Rear Admiral Donald Weaver Speaks at this Year's Convention Education Advocacy Breakfast

APA Education Policy Office: October 4, 2005

Rear Admiral Donald Weaver Speaks at this Year's Convention Education Advocacy Breakfast

Rear Admiral Donald L. Weaver, M.D., Assistant Surgeon General and Deputy Associate Administrator for the Bureau of Primary Health Care in the Health Resources and Services Administration, was the keynote speaker at the 2005 Education Advocacy Breakfast Meeting, an annual event held every year during the American Psychological Association (APA) Convention. Rear Admiral Weaver, a dynamic, interesting and witty speaker, spoke about the $2 billion federal Health Center Program and its role in addressing the health care needs of our nation's underserved populations. He particularly addressed the role of psychologists in the health centers, which includes: Community Health Centers, Rural Health Centers, Health Centers for the Homeless, Migrant Health Centers and Health Centers in Public Housing.

Rear Admiral Weaver explained that the Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) serve 13 million people in both rural and urban settings. [There are almost 50 million uninsured persons in the U.S. ] Of those served over 90% are below 200% poverty and over 60% are racial & ethnic minorities. The FQHCs programs are beginning to focus on specific health issues which have increased significantly since 1998. These include mental health (in particular, depression), diabetes and hypertension – conditions in which psychologists play a significant role. Weaver also described the Depression Collaborative (i.e., clusters of health centers developing a collaborative plan for addressing this health issue) and how the concepts for this collaborative can be integrated in all Health Disparities Collaboratives (cardiovascular, diabetes, asthma, and cancer).

Considering the growing emphasis on mental health and the increasing use of an integrated model of care that includes mental and behavioral health professionals, Weaver urged psychologists to seek positions in the Health Centers Program either directly ( http://bphc.hrsa.gov) or through the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program (http://nhsc.bhpr.hrsa.gov). He stated that, i n the FQHCs, there were 770 mental and behavioral health professionals of which 35% were psychologists, more than any other of that category. He added that in 2005 there were 53 requests for psychologists, yet only 19 of those slots were filled.

In closing, Rear Admiral Weaver graciously recognized the role of Education Advocacy staff in promoting the need for both the National Health Service Corps and the federal Health Centers Program to address mental and behavioral health problems of underserved populations. He noted that the APA Education Directorate has partnered with him for over a decade in this endeavor and, as a result, hundreds of psychologists are now involved with providing mental and behavioral health care in shortage areas nationwide. He went on to describe how the $1 million appropriation that the APA Education Directorate secured for the National Health Service Corps in FY 2000 for Mental Health Summits in different geographic areas of the country was so popular that all fifty states requested the opportunity to participate. The summits involved representatives from state and local government health agencies, health professionals and consumers who met to determine what inhibited mental and behavioral health services and what they could do to facilitate the provisions in an integrated approach to those in need. The APA Education Directorate looks forward to working with Dr. Weaver to increase the role of psychology in meeting the mental and behavioral health needs of underserved persons in the future.