Monitor on Psychology - November 2011 - (Page 72)

public Interest Advancing health and well-being By Dr. GwENDOlyN PuryEar kEITa • aPa ExEcuTIVE DIrEcTOr FOr ThE PuBlIc INTErEST One of APA’s strategic goals is to expand psychology’s role in advancing health and well-being and successfully promote our vital contributions to key stakeholders and the public. More and more — as this month’s Monitor cover story illustrates — interdisciplinary teams are central to the new health-care system. In line with APA’s strategic plan, APA is working to ensure that psychology becomes more fully integrated into health research and delivery systems. This has been a primary goal of APA’s Public Interest Directorate for years. Space restrictions won’t allow me to share everything we’ve done in this regard, but here are a few examples: • APA’s Integrated Health Care for an Aging Population Initiative focuses on efforts to promote psychologists’ involvement and contributions to the expanding model of health care. This effort, administered through our Office and Committee on Aging, has led to several important products, including “Blueprint for Change: Achieving Integrated Health Care for an Aging Population,” available at www.apa.org/ pi/aging/programs/integrated/index.aspx. This office is also exerting substantial effort toward ensuring that psychology is given significant attention in Institute of Medicine report The Mental Health Workforce for Geriatric Populations. By participating in programs that offer specialized training in areas in which psychologists have more expertise, members of other disciplines are able to see firsthand how psychologists’ involvement can significantly improve health outcomes. • The APA Office on AIDS has for many years conducted two training programs that highlight psychology’s critical role in HIV/AIDS prevention and have trained 29,000 individuals and 700 organizations. One, the HIV Office for Psychology Education Program, trains psychologists how to integrate mental health and substance abuse assessment and treatment in primary care settings for people living with HIV/AIDS. The effort is funded by the Center for Mental Health Services. The second program is the Behavioral and Social Science Volunteer Program, which offers training and technical assistance associated with integrating mental health and substance-abuse screening, brief interventions and referral to treatment into community-based HIV prevention programs. • Another program shows the vital role psychologists 72 play in cancer care. Our Socioeconomic Status Related Cancer Disparities Program is a $1.7 million CDC-funded national initiative that works to improve community-based organizations’ abilities to address health disparities in cancer. The program uses evidence-based research and strategies to help socioeconomically disadvantaged and minority populations. Psychologists have conducted much of this research and developed these strategies. As the program enters its fourth year, it has trained close to 400 professionals and awarded close to 50 mini-grants of up to $5,000 each to cancer- In line with APA’s strategic plan, APA is working to ensure that psychology becomes more fully integrated into health research and delivery systems. serving organizations for community-based initiatives that decrease cancer disparities. • The Public Interest Directorate oversees several other efforts to address health disparities. For example, APA’s Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs has coordinated grant awards for early career faculty at minority-serving institutions. Part of the process for awardees is attending the sevenday MFP/PSI professional development institute. Since this program’s inception in 2002, it has supported the training and development of 38 ethnic-minority scholars. The initiatives I’ve highlighted are but a very few of all we’re doing. Specifically, the work of our Government Relations Office comes to mind. To discuss their activities would require the space of a full column. There is so much more to know, and I urge you to learn more about the depth and breadth of our health-related activities at www.apa.org/pi/index.aspx. n n ov e M b e r 2 0 1 1 • M o n i to r o n p s yc h o l o g y http://www.apa.org/pi/aging/programs/integrated/index.aspx http://www.apa.org/pi/aging/programs/integrated/index.aspx http://www.apa.org/pi/index.aspx

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