Transcript Investing in America’s Future:

Investing in America’s Future:
The Impact of Improved Communication
Systems on Student Leadership Outcomes
Presented by:
Melody J. Wilding, LMSW
Healthcare Communications Consultant
• 20% expected growth in
older adult population
• 70,000 professionally
trained social workers
needed
…but, only 3-4% of social
work students specialize in
aging and most schools lack
the specialization at all.
An eight-year initiative coordinated by
the Social Work Leadership Institute
(SWLI) at the New York Academy of
Medicine, supported by the John A.
Hartford Foundation’s Geriatric Social
Work Initiative
GOALS:
- Train and prepare the next generation of
geriatric social workers
- Increase interest in aging as a field of
practice
- Increase rankings of well-qualified geriatric
social workers
 80% of graduates pursue
careers in aging field
 81% feel HPPAE was crucial
to career preparation
www.socialworkleadership.org
Implementation and Reach
72 HPPAE Schools
33 States
Graduates by the
end of 2011 = 2615
Launch 7 more
regions through 2013
…But how do we reach &
connect social workers in
aging nationwide?
HPPAE Google Sites
PROBLEM:
HPPAE’s national outreach and program
enrollment is growing each year, yet the
ability to develop comprehensive
networking tools is not advancing nearly
as fast.
GOAL:
Utilize innovative and cost-minimizing
“cloud computing” technology to
enhance HPPAE’s student leadership
component and overall program
cohesion
HPPAE Google Sites
 ONE-STOP-SHOP STUDENT
RESOURCE
 Committee on Leadership in
Aging
 Application info
 Member bios
 Read new and archived
newsletters
 Submit to and access the
Peer Reviewed Journal
Development Tools
 Job boards
 Customizable business cards
 Student Spotlight
 Scholarships, fellowships
 Loan forgiveness
 Events, conferences
 Calls for papers
 Aging web resources
Results: Visitor Metrics
 Very high initial response rate of 76.8%
 As of July 2011, there are 364 active students, representing a 56%
increase in student responsiveness since the site’s launch only 8
prior.
 New visits have increased over 46% percent, indicating that
students are latching onto the site as a valuable resource within
the HPPAE program
Results: Visitor Metrics
• Visitors spend an average on 6:50 minutes on the HPPAE Google
Site
•American spend less than a minute on a webpage (Neilsen, 2009)
•Average time increased in February
Results: Visitor Metrics
• Visitors average 6 internal page visits
• Positively trending, demonstrating that average
page-per-view is increasing
Results: Content Metrics
Results support Google Sites
as a mechanism for
promoting CLIA
• High visit rates to “CLIA” &
“What Students are Doing”
pages suggest students are
eager to network with peers
• Top ranking “Job Corner” &
“Funding/Aid/Loan
Forgiveness” suggest
students want professionally
focused resources
specifically for aging and
social work
Lessons Learned
Following the 8-month initiation stage of the HPPAE Google Sites
project
 Advantages of cloud computing
 Ease of use – intuitive design platform
 Cost- minimizing – lower personnel and equipment costs
 Logistics of launch
 Launching during winter holidays
 Email invitations filtering to spam
 Content of interest




Main web page features – social media links
Committee on Leadership in Aging – bios and deliverables
Job opportunities
Financial Aid Information
Get connected
ADD US
•FACEBOOK
•TWITTER
•YOUTUBE
•LINKEDIN •IDEALIST.ORG
Best Practices
Innovation is not an option.
Best practices
 Streamline your message
 Consistent color scheme and
logo throughout your web
presence
 Build a network – “friend” local
organizations or those with similar
missions
 Sync routes of communication
 Put social media buttons on
your website, encourage
traffic to your website by
linking it on your social media
Best practices
 Be responsive
 Field responses to users’
comments
 Monitor outlets for “mentions”
 Ask questions
 Encourage participation &
feedback by hosting contents,
posting survey
 Look alive
 Rule of thumb
 Facebook – at least 1x/ week
 Twitter – at least 3x/week
About
 Melody J. Wilding, LMSW
Melody Wilding, LMSW, is a non-profit communications
consultant & specialist in health & aging policy. She has
helped organizations throughout the tri-state area
establish & improve their web presence and external
outreach.
Ms. Wilding has developed competency training materials
for practitioners and has worked on advocacy
campaigns to support Medicaid home care
services. She has also worked with older adults clinically
in an assisted living and psychiatric setting.
She received her MSW from Columbia University in 2011
and graduated summa cum laude from Rutgers
University in 2009 with a B.A. in Psychology.
Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. (2008). Retooling for an aging America:
Building the health care workforce. Washington, DC: The National Press.
National Institute of Aging. (1987). Personal health needs of elderly through the year 2020.
Bethesda, MD: Department of Health and Human Services
Social Work Leadership Institute. (2004). The Hartford Partnership Program in Aging
Education: Cycles 1 & 2, 2005-2009 Summary Report, New York. Gass, J., Nandi, V.,
Weiss, L.
Social Work Leadership Institute. (2009). Hartford Partnership in Aging Education: Student
Summary Multi-Site Report, New York. Weiss, L., Nandi, V., Gass, J.
Volland, P. (2008). Hartford Partnership Program for Aging Education (HPPAE) Student
Summary Multi-Site Report. New York, New York: Social Work Leadership Institute, The
New York Academy of Medicine.
The Hartford Partnership Program For Aging Education: A Guide to Infusing a Rotational
Field Education Model Into Your MSW Program on Aging. Retrieved on February 24,
2010 from www.hartfordpartnership.org
References
“Browser Statistics: Web Statistics and Trends.” (2011).W3Schools. Retrieved
from: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
“Google Analytics: Functional Overview”. (2011). Google Code, Google:
San Francisco, California. Available at
http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/concepts/gaConceptsO
verview.html
Nielsen Online. (March 2009). Average Internet Usage, Combined Home
and Work: Month March 2009. InfluxInsights [blog]. Retrieved from:
http://www.influxinsights.com/blog/article/2262/people-will-give-you56-seconds.html
Perron, B.E., Taylor, H.O., Glass, J.E., Margerum-Leys, J. (2010). Information
and communication technologies in social work. Advances in Social
Work, 11(1), pg. 67-81.
Peterson, E. (11 July 2005). Average Page Per Visit. Web Analytics Demystified [blog]. Retrieved from
http://blog.webanalyticsdemystified.com/weblog/2005/07/averagepage-views-per-visit.html