Monitor on Psychology - February 2012 - (Page 53)

and Sudoku, she says, but many respond to “calls to service” to help youth in need. Nonetheless, the program in Baltimore, with 292 volunteers, costs about $1.5 million a year. That cost includes stipends for the volunteers’ food and travel expenses, yearly salaries for the directors, program administrator, entry personnel, a volunteer coordinator and the cost of the training sessions. So, the Experience Corps is far more expensive than Sudoku and ginkgo. But Carlson argues that quick fixes like these haven’t been shown to translate into broad improvements in cognition, particularly in real-world measures of executive functioning, while her preliminary analyses suggest the Experience Corps does. The way in which the program’s activities improve executive functioning, however, may be tough to untangle. “The Experience Corps can’t tell us the nitty-gritty details on mechanism,” says Arthur Kramer, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, “but from a practical point of view, it doesn’t matter a whole heck of a lot.” A boost for students To complement the neuroscience research, Johns Hopkins health economist Kevin Frick, PhD, is leading an effort to compute the program’s financial and health effects by looking at its impact on teachers, tutored students and elderly participants. In a 2004 pilot study in the Journal of Urban Health, Frick’s team found that the immediate improvements in health gained by participants over two years don’t balance out the program’s cost. However, this equation might change if long-term studies find that the program staves off dementia, Frick says. Moreover, it’s too soon to tell if the program increases children’s chances of graduating high school. If it does, the program would be well worth its price tag. The team determined that the annual cost of the Baltimore program would be offset by the higher salaries earned by people with high school diplomas, if graduation rates increase by just 0.5 percent, or 1 in 200, because of Experience Corps interventions early on. However, filling in variables like the rate of high school graduation and the time to dementia, which would decrease medical costs, may take up to a decade. “The biggest threat to an economic argument is people’s impatience in waiting for a benefit,” Frick says. Finances aside, preliminary results support the notion that the program provides a meaningful ray of light for people in their golden years and in their dawn. And testimony from volunteers doesn’t hurt the case. “I go for the mental stimulation, and I go because physically it’s good to move around,” says Barbara, a 77-year-old participant. “It’s emotional, and I must say it’s awfully spiritual to know I’m making a difference.” n Amy Maxmen is a writer in New York City. cLINIcIaN’S cOrNEr WOrKShOPS The APA Office of Continuing Education in Psychology is now webcasting its Clinician’s Corner workshops nationally on a LIVE basis in addition to offering the workshop on-site at the APA Building, 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC. These 3-hour workshops feature leading practitioners and scholars working in key areas of professional practice; all workshops include CE credits. March 16, 2012 1:00–4:00 p.m. EST Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Older adults CE Credits: 3 Presenter: Gregory Hinrichsen, PhD March 30, 2012 1:00–4:00 p.m. EST Psychopharmacology CE Credits: 3 Presenter: Glenn Ally, PhD The 2012 lineup includes programs on training and supervision, learning disabilities and ADHD, and motivational interviewing, among others. Enrollment fees for LIVE webcast and on-site workshop: APA Members $65 Nonmembers $80 For LIVE webcast enrollment (1:00–4:00 p.m. EST): Go to http://apa.bizvision.com/category /clinician-corner-workshop For on-site enrollment (APA building, 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC): Call 1-800-374-2721, ext. 5991, option 3 Live Webcast and On-Site Participation Visit www.apa.org/ed/ce for more CE opportunities. AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 750 First Street, NE Washington, DC 20002–4242 F e b ru a ry 2 0 1 2 • M o n i t o r o n p s y c h o l o g y 53 http://apa.bizvision.com/category/dinician-corner-workshop http://apa.bizvision.com/category/dinician-corner-workshop http://www.apa.org/ed/ce

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - February 2012

Monitor on Psychology - February 2012
Letters
President’s column
Contents
From the CEO
APA files two briefs in support of same-sex couples
New registry seeks to understand addiction recovery through ‘crowdsourcing’
APA launches a database of tests and measures
Watch for new member benefit: “APA Access”
Apply now for APA’s Advanced Training Institutes
PsycTHERAPY, APA’s new database, brings therapy demos to life
In Brief
APA scientists help guide tobacco regulation
A-mazing research
‘A machine for jumping to conclusions’
Judicial Notebook
Random Sample
Righting the imbalance
The beginnings of mental illness
Science Directions
Improving disorder classification, worldwide
Protesting proposed changes to the DSM
Interventions for at-risk students
Harnessing the wisdom of the ages
Anti-bullying efforts ramp up
Hostile hallways
R U friends 4 real?
Support for teachers
Speaking of Education
Record keeping for practitioners
Going green
At the intersection of law and psychology
Division Spotlight
Grants help solve society’s problems
Personalities

Monitor on Psychology - February 2012

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