DP-Gerontology Certificate

Return to: School of Social Work

*In Fall 2022, the Gerontology Certificate was renamed to the DP Gerontology Certificate.*

The Certificate Program in Aging has been in place since 1980 and continues to attract numerous MSW students.  The goals of the DP Gerontology Certificate program are to enhance students’ understanding of the aging process and to provide them with the skills relevant to practice with and/or on behalf of the elderly and their family members.  Knowing how to work with the elderly as a social work professional offers many opportunities in an era when that segment of the population continues to increase steeply.

Through courses and the field placement experience, DP Gerontology Certificate students are exposed to the various roles and settings that constitute contemporary social work practice in aging.  Emphasis is given to understanding client and family strengths; diversity among the aged population; the social, cultural, community, and policy contexts of aging; and how these factors inform, and may be influences by, social work practice. DP Gerontology Certificate students are encouraged to apply to the Hartford Program Partnership in Aging Education Fellowship.