2018 Annual Report for the Ad Hoc Committee on Psychology and AIDS

• Tiffany A. Chenneville, PhD, chair
• Monica D. Ulibarri, PhD, chair-elect
• Iván C. Balan, PhD
• Kristi E. Gamarel, PhD
• Jessica McDermott Sales, PhD
• Sherry C. Wang, PhD

Staff Liaison

Cherie D. Mitchell, MHS

Mission

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 one face-to-face meeting held during the Spring Consolidated Meetings for boards and committees and by participating in monthly, one-hour online meetings as well as communicating via email and engaging in activities between meetings. Additionally, members of COPA regularly communicate with the APA staff liaison to plan and implement the committee's various initiatives and advise APA on HIV/AIDS programming.

Background

The Task Force on Psychology and AIDS was established by the American Psychological Association Board of Directors in June 1987, on the recommendation of the Board of Ethical Responsibility for Psychology. The initial goal of the task force was to assess the current implications of the emerging crisis of AIDS and to develop APA's organizational response to AIDS. The task force fulfilled its original charge and in November 1989 submitted a final report to the Board of Directors, noting its accomplishments related to science, practice, public interest, education and training, publications, advocacy and association issues. In its 1989 final report, the Task Force on Psychology and AIDS recommended that its work continue through the establishment of a new oversight group, the COPA. In August 1990, the APA Board of Directors and Council of Representatives approved funding for the seven member Ad Hoc Committee on Psychology and AIDS for three years.

Originally, COPA reported to the APA Board of Directors (BOD) and was charged with the following responsibilities: (i) provide policy direction and oversight for current APA activities related to AIDS; (ii) advise APA staff and establish liaisons with governance groups regarding AIDS issues; and (iii) formulate new APA initiatives to meet the ever-evolving challenges posed by the epidemic.  The Council established COPA for an initial three-year period in 1990 and reauthorized COPA for additional five-year periods in 1993, 1998, 2004, and 2009. After 2009, reauthorization of COPA became a function of the Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest (BAPPI) and the BOD.  The BOD with the approval of BAPPI, COPA's parent board, reauthorized COPA in 2014 for an additional five years. COPA sought reauthorization for an additional five years in 2018. Although BAPPI supported this request, the BOD voted to reauthorize COPA for an additional three years through December 2021. The board requested that "the CEO, in consultation with the Committee on Psychology and AIDS and the Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest, develop a proposal for the Board's consideration that includes expanding the mission to psychology and health, in which psychology and AIDS will be one emphasis, renaming the Committee on Psychology and AIDS accordingly, and making an orderly transition of appointments to the renamed Committee." Executive Director Brian Smedley, PhD, for Public Interest, is facilitating the process to address the BOD request on behalf of Arthur C. Evans, PhD, APA CEO.

In October 2016, the APA Office on AIDS was discontinued, and its associated functions, programs and COPA were integrated with the APA Health Disparities Office. Presently, COPA is the only formal APA entity with a focus on HIV/AIDS.

Committee Composition

Upon its formation in August 1990, the membership of COPA consisted of seven demographically- and professionally-diverse psychologists with extensive HIV/AIDS experience and one non-psychologist with community-based HIV/AIDS experience. In the fall of 2007, COPA proposed to 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. Instead of having just one non-psychologist member, COPA now identifies and involves people living with HIV/AIDS on various COPA initiatives. This procedure enables COPA to identify individuals with expertise related to specific matters. 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. It became untenable to expect that one person could fully or accurately reflect "the community perspective" on such a diverse array of matters. In 1997, COPA membership was changed to seven members. In 2012, COPA membership was reduced to six members under the direction of BAPPI, to be consistent with the standards for membership across all APA Public Interest committees.

COPA aspires to involve a diverse group of psychologists, including persons of color, persons of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, disabilities and persons living with HIV. Additionally, committee membership typically represents a range of areas of expertise or specialization within psychology and across career stages. In 2018, COPA's membership was diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation— one Latina woman; one Asian woman; one Latino man who identifies as gay, and three Caucasian women. Two members were early career psychologists. 

During the past year, COPA was active in various initiatives. Ongoing activities, consultations, publications, and projects are briefly summarized below:

Psychology and AIDS Exchange Newsletter and Online Resources

• Past, Present, Future of HIV/AIDS Science and Practice in Psychology
  Sherry C. Wang, PhD (COPA) and Fayth M. Parks, PhD (COPA alumni) served as lead editors for an issue of the Psychology & AIDS Exchange newsletter which examined historical, current, and future issues related to HIV/AIDS science and practice in psychology. This collaborative project included articles written by leaders in the field of HIV with expertise in the areas of HIV clinical services, HIV among transgender women of color, and HIV among women. It was published online in March 2018. Authors include Eugene Farber, PhD who contributed an article titled Informing the future of psychology as a health service discipline: Clinical lessons from the HIV epidemic ; Samantha LaMartine, MS, Mark Brennan-Ing, PhD, and Nadine Nakamura, PhD who contributed an article titled Transgender women of color and HIV ; and Ramani Durvasula, PhD who contributed an article titled A history of HIV/AIDS in women: Shifting narrative and a structural call to arms.
• HIV Criminalization Infographic
  An infographic on HIV Criminalization — Why should we care? was created in collaboration with the APA Health Disparities Office to further disseminate the  Resolution Opposing HIV Criminalization (PDF, 61KB)opens in new window .

Annual APA Convention 

2018 Psychology and AIDS Leadership Awards

In August, the Health Disparities Office and COPA hosted the Psychology and AIDS Leadership Awards at the 2018 APA Convention in San Francisco, CA. Monica Ulibarri, PhD (COPA Chair-Elect) opened the ceremony with welcoming remarks. Distinguished Leader award recipients were Faye Z. Belgrave, PhD (Virginia Commonwealth University) and Don Operario, PhD (Brown University). The Emerging Leader award recipient was H. Jonathon Rendina, PhD, MPH (Hunter College, City University of New York). Drs. Belgrave and Rendina were present and gave acceptance remarks. Dr. Operario was unable to attend. Following the formal program, attendees enjoyed refreshments, networked and continued celebrating the achievements of these outstanding scholars.

Other 2018 APA Awards

COPA also nominated the following award recipients: Jae Sevelius, PhD for the Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity 2018 Outstanding Achievement Award; Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus, PhD for the 2018 APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Psychology; and John Pachankis, PhD for the 2018 Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest — Early Career.  

2019 Convention Collaborative Proposal

COPA developed and submitted a symposium titled Addressing the Opioid and HIV Epidemics Among Low-Income People in Rural Communities for governance programming for the 127th Annual APA Convention to be held in Chicago, IL, August 8-11, 2019. The symposium, co-sponsored by the Public Interest Directorate's Committee on Socioeconomic Status (CSES), will offer Continuing Education Credits.

The symposium proposal will be co-chaired by COPA members Monica D. Ulibarri, PhD, (Chair-elect) and Kristi E. Gamarel, PhD, EdM. The symposium speakers are well known experts and federal officials: Richard A. Jenkins, PhD (Discussant), National Institute on Drug Abuse, Prevention Research Branch; Fayth M. Parks, PhD (former COPA Chair), Georgia Southern University; Kasey R. Claborn, PhD, University of Texas at Austin; and Iva GreyWolf, PhD, (CSES), psychologist and consultant, Society of Indian Psychologists President-Elect 2019-21.

This symposium is timely and will bring together cutting-edge clinical insights and empirical research to foster a stronger understanding of improving the provision of integrated services to address the opioid and HIV epidemics among low-income rural communities.

Transition of Ad Hoc Committee on Psychology and AIDS

During its June meeting, the Board of Directors requested that "the CEO of APA develop a proposal for the Board's consideration that expanding the mission to psychology and health, in which psychology and AIDS will be one emphasis, renaming the Committee on Psychology and AIDS accordingly, and making an orderly transition of appointments to the renamed Committee."

COPA spent a considerable amount of time in 2018 focused on the transition of the Committee into a new and broader committee. This included discussions within COPA and between COPA and it parent board BAPPI and others. Per the request of Clinton Anderson, PhD, COPA drafted recommendations regarding how to retain a focus on HIV/AIDS in the new committee.

Proposed Resolution to Support the Expansion of Mature Minors' Ability to Participate in Research

The inclusion of adolescent minors, especially at- or high-risk minors (e.g., adolescent men who have sex with men; gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender youth), in HIV research is critical for valid and generalizable psychological research designed to promote health and prevent disease.  As a result, COPA and the APA Office on AIDS initiated discussions with the APA Committee on Human Research to address barriers to the participation of minors in research.  COPA provided initial input on a draft "Resolution to Support the Expansion of Mature Minors' Ability to Participate in Research."  This resolution was approved by the APA Council of Representatives in August 2018.

APA Policy Review

Every five years, the Policy and Planning Board (P&P) is mandated by Association Rule 30-9.2 to conduct a review of all APA policies, other than standards and guidelines listed in the Council Policy Manual. In 2018, COPA reviewed all APA policies within the Public Interest purview relevant to HIV/AIDS and made a recommendation regarding the status of each policy.  Specifically, COPA reviewed and made recommendations regarding 50 APA Public Interest policies. Of these, 11 policies were identified to have direct HIV/AIDS relevancy, nine of which were originally developed by COPA. COPA recommended amendments/revisions and substantive changes for HIV/AIDS policies.

Federal Policy and Advocacy

In collaboration with the Public Interest Government Relations Office  and the APA Health Disparities Office, COPA members articulated and advanced APA's HIV/AIDS goals. Policy and advocacy activities in which COPA participated included:

• Continued federal investments in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) HIV/AIDS behavioral research. For example, COPA provided feedback on the 2019 Trans-NIH Plan for HIV-Related Research. This plan is designed to identify and articulate future directions to maximize NIH investments in HIV/AIDS research.
• Integration of mental health and substance use services in HIV/AIDS medical care and substance policy related to HIV/AIDS.  For example, COPA reviewed the proposed text on the intersection of HIV, Hepatitis C and opioid epidemics for APA to include in its letter for the President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisisopens in new window.
• Sustained federal investments in domestic HIV/AIDS programs. For example, COPA provided feedback on the draft 2018 Ryan White budget letter for submission to U. S Department of Health and Human Services to the Public Interest Governmental Relations Office.
• Global AIDS, including President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and global lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) human rights legislation.
• COPA provided comments regarding federal collection of data about sexual orientation and gender identity and other vulnerable populations. It also provided information regarding the Department of Defense Health Relations Behaviors Survey and the collection of information regarding transsexual identifiers.

Consistent with the APA strategic plan and COPA's mission and strategic plan, COPA is committed to the ongoing pursuit of the following objectives:

1. To educate psychologists and society at large about the contributions psychologists can make to HIV prevention and treatment efforts.
2. To encourage and support psychologists in their efforts toward eliminating the HIV epidemic through effective strategies of preventive education and intervention.
3. To stimulate behavioral research in a variety of areas associated with HIV prevention and mental health services for persons affected by HIV/AIDS.
4. To facilitate linkages between APA, behavioral researchers, medical researchers and community-based organizations for the purpose of coordinating and improving HIV-related research and mental health services.
5. To create educational resources about HIV/AIDS for APA members and the public.
6. To provide oversight and direction for policy and advocacy activities related to HIV/AIDS at federal, state and local levels.
7. To advise APA staff and establish liaisons with governance groups and organizations outside of APA regarding HIV/AIDS issues.
8. To formulate new APA initiatives and policies to meet the ever-evolving challenges posed by the epidemic with a particular emphasis on health disparities and global issues; behavioral and biomedical integration in HIV prevention and treatment; improving HIV care; and trauma and HIV/AIDS.
9. To address the intersectionality of stigma and discrimination related to HIV/AIDS.