriatric Nursing Leadership Academy. In addition to these projects, we have profiled leaders like Lazelle Benefield, PhD, RN and Mark Supiano, MD to share their stories.
The report emphasizes the necessity and benefits of working together as professionals, organizations, and funders. To this end, the Hartford Foundation invites new leaders and partners to join our mission to improve the health care of older adults.
Angela McBride, PhD, RN, Distinguished Professor and Dean Emerita, Indiana University School of Nursing, gave the 2008 Hartford Annual Report the following glowing review:
[It] is much more than a "mere" annual report. It is a statement of philosophy regarding the importance of cultivating leadership to achieve foundational values/goals... Reading the report made me focus more on questions I think all discipline-specific leaders need to ask of themselves as they collaborate with those from other disciplines.
We are very proud that someone as accomplished as Dr. McBride sees this report and the underlying work in this light. We are, of course, standing on the shoulders of giants.
In honor of our 2008 Annual Report, we have asked leaders here at the Hartford Foundation to share stories of their experience with the four leadership development components: formal training, mentoring, peer networking, and answering the call. Stay tuned for upcoming posts as we share how these four key elements have called us to the field of aging.