>>NARRATOR: Four years ago, under the leadership of the Board of Directors and the Council
of Representatives, APA approved its first-ever strategic plan.
The plan has three overarching goals: Maximize organizational effectiveness; expand psychology's
role in advancing health; and increase recognition of psychology as a science.
In the ensuing years, APA staff and members have added to existing activities and implemented
important new programs to meet the goals and objectives of the strategic plan.
>>NORMAN ANDERSON: This plan has been a guiding force for APA, helping us to design and execute
projects and programs aimed at moving our association forward, meeting member needs,
and keeping up with developments in relevant areas of psychology, public policy, technology
and the marketplace.
Ultimately, we want psychology to benefit society and improve people's lives.
Each goal includes specific objectives to focus our activities and measure their outcomes.
Under the goal to maximize organizational effectiveness, we've launched the Good Governance
Project that is helping us consider new ways of fostering the work of our volunteer leadership,
so we can quickly adapt to the changing needs of society and our members.
To further maximize organizational effectiveness, we've launched new tools to increase our members'
engagement with APA.
These include a Web-based platform that enables members to opt in to almost 20 e-newsletters
and to customize research alerts on psychology topics of interest to them.
At the same time, we've launched APA Access, the first all-member e-newsletter, to keep
our members up to date on what is going on at APA and across the discipline, including
easy-to-access information on conferences and funding opportunities.
We've also developed a number of new products and services to enhance the association's
continuing education offerings and the convention experience.
Under the rubric of two strategic goals - to maximize organizational effectiveness and
to expand psychology's role in health - we have also reconstituted our Center for Workforce
Studies to provide important analyses of the psychology workforce and educational pipeline
to help position psychology to meet societal needs.
In addition, APA established a new Center for Psychology and Health in collaboration
with the APA Practice Organization.
The center will focus on expanding access to mental and behavioral health services in
the evolving health care system, and on preparing psychologists to use their expertise in a
variety of roles in such settings, including the ability to work on interprofessional health
care teams.
On a related issue, we have developed a health disparities initiative.
The project's goal is to increase support for research, training, public education and
interventions that improve health and reduce health disparities among underserved and vulnerable
populations.
This initiative has developed fact sheets and other resources focused on stress, obesity,
substance abuse and addiction - selected because of their prevalence and impact on health disparities.
Related to the health disparities initiative, and under the leadership of 2012 association
president Dr. Suzanne Bennett Johnson, APA partnered with the Association of Black Psychologists
on a Summit on Obesity in African American Women and Girls, an event that brought about
90 researchers, health professionals and community leaders to the University of the District
of Columbia last October.
Together, they explored the intersection of race, stress and social context - as well
as culturally sensitive interventions that can make a difference.
The third goal of our plan involves enhancing psychology's prominence as a core STEM discipline
- STEM being science, technology, engineering and math.
One of the means of achieving this objective is the expansion of APA's highly successful
public education campaign to communicate the science base of psychology.
We're calling the expansion of this campaign Psychology: Science in Action.
It will feature profiles of some of the top psychological scientists explaining their
work for a general audience that includes students, guidance counselors and teachers
of psychology.
In addition, we are partnering with the Boston Science Museum on an exhibit for the USA Science
Expo.
Held in Washington, DC, every two years, the expo draws big crowds to the National Mall
to learn more about science, including psychology.
As we work to expand the translation of psychological science to evidence-based practice, APA is
developing evidence-based clinical practice guidelines in such areas as obesity, depression
and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Guidelines form the basis of many treatment decisions made by payers.
It is critical that psychology play a leading role in creating such guidelines, particularly
for health concerns for which behavioral interventions should be a treatment focus.
In addition, APA's Office of Publications and Databases has created a number of new
technology-based platforms and apps to enhance access to newly published research and other
practice tools.
>>NARRATOR: This year, APA President Dr. Donald Bersoff is focusing much of his presidential
year on the needs of military personnel, veterans and their families, as well as on the best
science to meet those needs.
These are just a few of the projects and programs APA has initiated as it fulfills the goals
articulated under the strategic plan.
This blueprint has had a pervasive, positive impact on the work of your association, and
has helped APA remain an important resource to you, our members, and the science and discipline
of psychology.
As you attend and participate in the many sessions at this convention, you will see
more evidence of APA's commitment to its strategic objectives.
We hope you enjoy these sessions as you learn, share knowledge and connect with your colleagues.
Aloha, and welcome to Honolulu and the 121st Annual Convention of the American Psychological
Association.