The aging of the population will increase demand for psychological services for older adults, which challenges the profession of psychology to provide those services. In response to that challenge, professional geropsychology has been developing over the past few decades to meet current and prepare for anticipated future demand. The development of a range of training opportunities is important to enable psychologists to work effectively with older adults. This article describes the Pikes Peak model for training in professional geropsychology. The model is an aspirational, competencies-based approach to training professional geropsychologists that allows for entry points at multiple levels of professional development.
Rapid population growth among older adults means an increased need for psychologists prepared to provide mental health services to this population. A representative survey of 1,227 practitioner members of the American Psychological Association yielded information about current patterns of practice with older adults, sources of training in geropsychology, perceived need for continuing education (CE) in geropsychology, and preferred CE formats. Most respondents provided some services to older adults, but typically very little. The services provided are inadequate to meet projected demand. Most respondents lacked formal training in geropsychology and perceived themselves as needing additional training. CE workshops at the regional level and distance education were the most popular formats. These data serve as a call to the field to expand training opportunities at all levels of training, with an emphasis on the need for empirically based, broadly accessible CE offerings.
This article reports on the outcome of a presidential initiative of 2012 American Psychological Association President Suzanne Bennett Johnson to delineate competencies for primary care (PC) psychology in six broad domains: science, systems, professionalism, relationships, application, and education. Essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes are described for each PC psychology competency. Two behavioral examples are provided to illustrate each competency. Clinical vignettes demonstrate the competencies in action. Delineation of these competencies is intended to inform education, practice, and research in PC psychology and efforts to further develop team-based competencies in PC.
As the proportion and sheer number of older adults in the United States continues to increase, we need to plan for their behavioral health care. Access to accurate data about current workforce characteristics in psychology can provide essential information to inform workforce planning. In this paper, we present results of the American Psychological Association's Center for Workforce Studies survey of psychologists, with a focus on older adults. Participants (N = 4,109) were doctoral psychologists identified through state licensing boards. Only 1.2% of those surveyed described geropsychology as their specialty area, although 37.2% reported seeing older adults frequently or very frequently, most often from the specialties of rehabilitation psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and clinical health psychology. Frequent providers of aging services were more likely to be older, nonethnic minority, working in independent practice as their primary work setting, and self-employed as compared to other respondents. In addition, frequent providers of services to older adults were more likely to be in practices colocated with medical professionals and to accept Medicare as payment. Low reimbursement rates were cited as a reason for not accepting Medicare by those who did not. There was strong interest in further education in aging from all psychologists in areas including adjustment to medical illness/disability, depression, bereavement, dementia, anxiety, psychotherapy, and caregiver stress. The results of this survey suggest a continued urgent need to train psychologists across subfields in foundational
Long-term care services and supports are primarily a family industry that warrants psychologists' involvement through practice, research, and policy advocacy. Families are poorly integrated into service systems despite the dominance of family caregiving work within health care and long-term care. This article positions family caregiving work within the context of family life across the life span, noting overlaps and distinctions between normal family life and caregiving work for older adults whose physical or cognitive challenges require assistance. The prevalence, work, and consequences of family caregiving for older adults are described. Families are identified as key partners in long-term care, despite substantial policy and practice barriers to integrating them into care structures and systems. Policy options for reducing or eliminating barriers are suggested, as are professional practice opportunities for psychologists to support caregiving families. Approaches to assessment and interventions for caregivers across a variety of settings are described. Gaps in research are highlighted, with a focus on how to understand caregiving as embedded within context of family, long-term care services and supports, and health care. Caregiving work presents an imperative for expanding psychologists' engagement in integrating and supporting the families whose caregiving is so critical to a rapidly aging society. (PsycINFO Database Record
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