This award will recognize individual AAPP members who impact change benefiting patient access to care for individuals living with mental illness and/or the profession of psychiatric pharmacy through advocacy with policymakers and/or decision-makers. Advocacy activities under consideration include those with federal and state government as well as other policymaking entities (e.g., regulatory bodies, state boards of pharmacy, agencies, standards bodies, health system administrators, etc.). The nominee's actions do not necessarily have to result in legislation passed or policy changed and can also include preventing policy, regulation, and/or legislation from passing. Though advocacy is often a group effort, award candidates must demonstrate their extensive involvement and influence in impacting change and what that change consisted of. This advocacy activity and associated accomplishments must go beyond the confines/standard expectations of their employment and the issues must align with AAPP’s health policy agenda, mission, and vision.
Criteria
- Nominees must have been an AAPP member for at least 3 of the past 5 years preceding submission for the award, including the current year of the submission.
- Board certification as a Board-Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist (BCPP) is not required but will be weighted in award scoring.
- Applications should only be submitted for nominees who have led advocacy efforts that exceed the usual/standard expectations of a psychiatric pharmacist or their job role.
- Nominee must have successfully promoted and advocated for the expansion of the profession of psychiatric pharmacy or patient care for those living with mental illness through one or more of the following mechanisms:
- Leadership in professional guideline or standard setting activities.
- Personal efforts critical to passing legislation supporting psychiatric pharmacy or preventing the passage of legislation that would be detrimental to the profession.
- Personal efforts in providing input into or influencing implementing regulations for changes in law or policy.
- Initiating or establishing an effective grassroots coalition in their state around an issue that aligns with AAPP’s health policy agenda.
- Leadership and creativity in developing and/or advancing public policy positions.
- The advocacy effort or activity must have been initiated within the preceding five (5) years of submitting for the award.
- The program, effort, or activity must have resulted in impact with demonstrated outcomes, as described in a publication or through other public dissemination of the program such as news articles, press releases, interviews, etc.
Applicant Materials
This award is intended to recognize psychiatric pharmacists working in the field of mental health care which is inclusive of substance use disorders. Nominations for this awards can be made by the applicant themselves or an individual(s) who wishes to nominate and submit the required elements for consideration by the committee. Judith J. Saklad Memorial Award recipients are not eligible for consideration of any other AAPP Awards given that the Saklad Award is a pinnacle award and broadly encompasses the various components of other AAPP awards.
Materials required to be submitted include:
- CV
- Cover Letter: Detailing the nominee’s qualifications and explanation of the activities believed to be deserving of recognition. This cover letter should also detail how they as the applicant, led, significantly impacted, or enabled the initiative/activity and the realized outcomes, as well as the extent of collaboration with legislative or regulatory bodies. The letter should not exceed 4 pages single-spaced.
- Letter of Support: Describing the impact of the activity(ies) from an individual not directly involved with the service who can speak to the witnessed impact. The letter should not exceed 3 pages single-spaced and should specifically address criteria 3 and 4 above.
- Other supporting documentation of their activities. This may include presentations, developed printed materials, issue briefs, letters, papers, posters, meeting minutes, etc. that demonstrate the nominee’s level of involvement and leadership with the activity(ies).
