APA's Board of Trustees approved the following recommendations of the Ad Hoc Work Group on Strategic Planning at the Board's March 2015 meeting:

• Advancing the integration of psychiatry in the evolving health care delivery system by
  • Advocating for the central role of psychiatry in all care settings and working to ensure full implementation and robust enforcement of mental health parity
  • Meeting the educational needs of members throughout their careers and providing assistance to them in the changing practice environment and as new technologies emerge
  • Building the psychiatric workforce, developing and advocating for equitable reimbursement models, and safeguarding the practice of psychiatric medicine.
• Supporting and increasing diversity within APA; serving the needs of evolving, diverse, underrepresented, and underserved patient populations; and working to end disparities in mental health care.
  • Prioritizing under-represented populations and mental health inequities via strategic research, education, and advocacy
  • Equipping culturally, linguistically, developmentally and structurally competent health professionals by advising on clinical best practices to benefit diverse, under-resourced communities
  • Advocating for health equity and policies for undoing racism and discrimination within local, state, and federal government, and health professional organizations
  • Supporting efforts to increase recruitment and retention of psychiatrists who identify from groups that are historically underrepresented in medicine and medical leadership, while ensuring representation of minority populations in all levels of APA governance.
• Educating members, patients, families, the public, and other practitioners about mental disorders and evidence-based treatment options.
• Supporting research to advance treatment and the best possible clinical care, as well as to inform credible quality standards; advocating for increased research funding. APA will enhance clinical care and reduce the burden of mental illness for our patients and society by
  • Leading the development, refinement, and evaluation of appropriate quality measures
  • Conducting, supporting, and encouraging research, including data analysis and registries to inform APA, its members, and society about current and future best practices of mental health delivery and clinical care
  • Leading advocacy to increase funding from public and private sources to advance the understanding, prevention, treatment, and ultimate cure of mental illness.