APA co-hosts historic conference with CDC

By Bridget Murray
Monitor staff

A historic May conference brought together scientists from the gamut of social, behavioral and health disciplines to discuss present and future paths of public health research.

The APA-organized conference, 'Public health in the 21st century: behavioral and social science contributions,' was held May 7?9 in Atlanta. Its mission was to urge collaboration among government agencies and professionals tackling a host of public health problems, from violence and substance abuse to infectious disease.

'The conference was a huge success in that it clearly portrayed the role of the behavioral and social sciences in combating the health challenges facing us today and in the future,' said psychologist Marjorie Speers, PhD, CDC?s deputy associate director for science and the conference?s project officer. 'The conference was the first ever to bring together the different disciplines in the behavioral and social sciences with public health. It was an excellent first step to building relationships with public health.'

More than 500 behavioral scientists, physicians and other health professionals attended the event, which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) co-sponsored along with a variety of other national organizations. Among them were the U.S. Department of Justice, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and several arms of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including its Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. Chairing the conference was Neil Schneiderman, PhD, director of behavioral medicine at the University of Miami and the recipient of the 1994 APA Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award. APA?s Henry Tomes, PhD, and Jacquelyn Gentry, PhD, were the conference directors.

'This was an important step for social and behavioral scientists and their involvement with CDC and public health,' said Tomes. 'The conference produced a level of collaboration and cooperation that bodes well for future multidis-ciplinary efforts in public health.' Among the major topics covered were community involvement in quelling violence and drug abuse, the role of exercise and social support in disease prevention, and the influence of workplace climate on worker stress.

In an opening speech, CDC Acting Deputy Director Stephen B. Thacker, MD, underscored the growing role of social and behavioral scientists in CDC?s prevention efforts and lauded their contributions to the battle against AIDS. Joining Thacker on the opening panel were the directors of the CDC National Immunization Program and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and its centers for chronic disease prevention and health promotion, environmental health, health statistics, HIV, STD and TB prevention, infectious diseases, and injury prevention and control. The directors called for greater participation by social and behavioral scientists in their offices? work.

In a closing speech, Kenneth Shine, PhD, president of the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences, pointed to the might of behavioral science in battling national problems such as sexually transmitted diseases and teen-age smoking.

'The social and behavioral sciences will be among the most important sciences in the first part of the next century,' said Shine.

He cited several relevant trends and opportunities:

? Research funding officials and public health professionals increasingly recognize that the physical, biological, and social and behavioral sciences are connected, much like parts of the brain.

? The federal government is emphasizing hands-on, clinical and community research, which requires social and behavioral science expertise.

? NIH and CDC budget increases can include new research opportunities for social and behavioral sciences.

? Companies increasingly purchase health premiums directly from insurers, spurring interest in behavior modification techniques that keep employees healthy.

The conference?s keynote speaker was Arthur Bienenstock, PhD, associate director for science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President, who called on behavioral scientists to translate their research findings into practical public health programs. He also illustrated how research from disparate fields of inquiry come together to form major scientific advances. Delivering closing remarks along with Shine was APA President Martin E.P. Seligman, PhD, who emphasized the need for health professionals to focus on prevention instead of remedial approaches in public health.