Over the years, MPA has provided outstanding vision and leadership at the national level. During my tenure on the APA Board of Directors, I had the pleasure of working closely with future APA Presidents Norine Johnson, Gerry Koocher, and Ron Levant. MPA members have chaired a number of the major APA policy boards and committees. Having spent my undergraduate years in your state, I might admittedly be a little biased; however, it did not surprise me that it was the Massachusetts Nurses Association that ultimately convinced their national association to support the independent practice of Advanced Nurse Practitioners. A number of underlying features of President Obama's landmark Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) were undoubtedly inspired by Governor Romney's Massachusetts Health Care Reform legislation. Collectively, you have a long history of seeing the "bigger picture." And of course, Great Barrington is the home of Alice's Restaurant – in celebration of which Arlo Guthrie has embarked on the 50thanniversary tour.
Times do change. The APA Council of Representatives has reconstituted its role in order to focus primarily upon major policy issues, and we understand from Dolly Sadow that the Council will be focusing upon "translating Science into Policy" as a mega issue. The broader underlying issue will be developing Council as a policy making and disseminating body, rather than serving as a passive reactor to initiatives perceived as not of its own making. How will Council facilitate policy initiatives that are consistent with APA's strategic plan and which speak to society's real needs? – that is the challenge ahead. As perhaps a first step in this radical paradigm shift, during their February meeting Council heard directly from those who have spent their professional lives being engaged in shaping national policy. Without question, this is an exciting evolution which will take time to effectively implement.
Reflecting upon our personal interest in policy development, several of us at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) (DoD) recently reviewed the psychology literature on teaching health policy. Last year, under Nadine Kaslow' s leadership, Council endorsed moving towards Competency-Based education, similar to that which almost all of the other health professions have embraced and which is a cornerstone of the ACA. Whereas the study of health policy is, for example, a required competency within professional nursing and a priority of public health and social work education, we could find very few references to this notion within psychology. There were, of course, articles on political advocacy (which in our judgment represents only a small subset of health policy) and an increasing number of social psychology experiments – with the plea that if only used by policy makers these could make a real difference. However, the fundamental notion of educating future members of the psychology profession about the profession of health policy which possesses its own unique history, language, and nuances seems to be, at best, an afterthought. Accordingly, Council's new vision truly does represent a major paradigm shift.
Another graduate from one of the Commonwealth's finest institutions of higher education (albeit not from the oldest women's college in the nation), Heather O'Beirne Kelley heads up APA's Military & Veterans Policy (MVP) team which is working to support military personnel and veterans, their families, and their communities, as well as the psychologists who conduct research with and provide direct services to these populations. Their priorities for this year range from funding for research at the Departments of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Defense (DoD), to provision of timely, high-quality mental health care in the service member and veterans communities, and establishment of prescription authority (RxP) for appropriately trained and certified psychologists in the VA, matching that which DoD has granted for 17 years. [Personally, we continue to wonder why MPA has not made this a priority, especially following the impressive success in Illinois last year spearheaded by Beth Rom-Rymer, who incidentally was honored by President Barry Anton at the February Council meeting.]
In terms of research funding, the President's newly released FY'16 budget proposed a nice increase for the VA's intramural research program, so APA and the larger veteran community will support that request. However, the Administration's budget also proposed a cut to DoD basic research, which the scientific and university community will urge Congress to restore in its annual appropriations process this spring. APA supports military personnel in seeking and receiving high-quality, effective mental and behavioral healthcare throughout their careers – from enlistment/commissioning through pre-deployment, deployment, and transition to veteran status. MVP advocacy efforts thus are particularly focused on garnering Administration and Congressional support for issues such as mental health screening and follow-up; access to care; suicide prevention; provision of TRICARE benefits; and supporting communities and other systems (including educational, health, and legal) in understanding and working with veterans. Your former MPA Executive Director Elena Eisman, who has also served on the APA Board of Directors, picked a fascinating time to transition to our nation's Capital. Aloha,
Pat DeLeon, former APA President – MPA – February, 2015
