During her APA Presidency, Susan McDaniel's highest priority was facilitating the evolution of psychology, both nationally and internationally, into the healthcare arena and developing an appreciation for the long-term importance of actively engaging in interprofessional care, especially during the profession's early training experiences. Susan's visionary 2016 "Interprofessional Education for Integrated Primary Care" conference brought together 83 leaders from 28 primary care associations in the APA building. Education Directorate Executive Director Jim Diaz-Granados: "The Education Directorate recognizes the value of interprofessional education and training (IPE). This is evidenced by our active participation in a number of interprofessional organizations." During this year's graduation ceremonies at the Uniformed Services University (USU), Psychology Professor Tracy Sbrocco marched with the Graduate School of Nursing faculty during the Academic Processional along with her colleagues, Jeanette Witter and Layne Bennion, who had quickly joined her. Traditionally, psychology faculty have "lined up" with the Medical School, where their Department is administratively located. Tracy's comment: "IPE." Although perhaps not evident to many, this symbolic step represents a major institutional change.
I have been personally pleased with the extent to which APA has been highly supportive of inviting the USU military graduate students ("Learning to Care for Those in Harm's Way"), in both nursing and psychology, to participate in their conferences. Most recently, thanks to Acting Science Directorate Executive Director Howard Kurtzman: "The first annual Technology, Mind, and Society Interdisciplinary Conference was a huge success! I was one of the honored and privileged attendees. The conference opened with a reception and poster session – perfect for mingling with the other conference attendees. At the finale of the conference, I realized the value of the opening reception, because during the conference there were far fewer opportunities to socialize with this intriguing mixture of interdisciplinary professionals from all over the world. The keynote speakers were outstanding. The opening keynote speaker – Cynthia Breazeal – definitely set the tone with her energy and enthusiasm about Social Robotics and Human Behavior. I found it challenging to choose between the concurrent paper sessions and symposiums because many of the topics were relevant and timely for where I am in my research trajectory. The conference was jam-packed with intellectually stimulating activities from start to finish. It was exciting and refreshing to be surrounded by so many clinicians, researchers, and educators that shared my passion for technology, patient engagement, and healthcare policy. I cannot wait to present a poster/paper session next year" (Tonya Spencer, Maj, USAF, GSN graduate student).
"'We evolved as a social species to harvest social information from the environment and come to a consensus on what to do, and that underlies the substrate on which society was built,' said Alex Pentland near the beginning of his lecture. He described the idea people's success depends on their ability to exploit opportunities in their environments; that if you succeed in doing so, variation allows for domination and success. He anchored his talk on the notion of social foraging. He consults and conducts analyses for big international companies; he puts tracking badges on their employees to a) discover silos and break them and – when working for drug companies – he tracks employees to b) better predict which of their biochemists will critically contribute to the next breakthrough drug. Who's the next rock star? Drug companies typically rate and attempt to predict which employees will succeed; they hire him to do this more effectively, largely unaware of how their employees spend their days. He found that the employees rated highest by the drug company also had the most diverse communications with near perfect correlations. Yet each of these companies has strict productivity guidelines. Their employees are supposed to talk to their colleagues and their boss and focus on productivity and work. Yet the most successful biochemists broke the rules, wasted their time talking to the sales teams. This supports the argument for social foraging: Pentland discussed it as this idea that the most successful people are those most skilled at exploiting ideas within the community and outside that group. 'Tremendously important, the structure of communication.'
"As his lecture expanded, it became clear how starkly the data laid out entrenched social problems. Does the community talk to each other? How much does the community talk to other members, to others outside the community? These questions predict crime, poverty, and lack of opportunity with astounding accuracy. How remarkably stratified the world's cities are" (Kevin Barry, 1st Lt, USA, Psychology graduate student).
The Importance of PSYPACT: During his tenure as CEO of the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB), Steve DeMers contributed to numerous advances for the profession of psychology. His most recent accomplishment has been the creation of their proposed "E-Passport" which, with the enactment of an Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT) by the state legislatures, would allow the provision of psychological services via electronic means across jurisdictional boundaries, without additional licensure. Heather O'Beirne Kelly, Director of the APA Office of Military and Veterans Health Policy, reports that the VA has recently issued a federal rule which allows VA healthcare providers to practice via telehealth across state lines, pre-empting previous state licensing and telehealth restrictions. This new initiative allows VA providers, including psychologists, to offer care and Veterans to receive care, from any location. The previous regulations allowed Veterans to receive care via virtual technology in their homes but required that telehealth providers be located in a VA facility. Mental and behavioral healthcare providers continue to be the most frequent federal utilizers of this maturing technology. The healthcare environment of the future, including within the private sector, will be dramatically transformed by the advances occurring within the communications technology field.
Generational and Geographical Perspectives on RxP: "You will be glad to know that my cohort mates, Matt Moosey (Army), Marcus Van-Sickle (Navy), and Andrea (Dre) Weiss (Air Force) have all enrolled in a Masters of Pharmacology program to complete the RxP requirements. I'm pretty proud of their dedication to the cause. Aloha" (Sarah McCreight, Maj, US Army). And, "Although I am 70, I am still actively practicing in a La Clinica de Familia CMHC/FQHC Adult and Children's Services. I have had Doctoral Nurse Practitioner students, from the New Mexico State University Nursing Program, who have been placed with me for psychiatric practicum supervision for the last four semesters. In addition, the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, began placement of second year Psychiatric Residents with us as part of the Rural Psychiatry Program, during this spring semester. Small steps of progress" (Thomas Thompson, Medical and Neuropsychology-Prescribing Psychologist – New Mexico). "With the signing of 201-34, now Public Law 34-78, Guam Governor Eddie Calvo and Guam legislators have brought full and direct access to NP and other APRN care to the territory's patients…. (T)hank you for partnering with AANP to bring quality, accessible health care to your patients…. We encourage you to connect with one of the AANP NP Organization Members in your state or territory to get involved and support legislative changes in your state!" (AANP). Aloha,
Pat DeLeon, former APA President – HPA – June, 2018
Sent from my iPhone
