The American Psychosomatic Society Antiracism Task Force: Implementation, Activities, and Lessons Learned

Abstract

The American Psychosomatic Society (APS) is an international professional society that aims to advance the scientific study of biological, behavioral, and social factors in health among educators, clinicians, and researchers. In pledging to be an antiracist organization in 2020, APS formed the Antiracism Task Force to identify different manifestations of systemic racism within the society and to make recommendations for building a more inclusive and equitable professional organization. The goal of this paper was to be maximally transparent to membership about our activities and lessons learned, as well as offer a case study to other organizations striving toward antiracism. We describe the inaugural year of activities of the APS Antiracism Task Force, which included proposing amendments to the society’s bylaws, collecting data on member attitudes toward diversity, and consulting on other member efforts to implement antiracism activities (e.g., increasing access to early career awards). In addition to reflecting on task force and society-specific factors that were facilitative in our first year, we describe future plans and potential challenges we may face as we support sustained commitment to APS’s antiracism efforts.