The APA is soliciting comments on its draft practice guideline for the treatment of schizophrenia. Feedback will be incorporated into the final version which must be approved by the APA Assembly. [You don’t have to specialize in the treatment of schizophrenia to comment on this draft.]  Please see the information below from Saul Levin, M.D.:

A PDF version of the draft is available on the APA website at https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/clinical-practice-guidelines/review-draft-guidelines.  The deadline to comment is June 28.

The Guideline Writing Group drafted the guideline based on a systematic review of the available evidence.  Each statement (recommendation or suggestion) is separately rated according to the strength of the supporting research evidence and the balance of possible benefits and harms of the recommended or suggested actions.  In addition to specific statements, the draft guideline includes a review of strategies and caveats when implementing the recommendations and a discussion of the appropriateness of the recommendations to inform quality improvement activities.

Comments should be emailed to guidelines@psych.org using the online Microsoft Word comment form.  Please include the following information with each comment:

• Reference each comment by page and line number and include a reference or rationale for your comment.
• Disclose any relevant potential conflicts of interest, e.g., significant industry or other financial relationships you have that may be relevant to evaluating your comment.
• Include an email address and/or phone number where we can contact you for additional information about your input, if necessary.
• Everyone who submits comments can be acknowledged in the published guideline.  If you choose to be recognized, please list your name and academic degree or your organization name as you would like them to be listed.

Thank you in advance for contributing your time and expertise.  Please contact Jennifer Medicus, APA Practice Guidelines, at guidelines@psych.org with any questions.