Utah Legislative Initiative Wins Best Practice Award

The Utah Psychiatric Association (UPA) is the winner of the Assembly's annual District Branch Best Practice Award. Honorable mentions went to the North Carolina Psychiatric Association and the South Carolina Psychiatric Association. The awards were presented at the May Assembly meeting in San Diego.

Utah was awarded for its “soundbytes” program in which the UPA sends state legislators weekly e-mails that describe “a piece of psychiatric news.” Five targeted messages are described in these e-mails—that people with mental disorders have serious, unmet needs, that untreated mental illness levies huge costs on families and society, that cost savings accrue when patients have access to psychiatric care, that psychiatric diagnosis and treatment are based on scientific principles, and that legislators should call on the UPA whenever they have a question about a mental health issue.

The soundbytes are designed to be “friendly, nonargumentative, encouraging, and presenting the facts.”