Diverse Client Groups Research Articles

Cooking Well with Diabetes: A Healthy Cooking School for Diabetes Prevention and Management.

One in ten Americans suffers from type 2 diabetes, which, if not managed well, can result in severe complications, disability, and premature death. Diabetes education classes can play a pivotal role in providing practical education on diabetes and self-care behaviors, with a particular emphasis on dietary management, which is often regarded as the most demanding diabetes self-care behavior. The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service developed Cooking Well with Diabetes (CWWD), a four-week interactive diabetes education series, with each week consisting of a lecture on healthy eating coupled with cooking lessons featuring diabetes-friendly recipes. The current study aimed to examine the effectiveness of CWWD in improving the frequency of healthy food preparation and consumption of program participants. Secondary data from 2017 to 2023 was analyzed involving 1574 adults from 59 predominantly rural Texas counties. Data from self-reported pre and post evaluations showed improvements in healthy food preparation and consumption behaviors. The curriculum enabled Extension Educators to introduce healthful dietary behaviors to a diverse group of clients. The curriculum can be adapted by Extension Educators in other states reaching a broader audience. The findings will inform future research aimed at planning and implementing successful diabetes education programs.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender clinical competence of physiotherapy students in Israel

BackgroundClinical competence encompasses attitudes, skills, and knowledge regarding diverse client groups. Appropriate clinical competence requires an understanding of the cultural context in which healthcare is delivered. In conservative countries such as Israel, there is a noticeable scarcity of information regarding the clinical competency of physiotherapy students (PTSs) in effectively treating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals. The objective of this study was to assess the level of LGBT clinical competence among PTSs in Israel.MethodsConducted through an anonymous online self-report survey, this study gathered personal and academic background information and self-reported data on previous LGBT education during undergraduate studies of PTSs. It utilized the Hebrew version of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Development of Clinical Skills Scale (LGBT-DOCSS) questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were computed for all outcome measures. The internal reliability of the LGBT-DOCSS was assessed. Total scores of the LGBT-DOCSS, along with scores in each of the three subscales (clinical preparedness, knowledge, and attitudes), were compared across different levels of religiosity and gender.ResultsThe sample comprised of 251 PTSs, with an average age of 25.57 ± 3.07 years (34.7% men, 65.3% women). All students reported a lack of LGBT community-related courses during their undergraduate studies. The translated Hebrew version demonstrated good internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha ranging from 0.65 to 0.83. The LGBT-DOCSS total score was 4.55 ± 0.61 out of 7, indicating a low level of clinical competency. The highest mean score was in the attitudes subscale (6.55 ± 0.87), which was significantly higher than the scores for the knowledge subscale (3.14 ± 1.46) and clinical preparedness subscale (3.36 ± 0.86). Religiousness was significantly associated with clinical preparedness and attitudes. Men exhibited higher self-reported levels of knowledge and clinical preparedness, albeit with more negative attitudes compare to women. Sexual orientation was significantly associated with clinical competency, with PTSs who identified as heterosexual demonstrating a lower level of clinical competency compared to participants who identified as non-heterosexual.ConclusionsIn Israel, PTSs demonstrated a low level of clinical competency in terms of self-reported knowledge and self-reported clinical preparedness but contrasting positive attitudes toward the LGBT community. Religiousness, gender and sexual orientation had a significant influence on competency levels.These preliminary findings highlight the urgent necessity to enhance the knowledge of PTSs regarding the LGBT community to improve their clinical competence.Trial registration NRNot applicable.

Experiences of professional mental health help-seeking and engagement with services among emerging adult men identifying as gay

ABSTRACT Objective Gay men have higher rates of psychological distress and greater dissatisfaction with mental health services than heterosexual men. Emerging adulthood is a vulnerable period representing a crucial period of sexual identity formation. Understanding of experiences during engagement with professional mental health services by gay men remains limited, especially in emerging adulthood. This study explored emerging adult gay men’s experiences during their engagement with professional mental health help-seeking. Method In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven gay-identifying cisgender men. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results An overarching theme of perseverance was identified, with two themes of navigating anticipatory heterosexism and renegotiating pathology. Navigating anticipatory heterosexism included subthemes of selective disclosure and seeking “safe” practitioners. In renegotiating pathology, interviewees described delineating distress, thereby separating sexual identity from their mental health presentation, as well as normalising distress resulting from experiences of prejudice and minority stress. These themes encapsulate how participants reported navigating sexual identity-based challenges during the help-seeking process, thereby persevering and continuing with help-seeking. Conclusions Results highlight how mental healthcare can be navigated and underscore the need to: 1) enhance signalling safety to sexually diverse client groups, and 2) increase practitioner cultural competency to reduce stigma or heterosexism in experiences of healthcare.

The effectiveness of a home-based dietetic intervention for community-dwelling older adults.

The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of clients receiving home-based dietetic intervention and to evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions in improving nutritional status, functional status, and quality of life in a culturally and socioeconomically diverse client group. Participants referred to a home-based dietetic service were recruited to this prospective cohort study. Dietetic interventions were recommended at baseline and reviewed at 3-month follow-up. Assessment of nutritional, functional and quality of life markers was measured using the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), Timed Up and Go (TUG) and EQ-5D-5L, respectively, at baseline and after home-based dietetic intervention. Participants (n = 99) were recruited from consecutive referrals. Participant's weight, body mass index (BMI), total daily energy and protein intake, MNA total score, and TUG significantly improved after a 3-month nutrition intervention (effect sizes 0.257, 0.257, 0.580, 0.533, 0.577 and 0.281, respectively). The most common interventions dietitians utilised were nutrition education, use of oral nutritional supplements (ONS) and meal fortification. In total, 339 dietetic interventions were recommended to participants at baseline with 197 (58.11%) implemented at 3 months, with meal planning and referral to other relevant allied health or Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) services the most implemented interventions. Home-based dietetic intervention improves nutritional status, functional status and quality of life in community-dwelling older adults referred for dietetic input. Improvements observed in nutritional and functional status were consistent with benchmarks of change from published literature.

Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Institutional Practice.

This award is intended to recognize outstanding practitioners in psychology. Nominations are considered for psychologists working in a wide variety of institutional practice settings (e.g., schools, military, state hospital, Department of Veterans Affairs). Services provided to diverse client groups or patient populations, including but not limited to children/ adolescents/adults/older adults, urban/rural/ frontier populations, minority populations, and persons with serious mental illness, are considered. Contributions are judged distinguished by virtue of peer recognition, advancement of the public's recognition of psychology as a profession, relevant professional association honors, or other meritorious accomplishments denoting excellence as a practitioner, including improvement of institutional service delivery systems or development of psychologically informed public policy. The 2023 recipients of the APA Professional Contributions Awards were selected by the 2022 Board of Professional Affairs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Independent Practice.

This award is intended to recognize outstanding independent practitioners in psychology. Nominations are considered for psychologists working in any area of clinical specialization, health services provision, or consulting, and services provided to any patient population or professional clientele in an independent setting. Services provided to diverse client groups or patient populations, including but not limited to children/adolescents/adults/older adults, urban/rural/frontier populations, minority populations, and persons with serious mental illness are considered. Contributions are judged distinguished by virtue of peer recognition, advancement of the public's recognition of psychology as a profession, relevant professional association honors, or other meritorious accomplishments denoting excellence as a practitioner, including advancement of the profession. The 2023 recipients of the APA Professional Contributions Awards were selected by the 2022 Board of Professional Affairs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The social self in humanistic counseling: A dialogical alternative for the practice of wellness and social justice

AbstractClassical humanistic philosophy and psychology both infer the persistence of a stable, authentic, and volitional self, which neither fully coheres with the values implicit to professional counseling nor offers sufficient relevance to culturally diverse client groups. As an alternative, the authors suggest that humanistic counseling can emerge as a distinct discipline of practice independent of its early influences. Further, the authors offer a dialogical alternative for humanistic counseling practice that might better support contemporary clients and their various social determinants of experience.

Addressing equality, diversity and inclusion as part of CBT training: a course evaluation study

Abstract It is widely documented that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities experience poorer mental health, and have a poorer experience of mental health services. Therapists delivering cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in services such as NHS Talking Therapies Services for Anxiety and Depression, are working with increasingly diverse client groups, but treatment access and recovery rates remain below what they should be compared with the White British population. Previous research indicates that CBT therapists may not receive appropriate training that allows them to develop the skills required to work effectively transculturally. The present study therefore aimed to evaluate a CBT training programme within this context, from the perspective of previous course graduates. Thirty participants took part in an online survey with questions requiring both Likert-scaled answers and free-text responses. Descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and template analysis were used to analyse the data. The results of the survey were favourable overall for both White British and BAME respondents. Positive areas of practice highlighted included peer learning within a diverse cohort, building awareness of own biases, and reflective learning spaces. Areas of development included increased integration of teaching focused on adapting CBT models for minority groups, diversification of teaching staff, and reducing fear and avoidance of exploring issues related to equality, diversity and inclusion. Tentative implications for improving CBT training course delivery in this context have been offered. Key learning aims (1) To acknowledge the challenges faced by service users from BAME communities in accessing equitable mental health treatment, including cognitive behavioural psychotherapy. (2) To consider explanations for why CBT therapists working in NHS services might find it difficult to work effectively transculturally. (3) To establish ways in which CBT training programmes might help therapists to embark more successfully on the journey of developing cultural competence, during training and beyond.

Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Independent Practice.

This award is intended to recognize outstanding independent practitioners in psychology. Nominations are considered for psychologists working in any area of clinical specialization, health services provision, or consulting, and services provided to any patient population or professional clientele in an independent setting. Services provided to diverse client groups or patient populations, including but not limited to children/adolescents/ adults/older adults, urban/rural/frontier populations, minority populations, and persons with serious mental illness are considered. Contributions are judged distinguished by virtue of peer recognition, advancement of the public's recognition of psychology as a profession, relevant professional association honors, or other meritorious accomplishments denoting excellence as a practitioner, including advancement of the profession. The 2022 recipients of the APA Professional Contributions Awards were selected by the 2021 Board of Professional Affairs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Independent Practice: Delishia M. Pittman.

This award is intended to recognize outstanding independent practitioners in psychology. Nominations are considered for psychologists working in any area of clinical specialization, health services provision, or consulting, and services provided to any patient population or professional clientele in an independent setting. Services provided to diverse client groups or patient populations, including but not limited to children/adolescents/adults/older adults, urban/rural/frontier populations, minority populations, and persons with serious mental illness are considered. Contributions are judged distinguished by virtue of peer recognition, advancement of the public's recognition of psychology as a profession, relevant professional association honors, or other meritorious accomplishments denoting excellence as a practitioner, including advancement of the profession. The 2022 recipients of the APA Professional Contributions Awards were selected by the 2021 Board of Professional Affairs (BPA). As a scholar-practitioner and health disparities researcher, Delishia M. Pittman has prioritized the mental health needs of African-descended persons across the diaspora in practice, training, and scholarship. She was the first African American, board-certified counseling psychologist in the District of Columbia and founder of The Wellness Collective, a boutique therapy collective that centers the psychological health and well-being of the Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) community, delivering more than 4,000 hours of therapy in the past year to BIPOC individuals and couples. As tenured faculty in the Department of Counseling and Human Development at George Washington University, she took up antiracism work which has resulted in several important achievements, including the adoption of a department-wide antiracism statement; implementation of antiracism working groups to examine and redress antiracist policies, practices, and procedures across the training program of the department; implementation of two mandatory antiracism convocation experiences in the curriculum; and a movement to decolonize every course and diversify the voices used in the training of counselors for the profession. Dr. Pittman's contributions to the field of psychology are exemplary, and she deserves to be honored for her tireless work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Institutional Practice.

This award is intended to recognize outstanding practitioners in psychology. Nominations are considered for psychologists working in a wide variety of institutional practice settings (e.g., schools, military, state hospital, Department of Veterans Affairs). Services provided to diverse client groups or patient populations, including but not limited to children/ adolescents/adults/older adults, urban/rural/ frontier populations, minority populations, and persons with serious mental illness, are considered. Contributions are judged distinguished by virtue of peer recognition, advancement of the public's recognition of psychology as a profession, relevant professional association honors, or other meritorious accomplishments denoting excellence as a practitioner, including improvement of institutional service delivery systems or development of psychologically informed public policy. The 2022 recipients of the APA Professional Contributions Awards were selected by the 2021 Board of Professional Affairs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Institutional Practice: Gayle Y. Iwamasa.

This award is intended to recognize outstanding practitioners in psychology. Nominations are considered for psychologists working in a wide variety of institutional practice settings (e.g., schools, military, state hospital, Department of Veterans Affairs). Services provided to diverse client groups or patient populations, including but not limited to children/ adolescents/adults/older adults, urban/rural/ frontier populations, minority populations, and persons with serious mental illness, are considered. Contributions are judged distinguished by virtue of peer recognition, advancement of the public's recognition of psychology as a profession, relevant professional association honors, or other meritorious accomplishments denoting excellence as a practitioner, including improvement of institutional service delivery systems or development of psychologically informed public policy. Gayle Y. Iwamasa is recognized for her strong contributions to service delivery to veterans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) veterans, and BIPOC mental health providers. Dr. Iwamasa is credited for a lifelong commitment to the advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion. For example, Dr. Iwamasa coleads the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts for the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, and she has received numerous awards and honors for her many contributions. She is also recognized for having founded the Association of VA Psychologist Leaders' Psychologists of Color and Allies Special Interest Group, where she ensures that VA psychology maintains its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Dr. Iwamasa's research focuses on multicultural mental health across the life span, and she has given national and international presentations, authored many journal articles and book chapters, and coedited Culturally Responsive Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Practice and Supervision, Second Edition (2018). Prior to her career with the VA, she spent 16 years in academia, educating and training clinical psychology graduate students where she, likewise, made meaningful contributions to advancing education, training, and practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Making every contact count with seldom-heard groups? A qualitative evaluation of voluntary and community sector (VCS) implementation of a public health behaviour change programme in England.

Making Every Contact Count (MECC) is a national, long‐term public health strategy in England. It supports public‐facing workers to use opportunities during routine contacts to enable healthy lifestyle changes. This paper reports the findings from an external evaluation of voluntary and community sector (VCS) delivery of MECC in the North East of England, which focused on engaging under‐represented client groups. The study aimed to (a) Establish if (and how) MECC had impacted the workforce, including changes to staff knowledge, confidence and behaviour; (b) Identify benefits, challenges and unintended consequences; and (c) Explore outcomes for service users. A multi‐stage qualitative design focused on understanding both process and outcomes. The study utilised three data collection methods, including a journey mapping workshop (n = 20), semi‐structured interviews with delivery leads, VCS workers and volunteers who had accessed MECC training (n = 11), and focus group discussions with clients (n = 22). The findings illustrated positive early outcomes, including improvements in self‐reported staff knowledge and confidence as well as emerging examples of organisational culture shift and individual behaviour change. Alongside this, the data provided a rich picture of barriers and challenges which are examined at different levels—national programme, local programme, VCS sector, partner organisation, worker and client. The research highlights clear successes of the VCS delivery model. However, it is presented as a ‘double‐edged sword,’ in light of associated challenges such as sector‐level funding uncertainty and accessibility of MECC resources to diverse client groups. The discussion considers issues related to the measurement and attribution of behaviour change outcomes for brief interventions, as well as fidelity, legacy and long‐term sustainability challenges. The recommendations call for system‐level analysis and comparison of different MECC implementation models, to improve our understanding of challenges, opportunities and programme reach for behaviour change intervention programmes—particularly in relation to seldom‐heard client groups.

Listening to Stakeholders Involved in Speech-Language Therapy for Children With Communication Disorders: Content Analysis of Apple App Store Reviews.

BackgroundWith the plethora of mobile apps available on the Apple App Store, more speech-language pathologists (SLPs) have adopted apps for speech-language therapy services, especially for pediatric clients. App Store reviews are publicly available data sources that can not only create avenues for communication between technology developers and consumers but also enable stakeholders such as parents and clinicians to share their opinions and view opinions about the app content and quality based on user experiences.ObjectiveThis study examines the Apple App Store reviews from multiple key stakeholders (eg, parents, educators, and SLPs) to identify and understand user needs and challenges of using speech-language therapy apps (including augmentative and alternative communication [AAC] apps) for pediatric clients who receive speech-language therapy services.MethodsWe selected 16 apps from a prior interview study with SLPs that covered multiple American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Big Nine competencies, including articulation, receptive and expressive language, fluency, voice, social communication, and communication modalities. Using an automatic Python (Python Software Foundation) crawler developed by our research team and a Really Simple Syndication feed generator provided by Apple, we extracted a total of 721 app reviews from 2009 to 2020. Using qualitative coding to identify emerging themes, we conducted a content analysis of 57.9% (418/721) reviews and synthesized user feedback related to app features and content, usability issues, recommendations for improvement, and multiple influential factors related to app design and use.ResultsOur analyses revealed that key stakeholders such as family members, educators, and individuals with communication disorders have used App Store reviews as a platform to share their experiences with AAC and speech-language apps. User reviews for AAC apps were primarily written by parents who indicated that AAC apps consistently exhibited more usability issues owing to violations of design guidelines in areas of aesthetics, user errors, controls, and customization. Reviews for speech-language apps were primarily written by SLPs and educators who requested and recommended specific app features (eg, customization of visuals, recorded feedback within the app, and culturally diverse character roles) based on their experiences working with a diverse group of pediatric clients with a variety of communication disorders.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first study to compile and analyze publicly available App Store reviews to identify areas for improvement within mobile apps for pediatric speech-language therapy apps from children with communication disorders and different stakeholders (eg, clinicians, parents, and educators). The findings contribute to the understanding of apps for children with communication disorders regarding content and features, app usability and accessibility issues, and influential factors that impact both AAC apps and speech-language apps for children with communication disorders who need speech therapy.

Individual knowledge measurement: organizational knowledge measured at the individual level

PurposeFundamental classifications of knowledge may be measurable as factors of production and can reveal evidence of specialization between adjacent stages of production even in the presence of shared substantive knowledge. This study of aims to distinguish between, and empirically measure, relative reliance on fundamental classifications of knowledge at the individual level.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, investment managers were asked in an online survey to weigh their relative reliance on tacit, codified and encapsulated knowledge in executing different investment strategies for diverse client groups. Measures of relative reliance on each fundamental classification of knowledge were derived from weights assigned by each survey respondent in a series of six questions.FindingsSurvey respondents provided reliable measures of their relative reliance on tacit, codified and encapsulated knowledge. Reliance on these fundamental classifications of knowledge is shown to differ between investment managers, depending on the investment strategies being used and client groups served. These differences were exhibited notwithstanding all the respondents sharing common substantive knowledge.Research limitations/implicationsMeasures of relative reliance on three classifications of knowledge were based on self-reported ratings rather than on objectively observed phenomena, making them subject to measurement error. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to observe relative reliance on tacit, codified and encapsulated knowledge in future studies.Originality/valueThe divergences in relative reliance on the fundamentally different knowledge-based factors of production were found in the presence of jointly held substantive knowledge, suggesting that fundamental classifications of knowledge are measurable and can provide evidence of specialization.

Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Institutional Practice: Barry A. Hong.

This award is intended to recognize outstanding practitioners in psychology. Nominations are considered for psychologists working in a wide variety of institutional practice settings (e.g., schools, military, state hospital, Department of Veterans Affairs). Services provided to diverse client groups or patient populations, including but not limited to children/ adolescents/adults/older adults, urban/rural/ frontier populations, minority populations, and persons with serious mental illness, are considered. Contributions are judged distinguished by virtue of peer recognition, advancement of the public's recognition of psychology as a profession, relevant professional association honors, or other meritorious accomplishments denoting excellence as a practitioner, including improvement of institutional service delivery systems or development of psychologically informed public policy. The 2020 recipients of the APA Professional Contributions Awards were selected by the 2019 Board of Professional Affairs (BPA). Barry A. Hong has promoted psychologists' status in academic health care, which has advanced psychologists' roles universally. As chief psychologist for Washington University's Barnes-Jewish Hospital, he champions psychologists' roles, collaborates broadly with clinical and research professionals, and mentors psychologists. He created a liaison role for the Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers to the Council of Academic Societies of the Association of American Medical Colleges, the nation's premier academic health care organization. Hong is an active clinician and researcher who has been a leader in multiple professional societies and served on the APA Commission on Accreditation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Independent Practice.

This award is intended to recognize outstanding independent practitioners in psychology. Nominations are considered for psychologists working in any area of clinical specialization, health services provision, or consulting, and services provided to any patient population or professional clientele in an independent setting. Services provided to diverse client groups or patient populations, including but not limited to children/adolescents/ adults/older adults, urban/rural/frontier populations, minority populations, and persons with serious mental illness are considered. Contributions are judged distinguished by virtue of peer recognition, advancement of the public's recognition of psychology as a profession, relevant professional association honors, or other meritorious accomplishments denoting excellence as a practitioner, including advancement of the profession. The 2020 recipient of the APA Professional Contributions Awards were selected by the 2019 Board of Professional Affairs (BPA). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Independent Practice: Adam S. Weissman.

This award is intended to recognize outstanding independent practitioners in psychology. Nominations are considered for psychologists working in any area of clinical specialization, health services provision, or consulting, and services provided to any patient population or professional clientele in an independent setting. Services provided to diverse client groups or patient populations, including but not limited to children/adolescents/ adults/older adults, urban/rural/frontier populations, minority populations, and persons with serious mental illness are considered. Contributions are judged distinguished by virtue of peer recognition, advancement of the public's recognition of psychology as a profession, relevant professional association honors, or other meritorious accomplishments denoting excellence as a practitioner, including advancement of the profession. The 2020 recipient of the APA Professional Contributions Awards were selected by the 2019 Board of Professional Affairs (BPA). Adam S. Weissman is a health care innovator, leader, and visionary, with a mission to revolutionize the mental and behavioral health field by increasing access to, disseminating, and implementing best practices and evidencebased treatments for underserved communities. Adam S. Weissman has passionately pursued his quest, achieving unparalleled success in developing a 15-site, multistate, mission-based behavioral health care organization, The Child & Family Institute, and the nonprofit Weissman Children's Foundation, currently providing large-scale pro bono COVID-19 relief nationally. Adam S. Weissman is president of numerous psychological and mental health associations, a prolific writer and researcher, and a recipient of many service and academic awards. Undoubtedly, he will continue to transform lives and revolutionize the field. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Institutional Practice.

This award is intended to recognize outstanding practitioners in psychology. Nominations are considered for psychologists working in a wide variety of institutional practice settings (e.g., schools, military, state hospital, Department of Veterans Affairs). Services provided to diverse client groups or patient populations, including but not limited to children/ adolescents/adults/older adults, urban/rural/ frontier populations, minority populations, and persons with serious mental illness, are considered. Contributions are judged distinguished by virtue of peer recognition, advancement of the public's recognition of psychology as a profession, relevant professional association honors, or other meritorious accomplishments denoting excellence as a practitioner, including improvement of institutional service delivery systems or development of psychologically informed public policy. The 2020 recipients of the APA Professional Contributions Awards were selected by the 2019 Board of Professional Affairs (BPA). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Exploring use of the Outcomes Framework for Dance Movement Therapy to establish a group profile and objectives for psychomotor therapy interventions

ABSTRACT Fields of psychomotor therapy and dance movement therapy share a common challenge in the under-development of accessible assessment instruments that are easy for practitioners to use and relevant for diverse client groups. This study discusses the application of the Outcomes Framework for Dance Movement Therapy as an assessment tool in a community psychomotor therapy programme for adults with high support needs in Almada, Portugal. The Framework was trialled to create a group profile to support the development of therapeutic objectives for the entire group. 61 participants were observed by four raters across a series of sessions. Group profile results were obtained by averaging scores from sub-domains and 59 individual items for each participant, after an internal consistency test found acceptable to good reliability values. Findings indicate the Framework was suitable for use by psychomotor therapists to develop a group profile and set program objectives.