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This came across my e-mail today, and I thought it may be of interest to people. While the jobs are aimed at more senior level health psychologists, I think it highlights psychology's important role in primary care and preventative care. President Obama made reference to improving VA care last night, and this is one of the positive changes that has resulted.
The announcement, with my bolding:
Anticipated Nationwide Openings for Health Psychologists in the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs is launching an initiative to enhance health promotion and disease prevention services to Veterans in primary care, using a patient-centered medical home model. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) recognizes the role that unhealthy behaviors play in the development and maintenance of many chronic diseases. To support efforts focusing on assisting patients in making health behavior changes, VHA will be hiring a Health Behavior Coordinator for each of its 153 medical centers.
The Health Behavior Coordinator (HBC) position is targeted for applicants with significant training and experience in health psychology/behavioral medicine (grade to be determined by the Psychology Professional Standards Board but anticipated for the GS-13 level). The Health Behavior Coordinator will serve several roles. First, the HBC will train, mentor, and guide primary care and other staff members to support patient self management of health-related behaviors via effective health behavior coaching and the use of motivational interviewing and other empirically-based communication and health behavior management approaches. Training curriculum, models, and formats for providing this training are under development. Thus, the HBC will have a significant role as a consultant for clinical staff members who promote patient self-management of health behavior. Second, the HBC will work closely with a Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Program Manager to develop new or adapt existing VHA programs, guide implementation, and coordinate evaluations to determine the efficacy of health promotion and disease prevention programs at the medical center. In this role, the HBC will serve as co-chair of the facility HPDP Program Committee. Third, the HBC will participate in some group and individual health promotion interventions such as smoking cessation and weight management, providing or co-providing direct patient care. Fourth, the HBC will carry out discipline-specific health psychology assessments (e.g., pre-bariatric surgery psychological assessments). The position also provides time for research and teaching.
Recently, mental health services in VHA have undergone significant expansion, with the employment of Integrated Mental Health staff in the Primary Care Center to facilitate mental health care within the general medical setting. The new HBC position is independent of this recent mental health expansion. While the HBC is targeted to promote the health of all VHA patients rather than focusing only on patients with mental illness, the HBC coordinator will collaborate with mental health peers within and outside of primary care, particularly in areas of overlap such as stress management.
Each VHA Medical Center will be posting these positions over the next few months. When officially announced by the Human Resources section of the Medical Centers, positions for the specific facilities will be posted on USAJOBS.gov. If interested, you are encouraged to register on USAJOBS. This secure federal government site allows you to have position announcements sent to your email address on a weekly basis. You may also pre-complete necessary forms for quick and easy application to posted positions. The position series for psychologists is GS-0180. Depending upon how a facility posts the position, other disciplines with significant experience in behavioral medicine may also be considered.
The US Dept. of Veterans Affairs went through a major transformation in the 1990s. More recently, mental health services have also expanded substantially. Several independent groups have recognized VA as a leader in quality healthcare (e.g., The Best Care Anywhere). Staff satisfaction among VA employees is very high, with excellent benefits and opportunities for advancement. With this expansion, VHA is expected to become the largest single employer of behavioral health/health psychology experts. Our nations heroes have earned their care through their service to our country. If you have the training, experience, and desire to promote health and prevent disease in Veterans, please consider joining the VHA team.
The announcement, with my bolding:
Anticipated Nationwide Openings for Health Psychologists in the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs is launching an initiative to enhance health promotion and disease prevention services to Veterans in primary care, using a patient-centered medical home model. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) recognizes the role that unhealthy behaviors play in the development and maintenance of many chronic diseases. To support efforts focusing on assisting patients in making health behavior changes, VHA will be hiring a Health Behavior Coordinator for each of its 153 medical centers.
The Health Behavior Coordinator (HBC) position is targeted for applicants with significant training and experience in health psychology/behavioral medicine (grade to be determined by the Psychology Professional Standards Board but anticipated for the GS-13 level). The Health Behavior Coordinator will serve several roles. First, the HBC will train, mentor, and guide primary care and other staff members to support patient self management of health-related behaviors via effective health behavior coaching and the use of motivational interviewing and other empirically-based communication and health behavior management approaches. Training curriculum, models, and formats for providing this training are under development. Thus, the HBC will have a significant role as a consultant for clinical staff members who promote patient self-management of health behavior. Second, the HBC will work closely with a Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Program Manager to develop new or adapt existing VHA programs, guide implementation, and coordinate evaluations to determine the efficacy of health promotion and disease prevention programs at the medical center. In this role, the HBC will serve as co-chair of the facility HPDP Program Committee. Third, the HBC will participate in some group and individual health promotion interventions such as smoking cessation and weight management, providing or co-providing direct patient care. Fourth, the HBC will carry out discipline-specific health psychology assessments (e.g., pre-bariatric surgery psychological assessments). The position also provides time for research and teaching.
Recently, mental health services in VHA have undergone significant expansion, with the employment of Integrated Mental Health staff in the Primary Care Center to facilitate mental health care within the general medical setting. The new HBC position is independent of this recent mental health expansion. While the HBC is targeted to promote the health of all VHA patients rather than focusing only on patients with mental illness, the HBC coordinator will collaborate with mental health peers within and outside of primary care, particularly in areas of overlap such as stress management.
Each VHA Medical Center will be posting these positions over the next few months. When officially announced by the Human Resources section of the Medical Centers, positions for the specific facilities will be posted on USAJOBS.gov. If interested, you are encouraged to register on USAJOBS. This secure federal government site allows you to have position announcements sent to your email address on a weekly basis. You may also pre-complete necessary forms for quick and easy application to posted positions. The position series for psychologists is GS-0180. Depending upon how a facility posts the position, other disciplines with significant experience in behavioral medicine may also be considered.
The US Dept. of Veterans Affairs went through a major transformation in the 1990s. More recently, mental health services have also expanded substantially. Several independent groups have recognized VA as a leader in quality healthcare (e.g., The Best Care Anywhere). Staff satisfaction among VA employees is very high, with excellent benefits and opportunities for advancement. With this expansion, VHA is expected to become the largest single employer of behavioral health/health psychology experts. Our nations heroes have earned their care through their service to our country. If you have the training, experience, and desire to promote health and prevent disease in Veterans, please consider joining the VHA team.