March 5, 1999

APA's senior vice president, Daniel Borenstein, M.D., will improve communication between APA at the national level and its district branches in a new liaison role approved by the Board of Trustees last December. Borenstein was elected to be APA's next president-elect in May, at which time Richard Harding M.D., will become the senior vice president.

"I see this new role as an important, ongoing function of the senior vice president," Borenstein told Psychiatric News. "APA has demonstrated with this appointment that it is interested in having more contacts and involvement with district branches and state societies."

Borenstein welcomed the opportunity to improve communication, noting that the district branches have felt uninformed and not involved in APA actions and activities in the past, especially those that have a direct impact on district branch activities.

Borenstein will continue to meet regularly with the district branch presidents-elect prior to APA Board and Assembly meetings as part of an ongoing initiative created by Herbert Sacks, M.D., when he was APA's president in 1997-98.

"The district branch presidents-elect clearly want to become more involved within APA. They have a lot of energy, creativity, and enthusiasm, which we need to tap," said Borenstein.

Borenstein was impressed with the ideas voiced by the district branch presidents-elect last November, prior to the Assembly meeting. For example, they suggested an "APA on the Hill Day" in conjunction with APA's annual meeting in May. APA members will visit legislators on Capitol Hill to convey a consistent APA message on mental health issues. The lobbying effort will be coordinated with APA's divisions of Government Relations and Public Affairs, said Borenstein.

He also urged APA Trustees and officers to visit district branches and meet their members. "At the same time, I would like to see district branch officers reaching out to their members. By doing this, members would know APA is interested in them and whom to turn to with their concerns."

Borenstein has already taken steps to improve communication between the national APA office and the district branches. For example, at his request, APA now sends each district branch executive director, president, and president-elect a list of all its members serving on APA components or who have other APA positions. He suggested that when APA's president-elect is making new component appointments, district branch officers should be allowed to review them for comment.

The district branches are also encouraged to invite their members to attend district branch council meetings to stay in touch with what is going on nationally. The meetings provide a forum for members to communicate their concerns to their national representative, said Borenstein.

He also said that he plans to work closely with APA's Office of District Branch and State Society Relations to coordinate the flow of information and staff visits to district branches.

Borenstein wants district branch officers and members to know that he is available to answer questions or respond to comments. He can be reached at (310) 472-7386; e-mail: dbb@ucla.edu.

In related news, APA President-Elect Allan Tasman, M.D., recently chaired an ad hoc group charged by APA President Rodrigo Muņoz, M.D., with developing strategies to improve communication within APA and district branch relations.

"We suggested two groups to succeed the Task Force on APA/DB Relations that would have a broader base of representation and more direct oversight by the Board," said Tasman.

At the November Assembly meeting, the group proposed forming the Council of DB Executive Directors to work closely with APA's Office of District Branch and State Society Relations to address issues such as membership recruitment and retention, staff organization and effective administration, and communication between APA and state-level staff.

"The goal is to have a seamless system between people working at APA's national office and the state level," Tasman told Psychiatric News.

The ad hoc group also proposed developing a formal committee of district branch presidents and presidents-elect under the aegis of the senior vice president. Tasman added that these proposals, stimulated by APA's Strategic Planning Task Force report last year, will need Board approval.