What’s the Latest On Schizophrenia?

Psychiatrists seeking cutting-edge information on “best practices” in the treatment of schizophrenia should attend the symposium “Schizophrenia: Current Guidelines, Practices, and Effectiveness Research” on Monday, May 19, at 2 p.m. in Golden Gate Hall, B-2 level, Marriott.

Chairing the symposium will be Darrel Regier, M.D., director of APA’s Office of Research, and John McIntyre, M.D., chair of APA’s Steering Committee on Practice Guidelines.

Participants will include nationally recognized experts Anthony Lehman, M.D., Jeffrey Lieberman, M.D., Mark Olfson, M.D., M.P.H., and Joyce C. West, Ph.D.

Although there are now evidence- and expert-consensus-based practice guidelines for use as clinical tools for clinicians, significant gaps remain in the research to inform treatment decisions and best practices resulting in improved treatment outcomes.

This session will provide an overview of treatment recommendations for schizophrenia from the recently revised PORT guidelines and compare them with APA’s and other major national practice guidelines and treatment protocols for schizophrenia; describe the major gaps in the current research base to guide clinical decisions; provide an overview of NIMH’s current major national research initiatives, including the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE); and present nationally representative data from the American Psychiatric Practice Research Network on currently used treatments of adults with schizophrenia and the extent to which that care is consistent with accepted treatment protocols and guidelines. ▪