The Pennsylvania Geriatrics Society – Western Division (PAGS-WD) will present Elizabeth A. Mulvaney, MSW, LCSW, lecturer, University of Pittsburgh, School of Social Work (SSW), with the 2020 Healthcare Professional Geriatrics Teacher of the Year Award. Ms. Mulvaney will be recognized in conjunction with the 2020 Clinical Update in Geriatric Medicine conference, Friday, March 6, at the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center.
The annual award recognizes a healthcare professional who has made significant contributions to the education and training of learners in geriatrics and to the progress of geriatrics education across the health professions.
Ms. Mulvaney holds a clinical social work license in Pennsylvania and has 14 years practice experience as a gerontological social worker providing medical, care management, and program administration services, with experience in long-term care including behavioral care planning, dementia care, and end of life care.
She has been a leader among SSW faculty in advancing interprofessional educational opportunities for SSW students, primarily teaching within both the MSW and BASW programs at the university. She has a history of mentoring students that builds and strengthens their professional geriatric practice skills using experiential learning activities that require the students to go outside their comfort zone and has worked tirelessly to bring geriatric social work education to the broader student population.
“Professor Mulvaney has dedicated her career to enhancing geriatric educational opportunities for students and professionals; she is truly a champion for geriatric education,” said Rafael J. Engel, PhD, associate professor, principal investigator, HPPAE Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh, SSW. “She is determined to ensure that all students, not just those interested in serving older adults have knowledge about later life. Ms. Mulvaney has had a profound impact on advancing geriatric education within the SSW students as well as the broader service delivery system.”
Ms. Mulvaney served as the first Hartford Partnership Program for Aging Education (HPPAE) Coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh from December 2005 to 2011. As coordinator, she played an instrumental role in operationalizing a program design into a successful model for geriatric practice and leadership training, organizing fellowships in aging, aligning with the purpose of the program to partner with community agencies to innovate and change geriatric social work education and develop new practitioners. She adapted the curriculum and training so that larger numbers of students could participate in the fellowship, helping to grow the program to a yearly average of 15 students. She also helped build and maintain a resource library collecting videos, readings, case studies, and exercises that faculty might use to bring geriatric content into their courses and individual areas of interest.
Ms. Mulvaney’s current research and practice interests include geriatric workforce development, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, ethics, palliative care and problem gambling prevention for older adults. She developed and led a gambling-related Webinar, Older Adults and Gambling: Keeping it Safe, for the American Society on Aging Webinar Series. In 2014, the Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania recognized her as the Person of the Year-Research and Academic. As one of the few people in Western Pennsylvania with this expertise, she has been frequently sought out to do training on the assessment and treatment of older adults who have a gambling addiction.
She has also been part of the team working on the Health Resources Services Administration grant funded Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program for the past four years, which is designed to improve health and human service professionals capacity to serve people with dementia and their families.
“Ms. Mulvaney’s excitement about working with older adults is infectious,” said Jennifer Hagerty Lingler, PhD, MA, CRNP, FAAN, professor of nursing, director of education, Alzheimer Disease Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, School of Nursing. “Her passion for serving older adults comes across with professionals in the field and students. She has developed and is constantly growing an active, dedicated network of geriatric professionals who share practices and support one another in this work.”
The Pennsylvania Geriatrics Society – Western Division is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of all older persons. It is a non-profit organization of physicians and other health care professionals committed to the provision of quality health care for older persons.