Partnerships that promote psychology

From its inception the Public Interest Directorate (PI), APA governance, and the Board for Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest and its several committees, have sought to give credibility and reality to that part of the APA mission that speaks of utilizing the science and profession of psychology "to promote human welfare."

Within the directorate and its governance are activities related to age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, AIDS and urban concerns. Each has been created and assigned to PI with the expectation that the work of the groups would enhance the knowledge of APA members as well as the general public, on each and every issue.

Outreach to the members

For the membership, PI was expected to provide opportunities for participation, advocacy and scholarship around specific issues. For the public, PI moved to "give psychology away" as first proposed by APA 1969 President George Miller. Both strategies, however, were doomed to be quite modest unless PI could find additional funds to supplement those provided by APA. Giving psychology away, an altruistic notion, was going to be a lot more expensive than anyone had envisioned. PI not only needed to implement these strategies, it needed to find organizations with social policies and objectives consistent with those of APA.

As a result, we looked for potential partners within the federal government and it became clear that within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services there were a number of possibilities. For example, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) had been supporting the APA Minority Fellowship Program since the mid-1970s. There is not, however, a similar history with private foundations.

Around 1990, the directorate began to explore relationships with public and private agencies that seemed to share a vision about how APA and its membership could address important societal concerns. One of the earliest partnerships was with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in which the two organizations co-sponsored a conference on work and stress (see pages 26­29). Subsequent to these efforts, APA's response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic among gay men attracted attention within Congress and others in government, leading to support for a program of community-based interventions. Encouraged by APA leadership, PI began using APA's considerable convening power to attract psychologists and other behavioral scientists and mental health professionals to workshops, seminars and conferences on such topics as health, mental health, work, violence and AIDS.

For many of these activities there has been continuing support. In March, APA and NIOSH co-sponsored the fourth conference on work and stress. In addition to the federal agencies mentioned above, PI has received grants and contracts from the Center for Mental Health Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute for General Medical Sciences, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bureau of Maternal and Child Health, Office of Personnel Management, Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research and others.

Public outreach

Efforts to reach the public, clearly the most expensive activity, have been facilitated by public and private agencies, but almost always with greater difficulty. Due to the extreme costs associated with giving psychology to the public, it has been necessary to focus on distinct populations. Thus, efforts have been directed toward children, families, minority groups and homeless people where interests have coincided and support has been made available. Unlike scholarly and research activities for members, giving psychology to the public has been primarily focused on developing useful information in books, pamphlets, brochures and the like. Federal agencies have been helpful in this effort as have private foundations such as Commonwealth, Grant, Kellogg and Robert Wood Johnson.

Throughout 1998, public and private agencies awarded directorate offices and programs $2.5 million to support such activities as ethnic minority training, AIDS-related activities, workplace issues, adolescent health, public health and violence prevention.

During this year it is anticipated the directorate will do as well, hopefully better. In March, CDC awarded PI and the Education Directorate a five-year grant for a project to work with gay and lesbian youth in schools. Other project proposals are being submitted seeking funding for new projects or for renewing ongoing ones.

Efforts such as these are made possible through the work and devotion of directorate staff, and would not be possible without membership support--particularly those members within PI governance who are committed to issues and concerns espoused by the directorate.

There is so much that needs doing, and only limited time and money to get it done.



Read our privacy statement and Terms of Use

Cover Page for this Issue

PsychNET®
© 1999 American Psychological Association

APA Home Page . Search . Site Map