Liaison Committee

Chairs: David Krantz, PhD

The Liaison Committee serves a liaison function by which the society fosters closer relationships with other general or specialist medical societies, on one hand, and with other psychological or behavioral medicine societies on the other. The latter includes liaison activities with the major behavioral medicine and psychosomatic medicine organizations such as the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, Division 38 of the American Psychological Association, and the Society of Behavioral Medicine.

Medical Societies

The mission of the liaison committee in relation to medical societies is to build and strengthen relationships with the major medical specialty societies that interface with the field of psychosomatic medicine. Examples of activities that support this mission are: planning and submitting symposia for presentation at the annual meetings of other societies, joint conference development, providing keynote speakers to other societies, inviting keynote speakers from other societies, and planning joint meetings. In addition to these educational activities, there may be opportunities for the Society to collaborate with these other medical societies in formulating policy positions relative to matters of public health or research funding.

examples:

1. Symposium: "Depression and prognosis in heart failure: what can we learn from CAD?" at European Heart Failure Meeting 2007 Hamburg, Germany. APS was represented by Christoph Hermann-Lingen and Nancy Frasure-Smith

2. Debate "Should clinicians consider depression to be a causal factor for cardiovascular disease?" held at 46th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease: Epidemiology (American Heart Association) Orlando 2007. APS contribution led by Lawson Wulsin.

3. Two joint symposia with the Functional Brain-Gut Group examined "Commonalities in psychobiological and psychological findings in irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia: Digestive Diseases Week, Washington: May 2007 and APS Annual meeting, Budapest 2007. APS contribution organised by Francis Creed and Doug Drossman.

4. Joint SGIM-APS abstract session at Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) conference, Toronto 2007, organised by Bruce Rollman.

5. Psycho-Oncology. A joint symposium was held at 8th World Congress of Psycho-oncology, Venice 2006. Mike Antoni and Susan Lutgendorf organised the APS invited symposium.

The committee designates one or more representative from the committee to serve as a liaison to each of the respective organizations with whom we intend to collaborate. This person represents APS at an annual meeting of the other societies and ensures that the audience is aware of APS, its journal and activities by using a set of specially prepared slides. It is hoped that such joint symposia lead on to other collaborative activities such as joint research, educational projects, or policy positions.

Behavioral Societies

The continuing existence of multiple organizations interested in the psychological and social aspects of health and disease suggests the vitality of multiple approaches to the biopsychosocial interaction. During any particular period of time, more than one of these societies will likely be devoting financial and personnel resources toward similar or overlapping aims. The behavioral medicine work of the liaison committee of APS includes knowing the aims of these societies, understanding who is active in each society promoting these aims, and in arranging vehicles for joint action by APS with these related societies. At present, for example, the Society for Behavioral Medicine, The Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, Div 38 of the American Psychological Association, and the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, all share similar interests. The role of the liaison committee would be to use newsletters, phone and email conversations, and possibly distribution of official minutes to summarize the current active projects of each society. Joint symposia have been held and two examples are:

Joint Symposium were held at the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine Annual Meetings,(Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry). In 2006 at Tucson, Arizona the symposia was entitled: "Can psychosomatic medicine interventions have therapeutic effects on general medical as well as psychiatric outcomes?" In 2007 the symposium is: "Psychosomatic Interventions: Effects on Medical Outcomes and Mechanisms of Disease". Peter Shapiro was responsible for organizing these joint symposia.

In a new initiative the Society has been invited to join with other organizations in the multidisciplinary Council for Training in Evidence-Based Behavioral Practice (EBBP). This body is supported by NIH’s Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. Members of the EBBP Council come from the fields of psychology, medicine, nursing, social work, public health, and library science. The Council’s charge is to articulate and develop training resources to meet the educational needs of researchers and practitioners wishing to participate in evidence-based behavioral health practice. Movement towards evidence-based practice will improve accountability for health care practice, help stimulate needed development of the research evidence base, and upgrade behavioral health practice. Mustafa Al’Absi has been appointed as APS representative.

Through these various activities the liaison committee advises our Executive Committee on overlapping aims that might be in our interest to pursue with the officers of these other societies.

Francis Hunter Creed, MD, Chair
The Rawnsely Building
Department of Psychiatry
Manchester Royal Infirmary, Oxford Road
Manchester, M13 9WL England
441-612-765331
441-612-732135
Email: francis.creed@manchester.ac.uk

Committee Members
Francis Hunter Creed, MD, Chair
Douglas A. Drossman, MD
Christoph Herrmann-Lingen, MD
Matthew F. Muldoon, MD, MPH
Susan B. Levenstein, MD
Bruce Rollman, MD
Peter A. Shapiro, MD
David S. Sheps, MD, MSPH
Lawson R. Wulsin, MD

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