In January 1998, the APA Science Directorate will begin accepting applications from universities interested in developing courses and curricula in occupational health psychology (OHP). Science Directorate staff are finalizing plans with key staff at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and an interdisciplinary group of advisors to decide what types of university-based activities will be funded. Occupational health psychology is an emerging specialty within psychology. In the broadest terms, occupational health psychology concerns the application of psychology to improving the quality of worklife and to protecting and promoting the safety, health, and well-being of workers. The primary focus of occupational health psychology is on organizational and job-design factors that contribute to injury and illness at work, including stress-related disorders. Family and societal factors concerns are also of interest to the extent that they influence the safety and well-being of working populations. Individual characteristics, such as skills, abilities, and temperament, and their contribution to occupational illness and injury are also subsumed under the rubric of OHP.

In July of 1997, APA’s Science Directorate was awarded a cooperative agreement with NIOSH to fund the development and implementation of graduate-level training programs in university settings in the area of work organization, stress, and health. The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology wrote a letter of support for the project and indicated willingness to participate in an effort by APA and NIOSH to develop a model graduate-level training program and the establishment of criteria.

As TIP goes to press, the advisors to APA on this project are in the process of establishing the criteria to evaluate university applicants. The advisors include experts in a variety of behavioral science areas, including organizational behavior, clinical and counseling psychology, public health, and industrial engineering. Current members in alphabetical order are: Julian Barling, Ph.D., Queens University; Judith Holder, Ph.D., Duke University Medical Center; Sharon Morris, Ph.D., University of Washington; Jonathan Raymond, Ph.D., Greenville College; and Richard Shell, Ph.D., University of Cincinnati.

The advisors met in Washington, DC on November 15, 1997 to finalize the criteria for selecting proposals from faculty members and departments. Criteria include faculty qualifications, institutional commitment and external collaborations, the quality and feasibility of the proposal, and the planned program evaluation. Faculty proposals must be accompanied by a budget justification and written documentation from the dean or other university official that confirms the proposed course(s)/curricula can be offered at the university. It is anticipated that funds for the first of these awards will be distributed by APA to the recipients in May 1998. The cycle of awards will continue for several years thereafter, contingent on the receipt of federal funds to support the agreement. Approximately $65,000 will be distributed by APA in the first year, with awards expected to average $20,000. Limited funding may be available for a second continuation year, depending upon factors such as available funding, progress and evaluation of the funded program, and competing proposals.

Examples of appropriate training activities under this program include, but are not limited to: (a) expansion of curricula in organizational psychology to provide a focus on organizational risk factors for stress, illness and injury at work, and on intervention strategies; (b) expansion of curricula and practica in clinical psychology to improve the recognition of job stress and its organizational sources; (c) expansion of curricula in human factors engineering to provide more of an exclusive focus on occupational health and safety, and (d) increased exposure of behavioral scientists to research methods and practice in public/occupational health and epidemiology.

Vehicles for this training could include a new survey course or clusters of courses, graduate minor or masters/doctoral degree programs, or practica or internship experiences at the predoctoral level. Because training in work organization, stress, and health is an inherently multidisciplinary area, these training experiences should draw upon and integrate knowledge and faculty from several relevant areas, such as psychology, management, public health, human factors engineering, occupational medicine, and epidemiology.

Administration of the grants will be staffed through the APA Science Directorate. Individuals and departments interested in obtaining application materials should contact Heather Roberts Fox, Ph.D. or Adonia Calhoun at APA, 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242 (E-mail address: her.apa@email.apa.org). Applications can also be found on the APA web site after December 15 at http:\\www.apa.org\science\ohp.html.