APA News

APA offers two free webinars on aging issues

Do you work with older adults or their caregivers or do research on aging? Two new APA-produced webinars can keep you up to date on changes to the Alzheimer’s disease diagnostic criteria and arm you with strategies for treating stressed caregivers:

• “New Alzheimer’s Guidelines: How Will Research and Practice Be Affected?”
  The webinar offers guidance on the new guidelines for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease published by the Alzheimer’s Association and the National Institute on Aging last April. The 90-minute webinar features presentations by five scientists who helped draft the guidelines: Marilyn Albert, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University; Yaakov Stern, PhD, of Columbia University; Sandra Weintraub, PhD, of Northwestern University; and Creighton Phelps, PhD, and Molly Wagster, PhD, of the National Institute on Aging. It is moderated by Glenn Smith, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine.

• “Mental Health Needs of Family Caregivers: Identifying, Engaging and Assisting”
  
  The webinar offers strategies to help stressed family caregivers overcome their reluctance to use services and encourage them to practice self-care and tap mental health services when needed. The webinar also provides an overview of effective interventions for addressing caregiver burden and offers resources to support family caregivers, such as APA’s Family Caregiver Briefcase. Presenters include William E. Haley, PhD, of the University of South Florida, Barry J. Jacobs, PsyD, director of behavioral sciences for the Crozer-Keystone Family Medicine Residency Program in Springfield, Pa., and Deborah DiGilio, director of APA’s Office on Aging.

For more information on the webinars, contact Deborah DiGilio.

More associations appoint early career members to their boards

Over the past several years, a growing number of psychology’s state, provincial and territorial associations have been designating early career psychologist seats to their boards — a trend APA’s Committee on Early Career Psychologists applauds as a way to provide governance opportunities to early career psychologists and ensure that their perspective is included in decision-making.

The following associations now include designated early career board seats:

• Connecticut: Rebecca Miller, PhD.

• Hawai‘i: Nicole Nakamura, PsyD.

• Illinois: Colin Ennis, PsyD.

• Maryland: Alison J. Dunton, PsyD.

• Michigan: Melissa Grey, PhD.

• Minnesota: Susan Welnel, PsyD.

• New Mexico: Nicole Duranceaux, PhD.

• North Carolina: Katrina Kuzyszyn- Jones, PsyD, and Abigail Pressel, PhD.

• Washington state: Owen Bargreen, PsyD.

The committee thanks these early career psychologists for their service and leadership.

Does your librarian further behavioral science?

APA’s $2,500 Excellence in Librarianship Award recognizes an outstanding contribution to psychology and social and behavioral sciences librarianship, such as by developing a library project, research or service that promotes or furthers behavioral science. This award is open to librarians as well as other information professionals.

It will be presented at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif., in June.

Individuals may nominate themselves or others. APA will accept nominations from library users, students, faculty, library colleagues or others with knowledge of the nominee’s achievement.

To apply, submit the following electronically by April 16:

• A nomination statement that describes the contribution and its significance within and outside of the institution.

• A current curriculum vitae.

• Optional supporting documentation, such as digital copies or URLs.

• No more than three letters of support, at least one of which should be from a direct beneficiary of the services provided.

• Contact information for the nominee.

Send submissions to Excellence in Librarianship Award.

CEMA seeks two new members

APA’s Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA) welcomes nominations for two new members to begin three-year terms on Jan. 1, 2013.

Committee members plan, develop and coordinate activities related to advocacy and promoting an understanding of the cultures and psychological well-being of ethnicminority populations. Members also address such topics as institutional barriers to equal access to psychological services and research.

To fulfill its mandate for ethnic representation and its commitment to gender equity, the two vacant slates are for a self-identified Asian-American/ Pacific Islander woman and a selfidentified American Indian/Alaska Native male.

CEMA also welcomes nominations from candidates who have expertise with other diverse populations, such as disability, early career, national origin, sexual orientation and more. CEMA gives special consideration to applicants whose education, training, experiences and expertise represent basic or applied areas of psychological science.

CEMA members must attend and participate in yearly meetings held at APA in Washington, D.C., and work on CEMA priorities when necessary between meetings. If possible, CEMA members should also attend APA’s Annual Convention at their own expense to participate in CEMA convention programming. Nomination materials should include the nominee’s qualifications (including a statement of relevant experience), a curriculum vitae and a letter of interest. Self-nominations are encouraged. Send nominations and supporting materials no later than Sept. 1 to the APA Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs at the APA address or via email.

Eye on Good Governance

Last year, APA launched the Good Governance Project as part of the association’s strategic plan, which among other goals, calls for APA to maximize organizational effectiveness. The Good Governance Project was created to evaluate APA’s governance system to determine whether it is the best one for the future.

Key to the process is a team of members working with experts in association governance. The team has been assessing APA’s current structure and examining literature on governance models, and it will ultimately make recommendations to the board of directors and the council of representatives.

The board oversees the project, with final authority resting with the council. The board appointed the diverse and experienced 15-member team to assess the process, collect and analyze data, and share their thinking about what type of governance is needed.

The team is headed by Sandra L. Shullman, PhD, chair, and Ron Rozensky, PhD, vice chair, and includes consultants from Cygnet Strategies, as well as staff liaisons: Michael Honaker, PhD, Nancy Gordon Moore, PhD, MBA, and Maureen O’Brien.

The team achieved much in 2011. It held its first meeting to scope out the project and solicited input from council members concerning how they would define success. In Phase I of data collection, it conducted guided group discussions at the state leadership conference, at a meeting of staff liaisons, and at the first round of consolidated meetings. The team also collected data from online surveys and consultant telephone interviews, analyzing the information at a May meeting. The findings were presented to APA’s Board of Directors in June.

After meeting in July, the team began Phase II of data collection at APA’s Annual Convention, and later sent self-guided discussions to APA’s divisions, boards and committees, as well as state psychological associations. Data were also collected at the fall consolidated meetings. In November, the team met to prepare a report for presentation to the board by the end of the year. The report will be presented to council in February.

The report points to both strengths and areas of concerns. One strength is that many voices are heard, resulting in “solid” outcomes, even if the process is cumbersome. In addition, leaders have learned how to get things done through coalitions and other creative means.

An area of concern is that APA governance is seen as a closed and political system, affecting the balance between institutional knowledge and fresh ideas. The report recognizes the need for new voices, leadership development and mentoring. Moreover, APA’s organizational structure may not be aligned with how people function today regarding generational preferences, communication technology and social media.

Since its beginning, information about the project has been featured in the Monitor and on APA’s website. For more information, visit APA's Good Governance Project or contact Nancy Gordon Moore, PhD, MBA, Executive Director of Governance Affairs.