Over the past few years this has changed, largely in part to two supportive colleagues here at the University of Tennessee: Drs. Sherry Cummings and Colleen Galambos. Through our research on graduate social work student interest in aging and then aging employment (Cummings & DeCoster, 2003; Cummings, Galambos, DeCoster, 2003), manuscript reviewing for a special edition on aging in the Journal of Human Behavior and the Social Environment, and assisting with our Hartford gero-rich project, "Increasing Aging Content in Social Work Education," I have discerned the import of gerontology in my past and future social worker career. Another element that has driven my interest in aging has been the positive relationships with elders throughout my personal life - friends and relatives that shared experiences, wisdom, and humor, another factor common to many professionals in gerontology (Gorelik, Damron-Rodriguez, Funderburk, & Solomon, 2000; Scharlach, Damron-Rodriguez, Robinson, & Feldman, 2000; Robert & Mosher-Ashley, 2000).

Given the unprecedented growth of the aging population, 12.6% of the population, (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000), it is encouraging that our profession has begun to address the need for gerontological social workers and practice research (Peterson & Wendt, 1990; Scharlach et al., 2000). I want to help address these needs in health care social work, but recognize my own need for additional training, networking, and mentoring in gerontology, common deficits among many scholars in aging (CSWE, 2002). What brings me to the call to leadership in gerontological social work is my passion and conviction for improving the lives of minority elders with diabetes, one of the costliest, deadliest, and inadequately managed chronic diseases. Recently, I was awarded a grant by the CDC thru the Tennessee Department of Health - Diabetes Control Program to assess diabetes and its treatment in the State, using the CDC's guidelines for Ten Essential Public Health Services related to diabetes care, with an emphasis on at-risk populations: minorities and elders with diabetes. The assessment will obtain qualitative data, obtained from key "diabetes stakeholders" in Tennessee, and incorporate existing quantitative data. Hartford Funding will aid me in finding a cost-effective program that addresses some of these needs - healthy aging for minority elders with diabetes.