Student Interns
Student Intern Program
ESWA is a private, not-for-profit agency and an Aging Services Access Point (ASAP), regulated and funded by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs. Building on four decades of experience, we offer expert community based, long term care solutions; making successful independent life at home possible.
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ESWA’s mission is to help older adults, younger disabled individuals, and their families obtain essential long term support services- enabling them to remain living at home with dignity for as long and as safely as possible.
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The Student Intern Program was developed as a means of providing area college students with clinical experience working with elders in the Worcester area.
Case Management Internship
January 2024: Please note, this position is currently on hold, and not being offered at this time.
This opportunity is for 120 hours or less of service in which the intern will gain the following knowledge and experience involves the student in a clinical experience designed to deliver needed services to elderly persons.
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- Provides field observation of service delivery within the home environment/setting.
- Provides education on assessing client’s needs.
- Provides insight on the community’s human service resources.
- Acquaints the student with issues facing an aging population.
- Increases the student’s perceptions about the meaning of growing old.
- Allows the student to actively participate in enhancing the quality of life for frail, vulnerable persons.
- In addition to benefiting the student, the intern program benefits Elder Services of Worcester Area as an agency by providing additional resources for serving clients. The intern’s involvement allows the case manager to monitor critical cases more closely, which enhances his/her ability to intercede quickly should it become necessary.
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More detailed internship descriptions are available through our office; please reach out to Amy Lubowicki, Volunteer Coordinator, at alubowicki@eswa.org or call 508-756-1545 ext. 781.
Geriatric Mental Health Internship
January 2024: Please note, this position is currently on hold, and not being offered at this time.
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ESWA currently operates an Elder Mobile Outreach Team (EMOT) Program in collaboration with a local behavioral health community organization. Together, the two agencies collaborate to provide mental health services to older adults addressing a variety of different behavioral health conditions. The most common diagnoses that present are depression, anxiety, and stress/trauma disorders.
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Elder Services of Worcester Area (ESWA) and Community Healthlink (CHL) have been collaborating successfully since 2007 in delivering EMOT Program services and supports. The current EMOT Program, through CHL’s two licensed mental health clinicians, provides short-term (5 sessions) mental health services to homebound older adults over the age of 60. These mental health clinicians are employed by CHL but are embedded in the ESWA team. The clinicians are physically housed at the ESWA offices and work side by side ESWA’s staff every day. The clinicians are part of both the ESWA treatment team for older adults and the CHL geriatric team. This connection provides the older adult with an array of case management and ancillary services provided by ESWA and clinical support through CHL’s geriatric services. The clinicians provide assessment, diagnosis, referral to CHL geriatric psychiatrist, individual counseling, and family counseling.
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The behavioral health intervention that is provided by these clinicians is conducted in the older adult’s home and/or via telephonic or virtual sessions using various forms of technology, including tablets, smartphones, or laptops. The ability to receive this intervention via this structure allows older adults to access behavioral health services in the comforts of their own home and with the extra benefit of eliminating the need to seek transportation and/or the assistance from an escort if they cannot travel to medical appointments independently. This contributes to the older adults’ ability to age in place and have his/her needs met in the setting of their choice. Should it be necessary for the older adult to seek behavioral health intervention outside of their home setting, ESWA’s staff is well positioned to arrange for transport via their contracted vetted transportation providers, coordination with public transportation through the Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA), through Mass Health provided transportation (PT-1 Forms), and/or through collaboration with local Council on Aging’s/Senior Centers in providing transportation.
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The intern will support the program’s consumers and clinicians while gaining knowledge and clinical experience through goal setting and the creation of treatment plans to support the consumer. The intern will work with the consumer, in their home environment or virtually through telehealth, while providing short term individual therapy to address the consumer’s behavioral health challenges, including but not limited to, anxiety, depression, and trauma due to loss. Additionally, the intern will be an advocate for the consumer while assisting them with accessing long term therapeutic support.
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More detailed internship descriptions are available through our office; please reach out to Amy Lubowicki, Volunteer Coordinator, at alubowicki@eswa.org or call 508-756-1545 ext. 781.
