Background
Following decades of insufficient funding for mental health research and services, a chronic shortage in mental health care providers, a false bifurcation of mental versus physical health as independent domains of functioning, and reports over decades indicating that at least half of those in need of mental health services receive no treatment, a mental health crisis has been declared.
The APA Population Health Science Summit gathered many of the nation’s thought leaders to attend and help construct an agenda for the future of psychological science informing a population health framework.
Goals
Summit goals were to come to a consensus on elements of a unified population health framework, assess the extant, and needed science to support the application of this framework, and generate collaborative action steps that could propel this approach forward.
Participants involved in various areas of psychological science such as scientists from relevant disciplines, federal and private funding agencies, governmental offices, industries, and non-profit groups came together to work on three overarching objectives: assess consensus for a population health approach; identify priorities for necessary next steps; and create action plans for next steps.
Executive summary
The current approach to mental health has helped millions of children, adolescents, and adults; yet, significant limitations have become clear. Our disproportionate focus on assessment and treatment for those who pursue, and can access mental health services has yielded significant health disparities.
A strong consensus was established at the summit indicating that there is a sufficient and compelling scientific basis to support a move to a population health approach to mental health care and prevention.
We can build psychologically healthy workplaces, we can build psychologically healthy schools, we can build psychologically healthy communities.
Prereadings
Population Health Summit participants reviewed two documents to facilitate active discussion. The first, offers a sample conceptual population health framework. The second, is a research synthesis created for the summit to offer a rich summary of psychological science underlying numerous strategies that support a population health framework and highlight research gaps.
Evans, A. C., & Bufka, L. F. (2020). The critical need for a population health approach: addressing the nation’s behavioral health during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Preventing Chronic Disease, 17, 1-6. https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2020/20_0261.htm
APA (2023). Population health science summit: Grounding evidence and preliminary research synthesis. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/science/programs/population-health-science-summit/research-synthesis.pdf
