New Cultural Awareness Guide is Available
By Public Relations Staff December 17, 2008 – The American Psychological Association (APA) Practice Directorate is disseminating a new guide to Cultural Awareness for Public Education Campaign (PEC) and Disaster Response Network (DRN) members. The wallet-sized folding guide encourages psychologists to engage, experience and celebrate different cultures. PEC and DRN leaders together with Josephine D. Johnson, PhD, chair of the APA Task Force on the Implementation of the Multicultural Guidelines, developed the guide to help psychologists participating in the PEC and DRN think and act with greater cultural awareness. Though written specifically for these two community outreach programs, the guide offers practical suggestions for all psychologists on effectively and appropriately communicating with and reaching out to people of diverse backgrounds. The APA Practice Directorate is mailing the cards to PEC and DRN coordinators who in turn will distribute the guides to members involved with these programs. The cultural awareness guide is available to any interested APA member in a PDF version (provided with this article). Over the years, the PEC and DRN programs have incorporated a focus on diversity and culture into their work in various ways, such as engaging psychologists to participate in multicultural workshops, creating materials for APA’s Spanish language Web site for consumers and inviting psychologists from diverse backgrounds to join the two programs. Practitioners who are interested in obtaining the wallet-size guide or who want to learn more about the PEC or DRN can contact Kate Kelley in the APA Practice Directorate Public Relations Department at kkelley@apa.org or 1-800-374-2723 x5898.