Former APA Practice Directorate State Association Guru Mike Sullivan truly appreciated the importance of our state associations providing creative leadership in bringing psychology's expertise to focus upon society's most pressing needs. As educated professionals, this is our societal responsibility. "Heads Up Kentucky" was an enjoyable, highly visual effort to promote healthy lifestyles on the local level. It effectively asked if residents knew that: "Stress is linked to the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide." The Hawaii Psychological Association recently highlighted Gaby Toloza's collaborative efforts with the Hawai'i Autism Foundation and local YMCA to provide family centered support that focused upon the concept of Self-Care for the Caregivers of children on the autism spectrum. For eight Saturdays, these families participated in two hour workshops with their children, including siblings. A number of HPA members donated their time and expertise. The second hour was targeted towards engaging the participants in physical exercise. The goal being to behaviorally embed the need and benefits of physical exercise for parents with special needs children. It was a very successful event with the parents gaining a greater awareness of their own need for self-care.
As a nation, we are entering a new era of transformative health care reform. The unprecedented advances occurring within the communications and technology fields, as well as the priorities of the Obama Administration reflected in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), indicate a future of patient-centered care with a priority on prevention, wellness, and data-driven clinical decisions. The advances occurring within telehealth (i.e., Telepsychology) will eliminate historical geographical and hopefully cultural barriers. The VA and DoD have been leading the way. In FY 2013 more than 600,000 Veterans received care utilizing telehealth – more than 1.7 million episodes of care. Former Division 31 and Georgia Psychological Association President Linda Campbell and ASPPB CEO Steve DeMers have been proactively guiding psychology through these unchartered waters. We suggest that this would be an excellent topic for our state associations to focus upon. What are the laws, regulations, ethical issues, and supervision possibilities? -- while providing "hands-on" demonstrations, perhaps utilizing federal or state technology. This could be in conjunction with other professions – another key element of the ACA. And, of course, developing legislative agendas to provide critical reimbursement support. There is a particular need for these services at Federally Qualified Community Health Centers, which are society's "safety net."
From our public policy perspective, nursing has historically been particularly responsive to addressing society's needs, especially throughout rural America. Accordingly, we were pleased to participate in two conference calls during the past year in which the Administration requested their help in educating society about the benefits of ACA – Vice President Biden hosted the first; Secretary Sebelius the second. Will psychology earn similar respect? Aloha,
Pat DeLeon, former APA President – Division 31 – March, 2014
