During my term as president I supported two major initiatives: the Presidential Task Force on Advancing Practice and the Presidential Task Force on Caregivers. I also offered innovative changes at the 2010 annual convention.
Presidential Task Force on Advancing Practice
The mission of the APA 2010 Presidential Task Force on Advancing Practice is to identify educational and other resources needed by practicing psychologists and to prioritize and advance the development and dissemination of such resources. The Task Force is considering the needs of both consumers of psychological services and the psychologists who deliver those services. They are creating an outcomes framework and a clinical resources framework, in order to integrate practice and science in useful ways that support practitioner efforts to deliver quality services.
In this era of ever increasing demands for accountability, the best way for psychologists to demonstrate the effectiveness of services is to measure outcomes. The outcomes framework development is focused on conceptualization of outcomes measurement, criteria for outcomes measures, data use, data accessibility, and how outcomes can be used in everyday practice. The first four areas may best be accomplished via collaboration between APA and other organizations, if we are to have maximum impact. The goal is to potentially shape and inform the outcome and accountability endeavors of healthcare and behavioral healthcare organizations, and to do it in ways that better capture the work of psychologist clinicians. The usefulness for members will be conveyed through a series of live and web-based programs.
The resources framework is a wiki. The Task Force is soliciting materials and collaborating with APA’s ITS department to develop a pilot wiki application called PsycLink—The Practice Wiki to create a forum for the sharing of high quality, practical materials useful in the provision of psychological services. The task force is in the process of “seeding” PsycLink with invited materials of direct relevance and immediate practical use for clinicians in diverse spheres of practice. The resources will be in many different formats (e.g., webinars, downloadable files and materials, web links) and easily searchable. Over time, APA members can add to it, comment on utility of resources, post updates, and enhance its value by addressing both common and unusual clinical questions.
The members of the Task Force are: Karen Zager, PhD (Chair; Independent Practice, New York, NY), Helen E. Coons, PhD (Women’s Mental Health Associates, Philadelphia, PA), Lori Crosby, PsyD (Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH), Ann Doucette, PhD (George Washington University, Washington, DC), Mary Miller Lewis, PhD (Senior Life Consultants, Inc., Dublin, OH), Darryl Salvador, PsyD (Molokai Ohana Health Care Inc., Kaunakakai, HI), Bruce Wampold, PhD (University of Wisconsin–Madison), Jeffrey Zimmerman, PhD (Independent Practice, Cheshire, CT), and Carol D. Goodheart, EdD (APA President, ex-officio). Lynn Bufka, PhD (Assistant Executive Director, Practice Research & Policy) and Joan Freund (Director, Committee Operations) are the APA Practice Directorate staff liaisons.
Presidential Task Force on Caregivers
The mission of the APA Presidential Task Force on Caregivers is to develop an online “Family Caregiver Briefcase for Psychologists.” It is being designed to assist psychologists in recognizing, assessing and addressing the needs of a broad group of family caregivers across the life span. The Task Force will gather, review, and organize available information and resources in a way that is most useful for psychologists and other professionals as they work with family caregivers. Given the breadth of the Initiative, liaisons appointed by APA Divisions, Boards and Committees, Ethnic Minority Psychological Associations, and other experts will provide input to the initiative. The Briefcase will be part of the APA website.
With an aging population and with many people caring for ill and disabled children and young adults, an increasing number of Americans are family caregivers. Caregiving in the U.S. 2009, is a comprehensive examination of caregiving in the United States. The large study of people caring for adults, the elderly and children with special needs reveals that 29% of the U.S. adult population, or 65.7 million people, are caregivers, including 31% of all households. These caregivers provide an average of 20 hours of care per week. APA can help psychologists and others to recognize, anticipate, and reduce the stressors experienced by these family caregivers.
The members of the Task Force are: Andrea F. Patenaude, PhD, Chair (Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute); Martha Crowther, PhD, MPH (University of Alabama); Timothy Elliott, PhD, (Texas A&M University); William Haley, PhD (University of South Florida); Barry Jacobs, PsyD (Crozer Keystone Health System, PA); Sara Honn Qualls, PhD (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs); and Carol D. Goodheart, EdD (ex-officio). Deborah DiGilio, MPH, Director of the Office on Aging, is the APA staff liaison from the Public Interest Directorate.
The integration of psychological science and practice was my focus for the 2010 presidential year. APA wants psychology recognized by legislators, funders, and the public as: