The current COVID-19 public health crisis is unparalleled and the impact is significant, multi-pronged, and ongoing. Disruptions to Health Service Psychology (HSP) training in the US and Canada, at all points in the education to workforce pipeline, have occurred and will likely endure and may worsen. Similarly, it is likely there will be continued COVID-19 impacts on health service delivery, education, training, travel, in-person meetings, and public gatherings. The APPIC board of directors is aware that the HSP education and training community has already responded to COVID-19 with creativity and innovation with regard to remote, distance, and tele-based education, training, service provision, and supervision.

The APPIC board of directors believes that shared strategies and practices, across programs and institutions, will reduce stress and confusion and may improve outcomes for all with regard to meeting APA (2018) and CPA (2011) accreditation standards as well as APPIC membership criteria for internship and postdoctoral programs (2006, 2016, 2018, 2019). The APPIC board of directors believes that shared innovations and better practices from the HSP training community will benefit everyone in our effort to provide high quality HSP education and training amidst a global pandemic.

To advance this effort, APPIC has committed to funding up to $5,000 per program (for a sum total of no more than $50,000) to support projects that focus on technology, innovation,  tele-supervision, and tele-training with the goal of developing reusable and ongoing tools and products that will be shared with the HSP Training Community.

Eligibility & Proposal Review

APPIC member Internship, Postdoctoral and Doctoral Program Associate member programs and/or affiliated faculty/staff are eligible to apply. Interested practicum programs are encouraged to partner with Internship and/or Doctoral Program Associate member programs to apply. Preference will be given to proposals that are innovative, describe a sound plan, address two or more levels of training (e.g., Internship entry level, Internship exit level, Postdoctoral entry level, and Postdoctoral exit level), utilize methods that could be easily adopted by other programs, and/or develop tools/products that can easily be disseminated to other programs. Creativity is encouraged in terms of content and methods (e.g., podcasts, recorded modules with interactive components, toolkits, etc.). Proposals may include methods already in use by the program or entirely new ideas that have yet to be developed or implemented.

Proposal Guidelines

• Proposals should be no more than two pages single spaced using 11 point Arial font and should be submitted to APPIC Central Office (appic@appic.org) by email no later than 1/22/2021 with “APPIC Call to Action on Tele-Supervision and Tele-Training RFP” in the subject line.
• Proposals should include:
  • A brief description of the facility or program.
  • Names and general qualifications of the individuals leading the project.
  • Letter of support documenting approval of the training director if the training director is not directly involved in the project.
  • Description of the tool/product/practice and how it harnesses technology and innovation to address education, training, service provision, and/or supervision virtually for the HSP education and training community.
  • Products addressing APA or CPA accreditation standards, CPA Code of Ethics or APA Ethical Principles, and/or APPIC membership criteria, in a tele or virtual environment, are especially encouraged.
  • A time-line for the project (final products due by November 1, 2021).
  • An estimated budget including total funds requested and how those funds will be used. Indirect costs are prohibited.
  • If an already-established tool/product/practice is to be evaluated, it should be appended.
• Questions and consultation regarding proposal submission can be directed to Dr. Jeff Baker (jeff.baker@appic.org) or Dr. Allison Aosved (allison.aosved2@va.gov).

Given the urgency of this moment, those funded are expected to provide APPIC with a written report within 4 months of funding describing progress and summarizing preliminary progress. A final product will be due within 8 months of funding (November 1, 2021).

Note: Funded investigators will be awarded 50% of their allotted funds shortly after notification that they have been funded; and, the other 50% of the funds will be awarded upon delivery of the final product that is ready, as determined by the APPIC board of directors or their designee(s), for dissemination to the HSP training and education community.

Funded investigators may have the opportunity to describe their project/tool/product/practice in an APPIC webinar and/or at the APPIC 2022 member conference.

ACCREDITATION STANDARDS
Sources:
Commission on Accreditation
Standards of Accreditation in Health Service Psychology
https://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/about/policies/standards-of-accreditation.pdf

Canadian Psychological Association
Accreditation Standards and Procedures for Doctoral Programmes and Internships in Professional Psychology
https://cpa.ca/docs/File/Accreditation/Accreditation_2011.pdf

APPIC MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA
Source:
Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers
Internship Criteria- https://www.appic.org/Internships/Internship-Membership-Criteria
Postdoctoral Criteria - https://www.appic.org/About-APPIC/APPIC-Policies/Postdoc

ETHICS
American Psychological Association
https://www.apa.org/ethics/code

Canadian Psychological Association
https://cpa.ca/docs/File/Ethics/CPA_Code_2017_4thEd.pdf