Our Strategies of Influence: Everybody wants to go to Heaven, but Nobody wants to Die - Are we at an Impasse?

For the longest time, we have hoped to have a bigger say in the political and administrative decisions that affect the quality of care we deliver our clientele and their families. Different strategies have been explored and certain avenues of reflection were put forth in an article printed in our news bulletin a year ago. Despite the level of our expertise, to date, seldom and only through great strain have we managed to hold any real sway as child psychiatrists. We remain a divided group where different and at times opposite outlooks exist side by side without being conducive to a synthesis and to choices that reflect the vast richness of these different points of view. As a result, our ability to participate effectively in the societal decisions that impact the quality of care we provide our clientele is largely diminished. This leaves more room for better organized groups, such as parents’ lobbies dealing with specific pathologies and groups of non-medical professionals taking advantage of the vacuum created to extend their influence and their scope of intervention. The paradigm shifts and even the changes to the legal framework governing the exercise of professions surrounding PDD are a case in point.