Help wanted! 10 steps to getting a successful internship program underway by Marilynn Larkin, MA

At the most recent International Council on Active Aging® (ICAA) Strategy Session—a think tank of leaders that meets yearly to identify needs in the active-aging industry and actions to address them—the focus was on the workforce. According to Pat Ryan, ICAA’s vice president of education and a delegate to the meeting, “organizations are having trouble hiring people who are qualified to work with older adults, and who want to work with older adults.” Developing internship programs that position active-aging organizations as sites for student field work was recommended as part of the solution. Internship programs can provide an additional source of workers and, over the long term, help overturn negative stereotypes of aging among young people, Ryan agrees.