Prepared Remarks by Roger Peele for the Assembly, November 8, 2008.

If you turn to page 1393 of the American Journal of Psychiatry, October, 1987, you will see the following and I quote: At mid-night, Admiral Muchpower went to the bridge of his battleship and saw a light straight ahead on the horizon.  He had the crew signal to the light, "change your course 5 degrees north."  Back came the signal, "change your course five degrees south."  Irritated, the Admiral had the crew signal, "change your course 5 degrees north, this is Admiral Muchpower with a US Battleship."  Back came the signal, "this is petty officer Smith with a US lighthouse." 

This Speakers Report of mine of 21 years ago emphasized two ways in which the APA could be the lighthouse that the major healthcare powers would have to recognize. 

First, to be a lighthouse, the APA needs to speak for all psychiatric interests. We cannot have a hundred discordant voices. A few months after my Speaker's Report, Carolyn Robinowitz, Paul Fink and I began the goal of including allied organizations in the APA's governance, resulting in the Allied Organizations presence in the Assembly.  As president I will advance the goal of greater inclusiveness of other substantial outside organizations.

Second, to be a lighthouse, the APA has to state the needs of people with psychiatric illnesses. Soon after my Speakers Report, Ron Shellow and I initiated an Action Paper asking that the APA develop Practice Guidelines.  These are our major statements as to how patients should be treated.  In conflicts with managed care I, and probably many of you, have used them to justify treatments.

These two themes become more pressing when a third new major need of the APA is added: doing more with less.  The key to doing more with less is more volunteerism of member and or organizations. The Practice Guidelines show how these three themes flow together.  Voters should know what will be the President's priority as to the President's discretionary funds. Mine will be applied to helping keep the Practice Guidelines current. They are not now current. The one delirium is nine years old. PubMed lists over 4,000 articles on delirium since 1999. A current Practice Guideline can help the busy practitioner swim, not drown, in this sea of scientific articles. As an example of voluntarism, I will explore with the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine keeping that Guide current.  I will explore with American Association of Geriatric Psychiatrists keeping the dementia Guide current. And so forth.

Members want advocacy to be the APA's goal.  That is the same reason this organization was formed 164 years ago: to explicate, to promulgate and to advocate the needs of the psychiatrically ill to achieve humane care and effective treatment.  The degree to which we achieve comprehensive. and current statements as to these needs, our authoritativeness increases.  And the degree to which we are authoritative is the degree to which our advocacy is potent.

So, I ask you to support my candidacy so that the APA's lighthouse is one that policymakers, managed care, and government agencies must recognize, a lighthouse that is firm, shines and enlightens the needs of people with psychiatric illnesses.