MAC Project

The Masters Advanced Curriculum (MAC) Project is funded by a four-year grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation to the CSWE Gero-Ed Center. The MAC Project is designed to enhance three advanced MSW specialty practice areas - mental health, substance use, and health - with aging-related competencies.

Rationale and Mission

Currently, there is little gerontological content included in the courses that typically comprise advanced social work curricula in the specialty practice areas, and as a result, substantial gaps exist in terms of meeting geriatric workforce needs. The MAC Project is attempting to bridge these gaps through two separate, but interrelated projects:

• Gero Innovations Grant: The Gero Innovations Grant has funded 14 MSW programs to develop teaching materials and infuse gerontological competencies in their advanced curriculum for one or more of the three specialty practice areas.

• Resource Reviews: Expert workgroups have reviewed the existing evidence-based literature and have developed curricular resources to provide specific guidelines for social work educators in terms of gerontology-related topics and supporting data for inclusion into the curriculum.

Through these two projects, the MAC Project aims to increase gerontological competencies in mental health, substance use, and health.

Leadership

Dr. Sadhna Diwan, San Jose State University
Project Principal Investigator

Dr. Nancy Hooyman, University of Washington
Co-Principal Investigator, Gero-Ed Center