Advancing Psychiatry by Advocacy

APA serves as psychiatry’s voice on the national stage. In practice, that means that APA leaders and staff are constantly working with lawmakers in Congress and our coalition partners to advance policies that support the mission, vision, and values of our Association, our patients, and the health and mental health of the general public. APA’s advocacy doesn’t stop with our efforts in the nation’s capital. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Many of the issues on which APA advocates at the federal level originate in local communities that APA members serve, and our individual voices are essential as we work to advance psychiatry throughout the United States and abroad.

Our rapidly changing health care landscape demands that today’s psychiatrists be adept at advocacy and skilled in communicating complex psychiatric concepts to members of their community and lawmakers alike. Each of us knows just how essential it is to expand and diversify the psychiatric workforce, why we need to increase the number of residency slots for psychiatry, and why it is crucial that mental health parity is rigorously enforced. The trick of advocacy is communicating these concepts to people who may not understand at first and helping them appreciate how they and their constituents can benefit from our work.

In 2023, I flew to Washington, D.C., to represent APA with our allied organization partners called the “Group of Six” in a series of meetings with members of Congress. The Group of Six is made up of allied organizations that share an interest in seeing that primary care and mental health care are always front and center in the minds of our lawmakers. Joining me on this trip were leaders from the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American College of Physicians, American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Osteopathic Association. We advocated in support of specific legislation, such as the Strengthening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act (HR 2474), and other bills that promote access to health care and address physician workforce shortages. Face time with lawmakers is invaluable as it puts a human face on issues that seem esoteric and confusing for people who aren’t physicians or health care policy experts.

One recent advocacy success involved APA working with a government agency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which adopted several quality measures in the CMS Quality Payment Program developed by APA in collaboration with the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA). These outcome measures are focused on assessment of function and suicide, including a measure for suicide safety planning. APA members who collaborated with NCQA members on making these measures clear and effective laid the groundwork for our advocacy work on the Hill.

As psychiatrists, we are experts in the connection between mind, body, and brain. It falls to us to speak up not just for our profession, but for our patients and their families as well. There are many ways to get involved, and we don’t have to do it alone. APA and its district branches (DBs) and state associations (SAs) are great sources of likeminded people and support. DBs and SAs often have existing relationships with local community leaders who can be crucial allies in making progress on an issue. Trainings are available from APA staff to help anyone who is interested in getting involved in advocacy but may not know where to begin. To find out how you can get involved in APA advocacy, please visit APA’s Advocacy Action Center on Psychiatry.org or contact APA staff at [email protected]. ■