The Mission of AACP is to inspire, empower, and equip Community Psychiatrists to promote and provide quality care and to integrate practice with policies that improve the well being of individuals and communities.
It's a fact:
- There are 15,000 community psychiatrists in the United States who could be mobilized to work for quality patient care.
- Community Psychiatrists no longer practice only in CMHCs, but in a wide range of practice settings within an increasingly diverse mental health system.
- Community Psychiatrists regularly find themselves serving as advocates for patients who must rely on increasingly dwindling public resources.
- Community Psychiatrists face increasing challenges in providing quality care to all patients in need, regardless of severity of illness or economic circumstance.
It's a fact:
- The AACP has been working since 1984 as the only national organization that solely represents community psychiatrists.
- The AACP had developed guidelines for practice adopted by the American Psychiatric Association.
- The AACP had developed a model community psychiatry training curriculum for psychiatric residents.
- The AACP promotes community psychiatry issues to the APA, the Mental Health Task Force of JCAHO, the National Community Mental Health Care Council, and other national organizations.
You are a Community Psychiatrist..
..If your approach to psychiatric care reflects an inclusive public health perspective that recognizes the diverse settings and continuum of service needs of patients. Your patients may be of any age, diagnosis, or economic circumstances.
..If you practice in any mental health care setting that delivers a range of services to all patients in the community. These settings include:
| CMHCs | Day Treatment Programs |
| Community Hospitals | Rehabilitation Programs |
| Public Hospitals | State Departments of Mental Health |
| Correctional Facilities | Residential Programs |
| Academic Departments of Psychiatry | Homeless Outreach Programs |
| Psychiatric Emergency Services | Child and Adolescent Programs |
| Community Consultation Programs |
Join Our Efforts to:
- Promote and maintain excellence inpatient care through organizing community psychiatrists on state, regional, and national levels.
- Clarify and solve problems commonly encountered by psychiatrists in community settings.
- Establish liaisons with related professional groups to advocate for relevant public policy issues.
- Encourage psychiatrist training and research and increase the number of well-qualified psychiatrists choosing careers in community settings.
- Improve relationships within community settings between psychiatrists, clinicians of other disciplines, and administrators.
- Inform and educate the public about the role of the community mental health system in the care of the mentally ill.