AAPP Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan Finalized

Just completing its second year, the AAPP DEI Committee is pleased to announce its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion plan. Though spearheaded through the DEI Committee, this strategic plan represents the contributions and efforts of many committees, the Board of Directors, and staff who are working on DEI initiatives across the organization. A significant number of the objectives are already assigned to the pertinent and committees and work is underway.

Why Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Matters to AAPP

The framework for the DEI plan took shape over the past year with the plan vetted by dozens of volunteers to ensure robust input. One of the first pieces of input we received was the need for an explanation of our why—why engage in DEI work. An abbreviated version of our why is excerpted below.

As the home association for psychiatric pharmacy, AAPP advocates for appropriate use of medications, enhanced access to care, and improved patient outcomes. We believe that psychiatric pharmacists delivering person-centered, compassionate care as integral members of the treatment team for patients living with a mental illness and/or substance use disorder(s), is critical to achieving these goals.

It is important for AAPP to attract and retain a diverse membership and leadership who bring unique and innovative perspectives and approaches to AAPP and the important decisions facing the profession and patient care today. As such, AAPP focuses our efforts on building and sustaining an inclusive and transparent organization and efforts to grow the knowledge, skills, and abilities that support psychiatric pharmacists in providing compassionate, culturally competent patient care.

AAPP DEI Goals

Recognizing the fact that AAPP is new in our journey in terms of concentrating in this area, the committee was very cognizant of needing to prioritize goals, and in many cases, spend time studying current status to understand goals for the future. Therefore, the DEI Committee recommended a limited set of preliminary goals around the following themes:

1. Attract a diverse workforce of psychiatric pharmacists.
2. Foster an inclusive organizational culture where all members feel welcome and able to contribute.
3. Cultivate culturally informed, diverse psychiatric pharmacists through information sharing, volunteer experiences, and informal and formal education opportunities directed at advancing knowledge and practice by addressing DEI, health equity, and social determinants of health (SDOH).

Additional reporting around AAPP’s DEI initiatives and our progress will continue to be shared through our various communication mediums. In the meantime, please review an overview of the DEI goals under the About Us page at AAPP.org.

AAPP's DEI Plan