Spring 1999 - Board of Directors' Report

xxAACP Newsletter, Volume 13, Number 2, Spring 1999

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Board of Directors' Report

Birmingham, Alabama. A city that once symbolized our country's darkest fear and resistance to change has been transformed since those days in the late 50's and early 60's to a place which has embraced it. That change was brought into sharp focus by the board's visit to Birmingham's Civil Rights Museum, which was a moving experience for all who attended. Birmingham was the site of this year's Winter Meeting held at the Radisson Hotel near downtown. The conference took place on February 3rd and 4th, followed by the Board meeting on February 5, 1999. The conference was well attended and very successfully staged, and a full contingent of Board members were present for our busy agenda. A number of work groups have been very active and have been producing a number of documents, some of which are reproduced in this issue (see pages 4 and 6). Other highlights are reviewed below.

International Activities Grow

Several board members attended the annual meeting of the Mexican Psychiatric Association last October and reported that this was a rich experience which generated a great deal of interest from Mexican psychiatrists who have, for the most part, relatively little exposure to concepts of community psychiatry. The board has also been extended invitations to meetings in Venezuela (November 24-27), Chile (September 5-10) and involvement in Eastern Europe and India were discussed. Despite a full plate of activities back here in the states, international initiatives were seen as a potentially fruitful area for AACP attention.

Membership Continues to Grow

Membership has reached nearly 700, almost 150 more than one year ago. This has been attributed in part to the great efforts of the membership committee under the leadership of Linda Gochfeld, MD., as well as the many activities the Board has recently taken on, increasing our recognition and our appeal to more psychiatrists. It has also been noted that as psychiatrists roles and activities change, the relevance of community concepts have increased. Despite these recent successes, we will need to maintain our intensive recruiting efforts to reach our goal of 1000 by 2000. Members will be encouraged to twist their colleagues' arms over the next six months.

Programs

AACP members continue to make significant contributions to the programs of both the annual meeting of the APA and the autumn IPS meeting. While only a small number of these presentations can be officially recognized as AACP sponsored events, the influence of our membership is clearly well beyond its proportional representation. Some time was spent planning the festivities for the AACP's 15th Anniversary which will be celebrated in New Orleans this autumn during the IPS meeting (see following page). Future Winter Meetings were also discussed. The Winter Meeting of 2000 will take place on February 25-27 near Portland, Oregon at the Skimania Lodge in Washington State which is situated on the Columbia Gorge. David Cutler, MD has been busy elaborating the program and other planning for this meeting. In this spectacular setting major presentations on the evolution of public sector managed care in various states, cultural competence in working with diverse cultural groups, dual diagnosis treatment, scientific advances relevant to the treatment of schizophrenia, and telemedicine are planned. A variety of workshops will also be presented. Mark your calenders! Sites for future winter meetings were also considered. Possibilities for 2001 include Ohio, Tennessee and Puerto Rico.

Psychosocial Rehabilitation

An AACP Task Force has been working on developing a position statement on Psychosocial Rehabilitation. The group was initially formed to provide input to an APA work group addressing this question, but has since taken on a life of its own. The workgroup is headed up by Hunter McQuistion, MD and has elaborated a preliminary document which reflects the significant expertise which exists within the organization. It outlines a comprehensive definition of the activities comprising rehabilitation for persons recovering from severe mental illness as well as an overall philosophical basis for and application of these concepts. The task force will continue to guide the APA work group but will also plan to issue an independent position statement by the summer and possibly a publication on this issue in the future.

Quality Management

A subcommittee of the Health Care Systems Committee has been created to focus on issues of quality management in systems of behavioral health care, with a special focus on issues relevant to the public sector. Barbara Rohland, MD and Wes Sowers, MD have been appointed as Co-Chairpersons for this group which will not necessarily attempt to duplicate the many documents that have already been developed on this issue, but rather will focus on assuring that groups working on documents of this type are sensitive to the needs of the public sector client. An attempt will be made to interface with the APA Task Force on Quality Indicators and to liaison with the American College of Mental Health Administrators which has developed an already extensive document entitled Preserving Quality and Value in the Managed Care Equation. Several other sets of indicators will likewise be reviewed and a set of indicators which best reflect quality in the public sector will eventually be identified.

LOCUS and CALOCUS

Progress continues in the development of the AACP's resource utilization systems for adults and children and adolescents. Although software sales have so far been slow, recognition and use of these instruments continue to grow across the country, particularly within public sector systems. A preliminary assessment of reliability and validity of the Adult Version has been accepted for publication and further testing is underway. A grant for the testing of CALOCUS has been obtained by Andres Pumariega, MD., and will soon begin. Additional funding has been obtained by Deerfield Behavioral Health (the AACP's business partner for LOCUS and CALOCUS development) to enhance marketing of these instruments.

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