Five local chapters of the California Psychological Association (CPA) have formed a cooperative effort to close the information gap between what the public understands about psychology and what psychology has to offer. Calling themselves the Los Angeles/Orange Regional Public Education Committee, these five chapters have decided that while radio advertisements are an effective method for bringing their message to the public, more is needed to ensure a successful public education campaign.

'We believe that it is not enough to design a well focused advertising campaign unless it can also build on a substantial foundation of effective actions over time,' said William Wallace, Ph.D., a spokesperson for the Committee. 'If we only stimulate the public's awareness, and then fail to deliver an effective response to their inquiry, we will have created a disappointing illusion of competence,' he added.

To avoid this, the Committee has made community outreach a high priority. 'We want to provide the public with contact and relationships with the real psychologists behind the ads,' said Wallace. In most cases, this is accomplished through creating opportunities for psychologists to meet with and offer their expertise to the public, usually on a pro bono basis.

For example, the Committee has arranged for psychologists to appear at local bookstores during Anxiety and Depression Screening Days. Wallace believes that these appearances will lead to personal contact with over 300 consumers.

Another device that the Committee has developed is a referral system involving the Los Angeles District Attorney's office. By distributing written victim treatment materials through area police departments, emergency rooms, and community groups who serve high risk populations, they have been able to reach thousands of crime victims. The Committee has also developed a Victim Treatment Panel that trains and certifies psychologists in order to ensure high quality services to those crime victims that do seek psychological help.

One of the Committee's measures of success is increasing the number of psychologists involved in the process. In order to accomplish this, they have been organizing 'wine and cheese' parties where psychologists can learn about the strategies being employed in the campaign and what roles they can play.

On the policy front, the Committee is also looking to increase their advocacy role by cultivating relationships with state legislators. They have already sponsored a few 'meet & greets' with local politicians and have more in the works.

APA has awarded a matching grant of $16,145 to the Pennsylvania Psychological Association (PPA) to enhance their outreach efforts. Intent on educating the public about the benefits of psychological services, the PPA has planned a media 'blitz' to coincide with Mental Illness Awareness Week in October 1997.

The PPA has chosen to utilize a series of radio ads as a driving force behind their campaign. 'As part of our continuing efforts to aggressively market psychological services, we plan to air almost 4,000 radio ads over a three-week period in October,' said Thomas DeWall, Executive Officer of the PPA. DeWall added that the PPA had decided to only advertise on radio stations with 'adult contemporary' or 'talk show' formats in order to focus their efforts on the primary campaign demographic, women between the ages of 25-55.

These radio ads will complement an extensive outreach effort by members of the PPA. 'In addition to distributing brochures to physicians, attorneys, and businesses, we will also be connecting with the media in the forms of news releases and op-ed columns,' said Pauline Wallin, Ph.D., the PPA's Communications Board Chair. Wallin also noted that the PPA is planning a series of forums and face-to-face meetings with community groups designed to discuss topics that are of interest to the general public.

The PPA will utilize several mechanisms to monitor the success of their efforts. 'First, we will be counting the number of calls to the 800-number throughout the campaign,' said Wallin. 'Then we are going to track the number of referrals received by local psychologists, as well as the amount of actual appointments that result from those referrals.'

In addition to these new measures being taken by the PPA, they also have several ongoing activities such as letter-to-the-editor campaigns, television appearances, and web site maintenance. DeWall stated that the PPA intends to analyze the results of their campaign and present a report to the APA Practice Directorate by May 31, 1998.

Looking for new ways to get the word out? Give your local chapter of the American Cancer Society (ACS) a call. Intrigued by APA's idea to have their collective membership join forces when appropriate, the ACS is encouraging their local chapters to investigate possible opportunities.

The ACS is particularly enthused about working with APA members to bring greater awareness to consumers of the mind/body connection and how it relates to overall good health.

Potential activities might include collaborative speaking engagements and co-hosting community outreach events such as health fairs offering information on dealing with breast cancer as well as free depression or anxiety disorder screenings. 'World Health Day' in March and 'The Great American Smoke Out' in November would be optimal times for coordinated efforts.

APA member Irene Dietch recently produced and hosted her own cable program 'Psychology as a Science: Psychology as a Profession,' as part of a Staten Island series called 'Making Connections.' The public education ads were played during show time and the station has continued to run the TV spot during other programs.