Increasing Awareness of Clinical Neuropsychology in the General Public

Abstract

We can only benefit from raising public awareness about the unique role of clinical neuropsychology in patient care and clinical research. Public awareness of the distinctive skills of our practitioners and researchers and the utility of our products may well be linked to our viability as a field given the current healthcare and funding climates. This article discusses the goals of public awareness efforts for clinical neuropsychology, and outlines current resources that can be utilized toward this end. We review the process of creating new public awareness resources and discuss ideas for how practitioners can become involved public awareness efforts. We consider some of the many issues driving the need for public awareness activities and resources, highlight the need for practitioners and professional organizations to be self-advocates, and hope to inspire our field to the very feasible process of integrating public awareness efforts into professional practice.

Keywords:

• Public awareness
• Awareness
• Communication