You may recall that last year, Diane Elmore of the APA Public Interest Government Relations Office, reported to this list serve that APA and the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP) worked together to secure the congressional language and appropriations for this study, The Mental Health Workforce for Geriatric Populations. She and AAGP staff also met with HHS to provide assistance regarding their implementation plan. We are very, very disappointed to report that NONE of the individuals APA nominated were selected although some excellent, excellent, folks were nominated and APA was involved from the outset to make this happen.
We WILL however remain involved. We will submit materials and also reach out to APA members who are on the panel including psychologists, Fred Blow, Margarita Alegria, and Michael Hogue to inform them of the great progress being made in geropsychology and of our contributions to the field. We will also reach out to our "friends of psychology" who are on the panel. I will work with CONA, Geropsychology Specialty Council, Divisions 20 and 12-2, PLTC and COPGTP to make sure that we are educating and providing information to these folks all along the way.
Debbie
Deborah DiGilio| Director, Office on Aging
Public Interest Directorate
American Psychological Association
750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242
Tel: (202) 336-6135 | Fax: (202) 336-6040
email: ddigilio@apa.org | www.apa.org/pi/aging
