Outlook: Newsletter of the Society of Behavorial Medicine

Fall 2026

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New Articles from Annals of Behavioral Medicine and Translational Behavioral Medicine

SBM's two journals, Annals of Behavioral Medicine and Translational Behavioral Medicine: Practice, Policy, Research (TBM), continuously publish online articles, many of which become available before issues are printed. Two recently published Annals and TBM articles are listed below.

SBM members who have paid their 2026 membership dues are able to access the full text of all Annals and TBM online articles via the SBM website by following the steps below.

  1. Go to the Members Only section of the SBM website.
  2. Log in with your username and password.
  3. Click on the Journals link.
  4. Click on the title of the journal which you would like to electronically access.

To check your membership status, or if you are having trouble accessing the journals online, please contact the SBM national office at info@sbm.org or (414) 918-3156.

Translational Behavioral Medicine

The potential of AI for adjunctive supportive care in cancer survivorship: opportunities, challenges, and the PRECISION-AI practical framework

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Lay Summary

Cancer survivors often face physical, emotional, and practical challenges that can last long after treatment ends, yet many do not receive adequate support to manage these needs. Current healthcare systems struggle to provide personalized, accessible survivorship care at scale. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies offer a promising opportunity to address this gap by delivering tailored, continuous support that complements clinician-provided care. This study examines how AI is currently being used in cancer care, with particular attention to its emerging role in supporting cancer survivors. We describe how AI tools can provide personalized education, symptom monitoring, emotional support, and care coordination, while highlighting key concerns about equity, bias, and the need for rigorous evaluation before widespread adoption. We also introduce the My Wellness Support platform, an AI-driven supportive care system designed to use patient-reported data and medical records to deliver risk-stratified, guideline-based support to cancer survivors. The platform is currently in early testing. We propose a practical framework to guide the responsible development and evaluation of AI tools in survivorship care. While AI holds real promise, realizing its benefits requires collaboration among researchers, clinicians, ethicists, and policymakers, as well as prospective clinical testing across diverse patient populations.

Building evidence for prevention: case studies on research impacts and influences on health policy, practice, and research capacity

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Lay Summary

Documenting how public health research translates into real-world impact remains a challenge. This study examined four prevention research programs run by an Australian public health research group, and how each influenced policy, practice, and the broader research field. Using interviews, surveys, publications, and expert reviews, we examined the impact of each program across four areas: building knowledge, strengthening research capacity, shaping health policy and practice, and contributing to health and social outcomes.

All four programs demonstrated moderate to high impact across every area. The research programs produced academic work alongside contributions to policy and practice. In every case, policy partners were actively involved, and a commitment to translating research into action was central. The key ingredients for success were skilled and experienced researchers, a collaborative workplace culture, and close ongoing relationships with policy and practice partners. A key finding was that research impact does not happen the same way every time, as the path from research to impact depends on the type of research and its context. What remained consistent across all four cases was that collaboration and strong translation skills were essential for making research have an impact in the real world.

Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Race differences in the effect of obesity on inflammation among Black and White older adults who quit smoking: a longitudinal analysis of the Health and Retirement study

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Lay Summary

This study looked at how different types of obesity affect inflammation in older adults who have quit smoking cigarettes and using tobacco. Other studies have found that Black adults tend to have higher levels of inflammation than White adults, and that this might be due to Black adults being more obese than White adults and having less education. Researchers in this study compared Black and White older adults who had similar education, age, income, and smoking history to look at how weight, body mass index, and waist circumference (all forms of obesity) were related to inflammation, which was measured by C-reactive protein (CRP), and how it changed over time. In the sample, CRP decreased over an 8-year period, and weight was the only factor that was related to CRP changing. Specifically, weight gain led to higher levels of CRP. Importantly, in this sample, even though CRP levels were higher for Black adults at the beginning of the study, there were no differences in how CRP changed or how obesity affected CRP between Black and White adults. These findings highlight the importance of understanding how obesity is related to differences in inflammation between Black and White older adults.

Feasibility and acceptability of 8-h time-restricted eating combined with aerobic or resistance training in older adults with prediabetes and obesity

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Lay Summary

Obesity and prediabetes in older adults are common health concerns typically treated with weight management and exercise. Time-restricted eating (TRE), which shortens the time people eat each day, combined with AT (aerobic training) or RT (resistance training), may help decrease risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes (T2DM), decrease fat mass, and maintain muscle mass. This 12-week pilot study was completed to test if 8-h TRE combined with AT or RT was feasible and acceptable in older adults with prediabetes and obesity. Thirty-four participants were randomly assigned to either the AT group or the RT group. Participants selected an 8-h eating window, such as 10 AM-6 PM, and followed their supervised exercise program. We collected data on recruitment rate, study visit attendance, missing data, dropout rate and adherence to the eating window, the number of days exercise was completed, and if the exercise matched the prescribed exercise regimen. We also explored changes in body weight, body composition, dietary intake, and blood markers. Seventy-three percent of the TRE-AT group and 80% of the TRE-RT group completed the trial. Participants in both groups adhered to the 8-h TRE window ∼75% of the time (5.8 days/week) and attended ∼95% of weekly TRE intervention meetings. Participants exercised more than 80% of the days prescribed but adhered to the assigned exercise only 67%-68% of the time. Only the TRE-AT group showed significant reductions in body weight and BMI after 12 weeks. Overall, these findings suggest that combining an 8-h eating window with either AT or RT is feasible and acceptable for older adults with obesity and prediabetes. Future trials should focus on enhancing participant engagement and adherence.