Psychiatric Pharmacy Advocacy Award

Applications for 2026 Closed. Next Cycle Starts 7/1/2026.

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 Applying to All Awards
  1. These awards are intended to recognize psychiatric pharmacists working in the field of mental health care which is inclusive of substance use disorders. Posthumous awards will not be allowed.
  2. Current members of the AAPP Board of Directors and Nominations and Awards Committee are not eligible for consideration. Members of the Nominations and Awards Committee are also not allowed to nominate or participate in the nomination of a candidate and must recuse themselves if consideration of any candidates represents a conflict of interest for them.
  3. Recipients can only be awarded each member recognition award one time and may receive only one recognition award per year. Strategic goal awards can be awarded to the same individual more than once and can be awarded to an individual the same year they receive a member recognition award.
  4. Judith J. Saklad Memorial Award recipients are not eligible for consideration of any other AAPP member recognition awards given that the Saklad Award is a pinnacle award and broadly encompasses the various components of other AAPP recognition awards.
  5. With the exception of the Saklad Award which is by nomination only, the other awards can be submitted by the applicant or through nomination by others. Regardless of the method, all required elements must be submitted for award consideration by the committee.
  6. Though each award is offered annually, the committee is not mandated to select an award recipient each year.
  7. Incomplete and/or late applications will not be considered.
  8. Applications must be submitted in PDF form to info@aapp.org by the deadline.
  9. Notification of awards will occur on or before the end of January.
Criteria
  1. 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.
  2. Board certification as a Board-Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist (BCPP) is not required but will be weighted in award scoring.
  3. 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.
  4. 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:
    1. Leadership in professional guideline or standard setting activities.
    2. Personal efforts critical to passing legislation supporting psychiatric pharmacy or preventing the passage of legislation that would be detrimental to the profession.
    3. Personal efforts in providing input into or influencing implementing regulations for changes in law or policy.
    4. Initiating or establishing an effective grassroots coalition in their state around an issue that aligns with AAPP’s health policy agenda.
    5. Leadership and creativity in developing and/or advancing public policy positions.
  5. The advocacy effort or activity must have been initiated within the preceding five (5) years of submitting for the award.
  6. 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 Instructions

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.

Materials required to be submitted in one PDF document include:

  1. CV
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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).