FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Vaughn DeCoster in the School of Social Work at the University of Arkansas is one of 12 scholars across the nation to be selected as a Hartford Faculty Scholar, winning a two-year grant of $100,000 to study ways of empowering elderly African Americans with diabetes.

The Hartford Scholars Program, funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation of New York, was formed to address a complex range of health care needs facing an aging American population.

The initiative is administered through the Gerontological Society of America, which estimates that of the 600,000 practicing social workers in the U.S., only seven percent specialize in aging. As more than 76 million Americans turn 65 during the next three decades, the dearth of trained social workers will become an increasingly critical health care issue in America.

DeCoster was recently chosen as the co-chair of the Arkansas Department of Health Diabetes Advisory Council, which provides guidance to the state on diabetes issues. An assistant professor in Fulbright College, he joined the School of Social Work in 2003. He has more than 13 years of clinical practice experience in health care settings and in private practice.

Through the Hartford Scholars Program, DeCoster and his colleagues have been assigned national research mentors - experienced scholars and researchers who will offer guidance and opportunities to form extended networks with others in their field, from social workers to physicians and the patients themselves. Research topics cover a range of issues important to the elderly, including race disparities in health among older adults, assisted living, spirituality, treatments for depression and the role of informal and formal support systems in care giving.

"Hartford has been pouring millions into geriatric research," said DeCoster. "The foundation wants to support cooperative group efforts, especially in the social sciences. In my project, I'll be developing methods for helping the elderly to become active participants in their heath care."

DeCoster has been performing clinical work and research on diabetes for nearly 10 years. He has found thateven though the majority of people know what they need to do to control the disease, they don't.

"The major reason is that we don't address the social and psychological aspects of living with diabetes. How do we cope with it emotionally? How does it make a person feel, having diabetes?" he asked.

The problem becomes more acute with elderly African Americans who, because of race and age, are often even more disempowered than others struggling with the disease. DeCoster plans to begin his research by setting up four diabetes support clubs at senior activity centers in Little Rock and Pine Bluff and then hiring a licensed social worker to facilitate the groups. He will also hire a diabetes educator and a dietician to create educational modules that will be readily available to both social workers and their patients.

During his years as a medical social worker, DeCoster discovered that many patients did not have the encouragement and support they needed at home. Families would get frustrated, not wanting to eat "diabetic" foods, while those with the disease found it hard to be assertive when they didn't want the food either.

But he has also seen the relief people feel when they discover they aren't alone facing such dilemmas and when they assume control over their illness.

"I saw a gentleman for about three years. He was in his early 60s, morbidly obese, and his diabetes was running out of control. A support group helped him identify some issues and see the connections between his emotions and behavior. He began dieting and exercising, and in about a year, he'd lost over 100 pounds and didn't have to take insulin. I heard from him a few months ago, and he said his eye problems were gone, and he was still off medications," said DeCoster.

In Arkansas, 270,000 people have diabetes, with an estimated 75,000 being 65 or older. The state has only about 40 educators, and they are all in major urban areas.

"I want to take this program to rural areas throughout the state, such as Helena and other towns in the Delta. I've talked to people excited about the project, like Sister Mary Waltz in Gould. She has a health clinic there and is very interested in developing such a program. Once we show that this approach works, I'll apply for another grant to fund a statewide effort," said DeCoster.