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A 6-year update of the health policy and advocacy priorities of the Society of Behavioral Medicine

  • Practice and Public Health Policies
  • Published:
Translational Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Government policy affects virtually every topic of interest to health behavior researchers, from research funding to reimbursement for clinical services to application of evidence to impact health outcomes. This paper provides a 6-year update on the expansion of Society of Behavioral Medicine’s (SBM) public policy and advocacy agenda and proposed future directions. SBM’s Health Policy Council is responsible for ensuring coordination of the policy-related activities of the Health Policy Committee (HPC), the Civic and Public Engagement Committee (CPEC), and the Scientific and Professional Liaison Council (SPLC). These committees and councils have written letters to Congress, signed onto advocacy letters with hundreds of organizations, and developed and disseminated 15 health policy briefs, the majority of which have been presented to legislative staffers on Capitol Hill. With the assistance of the SPLC, SBM has collaborated on policy efforts with like-minded organizations to increase the impact of the Society’s policy work. Moving forward, SBM plans to continue to increase efforts to disseminate policy work more broadly and develop long-term relationships with Congressional staffers. SBM leadership realizes that to remain relevant, demonstrate impact, and advance the role of behavioral medicine, we must advance a policy agenda that reflects our mission of better health through behavior change.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Joanna Buscemi PhD

  2. Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Gary G. Bennett PhD

  3. New York Physicians Against Cancer (NYPAC), New York, NY, USA

    Sherri Sheinfeld Gorin PhD

  4. University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA, USA

    Sherry L. Pagoto PhD

  5. University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    James F. Sallis PhD

  6. University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    Dawn K. Wilson PhD

  7. University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Marian L. Fitzgibbon PhD

Authors
  1. Joanna Buscemi PhD
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  2. Gary G. Bennett PhD
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  3. Sherri Sheinfeld Gorin PhD
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  4. Sherry L. Pagoto PhD
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  5. James F. Sallis PhD
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  6. Dawn K. Wilson PhD
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  7. Marian L. Fitzgibbon PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joanna Buscemi PhD.

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All authors indicated that they do not have any actual or potential conflicts of interest.

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Additional information

Implications Practice: Clinicians and health care providers should consider increasing engagement in public policy advocacy efforts to increase the reach of evidence-based behavioral interventions.

Policy: Policymakers should prioritize the development and implementation of laws and regulations that support the wide dissemination of evidence-based interventions.

Research: Further research on behavioral interventions, dissemination, implementation science, and cost-effectiveness is needed to provide a more substantial evidence base to inform health policy advocacy efforts.

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Buscemi, J., Bennett, G.G., Gorin, S.S. et al. A 6-year update of the health policy and advocacy priorities of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Behav. Med. Pract. Policy Res. 7, 903–911 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-017-0507-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-017-0507-z

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