Outlook: Newsletter of the Society of Behavorial Medicine
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Health Decision Making SIG Update

Marc T. Kiviniemi, Ph.D., HDM SIG Chair
Suzanne C. O'Neill, Ph.D., HDM SIG Co-Chair

The mission of the Health Decision Making Special Interest Group (SIG) is to promote and advance the theory, science, and practice of health decision making, particularly as applied in behavioral medicine. The SIG was officially formed in 2009, has developed a strong agenda of activities to support its mission, and has rapidly grown to over 160 members. In this update, we will highlight activities from our inaugural year of programming at the SBM Annual Meeting held in April 2011 in Washington, DC, as well as other conference-related activities in the planning phases.

2011 Annual Meeting

The 2011 Annual Meeting was the first SBM conference with an active Health Decision Making (HDM) SIG presence on the conference program. The SIG kicked off the conference with a co-sponsored pre-conference workshop on evidence-based behavioral medicine. The workshop was developed by the Evidence-Based Behavioral Medicine (EBBM) SIG and co-sponsored by the HDM SIG. The workshop highlighted current trends in EBBM. The HDM SIG then sponsored a mid-day meeting with a panel presentation and facilitated discussion on incorporating behavioral economics principles into health decision making research and practice. Finally, the HDM SIG sponsored a symposium session, co-developed with the Society for Medical Decision Making, which featured research on health care decision making from the DECISIONS study. In addition, we held our second-ever formal business meeting at the 2011 conference.

Co-Sponsored Session at the Fall 2011 Society for Medical Decision Making Conference

In our last Outlook update (Fall 2010), we reported on developing ties between the HDM SIG and the Society for Medical Decision Making (SMDM). The DECISIONS symposium held at this year's annual meeting is a direct result of those ties. In addition, the HDM SIG is sponsoring a symposium at this Fall's SMDM annual meeting. The symposium will highlight how findings from basic health decision making research can inform applied work in medical decision making. SMDM and the SBM Cancer SIG have both contributed funding to make this session possible.

Planning for HDM SIG Activities at the 2012 SBM Annual Meeting

At this time, we are beginning plans for building on this year's success to have an even stronger program of health decision making sessions for the 2012 SBM Annual Meeting in New Orleans. Possibilities include a pre-conference session focused on health decision making, SIG-developed symposia on health decision making topics, and breakfast or midday meetings focused on health decision making. We welcome your input and ideas.

If you have interest in joining the HDM SIG, suggestions for activities, or questions about the update, please don't hesitate to contact us - we would welcome talking with you about the SIG! Marc Kiviniemi (mtk8@buffalo.edu); Suzanne O'Neill (sco4@georgetown.edu)

 

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