- Welcome all social work students and especially to those who aspire to work with older adults. Your efforts are needed and extremely valuable in this 21st century as the population and percentage of older adults is exploding in Oklahoma, America, and throughout the developed world. Jobs in geriatric social work are and will be booming along with the 78 million Baby Boomers – hospitals, rehabilitation centers, hospice, retirement and care centers, adult protective services, ombudsman programs, area agencies on aging, state policy and program departments – the possibilities are limitless.
Still not sure? Actually take the time to read your chapters on older adults in your Intro, Practice, and HBSE texts, visit with or interview just one older adult, take one our aging elective courses, read the Background webpage, or contact me to visit about the opportunities. Don't rule it out, until you've thought it through.
I'll see you in class! -- Sandy
Sandra K. Edge-Boyd, M.S.W., LCSW, LSW-Adm is a leader in the field of aging in Oklahoma. From 1999-2004 she was the Director for the Social Work Aging Program at the University of Oklahoma School of Social Work In 2004, Ms. Edge-Boyd became an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and Program Director of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Gerontology.
Professor Edge-Boyd continues to serve as an adjunct faculty member of the School of Social to advocate for aging curriculum and field education. She teaches electives for the school in Social Gerontology and Social Work Practice in Aging. She is also on the adjunct faculty of the OUHSC Departments of Allied Health, Nursing, and Geriatric Medicine.
Professor Edge-Boyd is involved with a research projects related to interdisciplinary geriatric education and also to personal preference indicators for older adults and serves on several local, state, and national councils relating to social work education and gerontology, including the Oklahoma Association for Healthcare Ethics and the Council on Field Education of the Council on Social Work Education. Her research interests include geriatric education, interdisciplinary healthcare teams, caregivers for older persons, and care management from a social work perspective.
Prior to entering higher education, Professor Edge-Boyd was Executive Director of Eldercare Access Center and served in clinical and administrative positions in community mental health. She has a rich family history with older persons and has dealt with the issues of aging from both personal and professional points of view. She can be contacted at sedge@ouhsc.edu.
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