Acute, Intensive, & Residential Services SIG Update

Acute, Intensive, & Residential Services SIG Update

By Alysha Thompson, PhD
AIRS Special Interest Group Chair

The AIRS SIG board and members continued their hard at work over the last quarter! We recently sent out our annual newsletter to the AIRS SIG community, and it can also be found on the AIRS SIG page of the SCCAP website for those who want a more in depth look at what we’ve been up to! This includes links to upcoming virtual AIRS SIG events, a great research roundup of recent publications by AIRS SIG members, and a more thorough overview of AIRS SIG at APA this August!

AIRS SIG at APA

We had a great turnout at APA this year, with a number of presentations by AIRS SIG members, as well as a great social hour where we got to meet in person (some of us meeting each other in person for the first time!) and presented our inaugural awards to Drs. Jarrod Leffler and Patricia Garibaldi. Congratulations again to Jarrod and Patricia! See photos for many of our AIRS SIG members at our social hour at APA.

Upcoming Conferences

We are excited to see folks at some upcoming conferences! Look for AIRS SIG Members at the following upcoming presentations

AACAP – October in Seattle 

• Symposium: Meeting the Moment: New Program Development for Adolescents with Acute Psychiatric Needs. Presenters include Drs. Elisabeth Frazier, Alysha Thompson, Miriam Rubenson, Hilary Mead, Molly Hedrick, Emily May, and Kyrill Gurtovenko

ISITDBT and ABCT – November in Philadelphia

• Danielle Citera, Ph.D. and team from Stony Brook will be presenting at ISITDBT on November 14th, 2024 in Philadelphia: Implementation of DBT Skills Training and Education for Staff Working on an Acute Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatient Unit.
• Hawks organized Symposia, 1791554: Implementing Evidence-Based Practices in a Pediatric Inpatient Psychiatric Unit, to be held November 14 – 17, 2024. Presenters include Drs. Jessica Hawks, Alysha Thompson, Jarrod Leffler, Evadine Codd, Matthew Luehring, and Elizabeth Reynolds.

Upcoming AIRS SIG Events

The AIRS SIG has a number of upcoming virtual events we would love to see folks at!

• Monthly Medical-Psychiatry Consultation: There has been growing interest among AIRS SIG members to share information and knowledge about treating medically and psychiatrically complex patients in acute and inpatient settings. In response, we identified a need for regular times for consultation, focused on specific areas. We have also set up a Google Drive folder as a way to share resources and information on medical psychiatric programming. We hope that members can have a space to gather, share their expertise, and asks questions.

Information on times and dates of meetings are below. Topics will cover strategies for program building, including considerations for leadership buy-in, staff training needs, and physical space, clinical programming models and modalities, managing multi-disciplinary teams, safety policies and procedures, and financing. Please feel free to distribute to colleagues of other discipline or those across Div 53 or 54, and email Jaclyn.aldrich@nationwidechildrens.org with questions.

Dates/Times:

• October 17, 2PM
• November 21, 2PM
• December 19, 2PM
• January 23, 2PM

Zoom meeting links with information on the meeting topic will be sent out prior to the  meeting to the AIRS LISTSERV.

• AIRS Early Career Consultation Group: Join early career AIRS SIG members in a monthly, informal opportunity to discuss topics and issues relevant to early career psychologists (earning your doctoral degree no more than 10 years ago) working in acute care settings. Every 3rd Tuesday at 8pm Eastern / 5pm Pacific. Link here: https://jhjhm.zoom.us/j/99077666958

Upcoming Board Elections

As 2024 comes to a close, we mark the end of this 2-year cycle for our AIRS SIG board. We will be sending out information in the coming month regarding nominations for the AIRS SIG Board members. Please nominate yourself or a colleague if you are interested in becoming a board member. Board membership has been a wonderful way to connect with other psychologists who are working in AIRS settings and to continue to improve our connections with other psychologists doing this work. After nominations are received, the AIRS SIG team will confirm with nominees that they would be willing to serve on the board and then will send out an election ballot via the AIRS SIG Listserv. Thank you for continuing to engage in the AIRS SIG, nominating yourself and colleagues for board membership, and voting in our upcoming election!