Behavior Matters: The Relevance, Impact, and Reach of Behavioral Medicine
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Behavior Matters: The Relevance, Impact, and Reach of Behavioral Medicine Dawn K. Wilson, Ph.D.
Published online: 6 January 2015 # The Society of Behavioral Medicine 2015
Abstract Background/Purpose Growing evidence suggests behavioral interventions that target a few key behaviors may be effective at improving population-level health outcomes; health status indicators; social, economic, and physical environments; personal capacity; and biological outcomes. A theoretical framework that targets both social and cognitive mechanisms of behavioral interventions is outlined as critical for understanding “ripple effects” of behavioral interventions on influencing a broad range of outcomes associated with improved health and well-being. Methods/Results Evidence from randomized controlled trials is reviewed and demonstrates support for ripple effects—the effects that behavioral interventions have on multiple outcomes beyond the intended primary target of the interventions. These outcomes include physical, psychological, and social health domains across the lifespan. Conclusions Cascading effects of behavioral interventions have important implications for policy that argue for a broader conceptualization of health that integrates physical, mental, and social well-being outcomes into future research to show the greater return on investment.
Keywords Population health . Ripple effects . Behavioral interventions . Physical . Mental and social outcomes . Well-being . Health policy The paper was given as part of the Presidential Address at the 35th Annual Society of Behavioral Medicine Meeting and Scientific Sessions. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12160-014-9672-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. D. K. Wilson (*) Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA e-mail: [email protected]
Behavioral Medicine in the Age of Specialization Could the dominant approach to behavioral medicine have been somewhat misguided? Much of biomedical research places the emphasis on understanding very specific mechanisms associated with very specific defects. For example, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) defines personalized medicine as “the science of individualized prevention and therapy” [1]. Furthermore, the NIH and FDA have announced a new collaboration on translational science to accelerate research into medical products and therapies [2]. The intention is to work with academic experts, companies, doctors, patients, and the public to make personalized medicine a reality. The notion of personalized medicine may offer promise of genetic medicine, rapid-paced sequencing technology, informatics, and computer science to enhance the care of patients in an individualized approach. Although there may be promise for personalized medicine, there is growing evidence that suggests the field of behavioral medicine is moving beyond personalized medicine in the coming decade to address population healt
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