2015 Chair:
Matthew D. Skinta, PhD, ABPP
Maggie Chartier, PsyD
Martin Y. Iguchi, PhD
Velma McBride Murry, PhD
Christina S. Meade, PhD
Fayth M. Parks, PhD
David Martin, PhD, ABPP
Cherie Mitchell, MHS
The mission of the Ad Hoc Committee on Psychology and AIDS (COPA) is to guide the development and implementation of the American Psychological Association's organizational response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Members of COPA carry out this mission each year by attending two face-to-face meetings held in conjunction with the spring and fall consolidated board and committee meetings and by participating in monthly, one-hour conference calls. Additionally, members of COPA regularly communicate with AIDS Office staff and each other by email and phone in order to plan and implement the committee's various initiatives.
COPA was established by the APA Council of Representatives for an initial three year period in 1990, with subsequent five-year reauthorizations in 1993, 1998, 2003, 2008 and 2014. From its formation in August 1990 until 2013, the membership of COPA consisted of six demographically and professionally diverse psychologists with extensive HIV/AIDS experience and one non psychologist with community-based HIV/AIDS experience who was self-identified as an HIV+ individual. Beginning in 2013, COPA membership was reduced to six members per term under the direction of BAPPI to be consistent with the standards for membership across APA Public interest committees.
In the fall of 2007, COPA proposed to Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest (BAPPI) a revision of COPA membership that would enable community perspectives to be obtained from a variety of individuals who live openly with HIV/AIDS. It was approved by BAPPI and APA governance staff in December 2008. Instead of having just one non-psychologist member, COPA now identifies and involves people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) on various COPA initiatives. This procedure enables COPA to identify individuals with expertise related to the specific topics scheduled for discussion. This change was needed because HIV/AIDS research and practice has become highly specialized as efforts are tailored to address distinct sub-populations with each sub-population having specific needs and issues that require specialized expertise. COPA has established an ongoing relationship with the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) for the purpose of recruiting PLWHAs for specific meetings and discussions, and this past year formed relationships with the Sero Project (a network of people with HIV and allies focused on ending inappropriate criminal prosecutions of people with HIV for non-disclosure of their HIV status and potential or perceived HIV exposure or HIV transmission), the Center for HIV Law & Policy (a national legal and policy resource and strategy center working to reduce the impact of HIV on vulnerable and marginalized communities and to secure the human rights of people affected by HIV), and the HIV Medicine Association (an organization of medical professionals who practice HIV medicine). This process ensures more meaningful engagement of affected communities because those participating in such discussions are chosen for their unique capacities to offer consultation about the topic at hand. By forging this way of relating to these national organizations, COPA has also strengthened its HIV/AIDS advocacy work which is more effective when done in collaboration with representatives from affected communities.
In the years to come, COPA intends to fill its six formal positions with psychologists who are APA members. Participation of PLWHAs recruited through NMAC and other organizations for their specific expertise on topics slated for discussion will occur on an ongoing basis.
In 2015, COPA's membership was diverse in terms of race/ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation — two heterosexual, African-American women; two heterosexual Caucasian women; one heterosexual Asia-American man and one Caucasian gay man.
During the past year, COPA performed a variety of consultative functions and also was active in various initiatives. Ongoing consultations and projects are briefly summarized below:
In collaboration with the Public Interest Government Relations Office (PI-GRO) and the Office on AIDS, COPA members articulated and advanced APA's HIV/AIDS goals, including:
HIV in Rural Communities . COPA released the Psychology and AIDS Exchange newsletter on HIV in rural communities (January 2015). This project was developed in collaboration with the Committee on Rural Health, with Lisa Curtin, PhD, and Tracy Cohn, PhD, providing a brief overview of the everyday life experiences of rural residents, emphasizing the importance of social connections, family and resilience in the management of health.
HIV and Intimate Partner Violence . Matthew D. Skinta, PhD, ABPP, COPA chair and Christina Meade, PhD, served as editors and organizers of the Psychology and AIDS Exchange newsletter addressing the HIV/AIDS and intimate partner violence (IPV) syndemic. This project was developed in collaboration with participants of the BAPPI-sponsored symposium entitled, "Intimate Partner Violence and HIV: Intersectionality and the Accumulation of Risk" that occurred at the 2015 APA Annual Convention. Several additional prominent researchers and practitioners have contributed to this issue, which will be released in spring of 2016.
COPA Blog Series . COPA developed a blog series, which was launched on World AIDS Day, 2014: "9 Things You Should Know About HIV and Aging, Psychology Benefits Society," co-authored by Maggie Chartier, PsyD, and Monica Rivera Mindt, PhD. The blog has continued through 2015 with contributions from COPA members, and submissions have been solicited from the protégés in the Cyber Mentors program. A recent review by COPA staff liaisons has indicated that many of the COPA blogs receive a high degree of web traffic, particularly in areas such as the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis and clinical responses to stigma.
In 2008, the Office on AIDS was awarded a grant to administer Cyber Mentors: A Sustainable Model for Developing Minority HIV Researchers, an innovative research mentorship program designed to prepare early career behavioral scientists for successful independent research careers in HIV/AIDS and health disparities. This program was renewed in 2013 with COPA member (and 2014 COPA Chair), Velma McBride Murry, PhD, serving as co-principal investigator and Tiffany Townsend, PhD, APA staff member (Office on Ethnic Minority Affairs), serving as principal investigator of the grant. The program incorporates the following specific aims:
The HIV Office for Psychology Education (HOPE) Program was a national mental health training initiative administered by the APA Office on AIDS, funded from 1991–2014 by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Center for Mental Health Services under five contracts. It educated psychologist, psychology students and allied health providers about working with people living with or affected by HIV. Volunteer trainers provided training to community mental health professionals with using curricula developed for the HOPE program.
The HOPE program was discontinued in 2014. SAMHSA subsequently funded a collaborative effort among the Educational Development Center, APA, the National Association of Social Workers and the American Psychiatric Association to launch a national educational program emphasizing distance learning methodology, beginning in October 2014. The first year of this professional development program consisted primarily of infrastructure development; as it continues to grow, COPA will provide consultation.
The BET Network teamed up with the Kaiser Family Foundation on Rap It Up (RIU) in 1998. RIU was a comprehensive and sustained media campaign to inform African-Americans about HIV/AIDS. The partnership included targeted public service announcements, long-form documentary and entertainment programming, and free resources as well as on-the-ground community events around the country.
In 2011, COPA Chair Scyatta Wallace, PhD, initiated a relationship with BET and opened discussions regarding potential collaboration, laying the groundwork for formal partnership. The Office on AIDS and COPA worked with APA to establish a formal Memorandum of Understanding between APA and BET that continued their partnership and collaboration to develop and implement evidence-based strategies for facilitating positive communication among African-American teens and between African-American teens and their families related to the topics of sex, sexual health, dating/sexual relationships and HIV/AIDS. In 2013, COPA members McBride Murry and Amanda Houston Hamilton, together with several prior COPA members, coordinated with the APA Office on AIDS to further develop this BET collaboration.
Unfortunately, in December 2014, APA learned that Viacom was consolidating BET operations and laying off staff; in March 2015 the Office of Corporate Responsibility at BET was eliminated, effectively terminating the relationship between APA and BET.
At the 2015 APA Annual Convention, COPA presented a symposium to highlight the systemic and multifaceted experiences of perpetrators, victims, bystanders and colluders that contribute to vulnerability toward the experience of IPV and HIV/AIDS. This symposium, entitled, "Intimate Partner Violence and HIV: Intersectionality and the Accumulation of Risk," was sponsored by BAPPI, and endorsed by every committee of the Public Interest Directorate. The symposium co-chairs were two COPA members: Matthew D. Skinta, PhD, ABPP, COPA chair and Christina Meade, PhD.
In 2015, COPA invited nominations for its Psychology and AIDS Leadership awards. This award serves to demonstrate COPA's commitment to ensure that issues pertaining to HIV/AIDS are kept at the forefront of psychological research, education, training and practice. Awards are given in the categories of "emerging" and "distinguished" leaders in service provision, research, teaching/mentoring and/or policy/advocacy. Adam Carrico, PhD, was awarded the Emerging Leader award. The Distinguished Leader award was presented to Perry Halkitis, PhD, MS, MPH and to Willo Pequegnat, PhD. In addition, COPA recognized the lifetime achievements of Willo Pequegnat, PhD in recognition of her lifelong efforts to advance funding for HIV/AIDS while at the National Institute of Mental Health. These awards were formally presented at the 2015 Annual APA Convention in a ceremony and reception that also marked the 25th Anniversary of COPA. Speeches were given to note the occasion, as well as Pequegnat's unique contributions, by Ramani Durvasula, PhD, Eugene Farber, PhD and Gail Wyatt, PhD. Gwendolyn Keita, PhD, presented a closing speech regarding the powerful impact of COPA over the past 25 years. A total of 60 attended this event.
Consistent with its mission, COPA is committed to the ongoing pursuit of the following objectives: