Monitor on Psychology - November 2011 - (Page 50)

institute’s proposed list of topics for initial support. Psychologists will be eligible to compete for the $13 million worth of funding, which will be used to help the institute establish national priorities and a research agenda. “The Science Directorate will continue to keep the psychological science community apprised of opportunities for input on the institute’s priorities as well as research funding opportunities,” says Jamieson. “We’ll also continue to keep an eye out for opportunities for psychologists to be engaged in any governing capacity for the institute.” Preparing state associations Things aren’t just happening at the national level. In fact, much of the work of health-care reform will take place in the states over the next several years. But the SPTAs vary widely in of implementing health-care reform. The goal is to help SPTAs become knowledgeable about who the key players are in their states, how to be included and how to influence the regulators, legislators and others involved in this complex process. “It doesn’t make sense to reinvent the wheel,” says Abrahamson, so the initiative will direct SPTAs to existing resources from such groups as the HHS Office of Health Reform, National Academy for State Health Policy and Kaiser Family Foundation. The initiative plans to create a website to bring such resources together in one place. APAPO is pulling together an advisory group of SPTA leaders and others to serve as what Abrahamson calls “our own mini-think tank.” The group will offer advice on how to get information to the states in a way that spurs action rather than “We have to ensure that the broad range of psychological services are available in the health-care system, that psychologists are seen as an integral part of primary-care teams and that people understand that we provide the education and training psychologists need to be able to fulfill those roles.” CyNthia BELaR APA Education Directorate their capacity to take on the complex challenges of helping to design and implement the innovations reform will bring, says Dan Abrahamson, PhD, assistant executive director for state advocacy in APA’s Practice Organization. Helping the SPTAs meet those challenges is the purpose of APAPO’s new State Implementation of Health Care Reform Initiative. “States are going to have the primary responsibility for implementing health-care reform based on certain parameters dictated by the law but with a lot of flexibility for the states based on their unique needs and public policy structures,” says Abrahamson. In some states, he said, seven or eight different agencies will be involved in developing public policy. “We didn’t want this to sneak up on the SPTAs.” The initiative will connect SPTAs with the resources they need to educate their members and position psychologists for maximum participation as states redesign their Medicaid programs, create their exchanges and take on the other tasks 50 overwhelms them. “We don’t want to flood people with too much,” says Abrahamson, emphasizing that implementation will take place over several years. “If this is a nine-inning baseball game, we’re at the top of the first inning.” The 2012 State Leadership Conference in March will focus on many of the issues that are defining implementation of the Affordable Care Act for psychologists, he adds. SPTAs, APA divisions and individual psychologists are already taking action. “We’re trying to give input wherever we can,” says Elena J. Eisman, EdD, executive director of the Massachusetts Psychological Association. “We’re trying to work on all fronts at once, working with a lot of different task forces and commissions and coalitions to try to address how to include behavioral health in the health-care delivery system.” The association is also working with other members of the longstanding Massachusetts Mental Health Coalition on such M o n i to r o n p s yc h o l o g y • n ov e M b e r 2 0 1 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - November 2011

Monitor on Psychology - November 2011
Letters
President’s Column
Contents
Guest Column
‘Grand Challenges’ offers blueprint for mental health research
Documentary seeks to reach parents of LGBT kids
Treating veterans will cost at least $5 billion by 2020
Selfless volunteering might lengthen your life
Combat and stress up among U.S. military in Afghanistan
South Africa to host international psychology conference
Study uncovers a reason behind sex differences in mental illness
Navy psychologist gives a voice to combat trauma
In Brief
Psychologist suicide
On Your Behalf
Journey back to Heart Mountain
Psychology is key to pain management, report finds
ACT goes international
Judicial Notebook
Random Sample
Time Capsule
Questionnaire
Science Watch
Behavior change in 15-minute sessions?
Health-care reform 2.0
Perspective on Practice
Giving a heads up on concussion
Practice Profile
Searching for meaning
Inspiring young researchers
Aging, with grace
Public Interest
Thank you!
APA News
Division Spotlight
American Psychological Foundation
The man who gave Head Start a start
Personalities

Monitor on Psychology - November 2011