This theme emphasizes the importance of collaboration and partnership in advancing behavioral medicine. It reflects a broader shift in our science toward implementing evidence-based projects in real-world settings; work that requires academicians to partner with outside entities and engaged stakeholders. The theme promotes research that involves relevant engaged partners, including target populations, community members, health care organizations, urban planners, policymakers, and technology companies. This theme is intentionally broad, but aligns most closely with implementation science: adapting, integrating, and sustaining evidence-based interventions (EBIs) in real-world settings. Other areas where collaboration is essential include community-based participatory research (CBPR) and social determinants of health (SDoH). The theme also extends to technology-based interventions—particularly AI, today's most influential technology—which require diverse specialties to be applied effectively.
Implementation Science efforts are important because they highlight collaborations with health care organizations, policy makers, economists, and others outside of traditional behavioral medicine academics. Behavioral medicine continues to implementing our interventions into society. Implementation Science continues to gain popularity and increasing impact. Studies that truly have found ways to integrate evidence-based interventions (EBIs) into real-world settings and that have shown societal health impacts should be highlighted. Any research along the Implementation Science path will be important.
Community-based participatory research (CBPR) efforts are important because they demonstrate collaborations with community members who will be affected by the intervention and engaged partners who help implement and sustain programming. The goal here is to highlight CBPR collaborations that have societal impacts. Projects that are planned or ongoing are also of interest.
Social determinants of health (SDoH) is research that highlights the use of collaborations to not just identify, but to overcome SDoH are of particular interest. Our science is moving beyond just identifying the moderating role of SDoH, and towards interventions that actually address and overcome SDoH. In order to do this effectively, collaborations with policymakers, community members, health care systems, local governments, etc. will be necessary.
Technology, Utilizing technology takes collaborations with individuals outside of traditional academia. Projects that have utilized collaborations to implement technology into real world settings will be emphasized. Projects that are using AI will be emphasized and projects that are using collaborations to think through all of the ethical, security, and practical issues are of particular interest.
