Labor-HHS-Education Report Language for FY 2003

Proposed by the American Psychological Association

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health

Office of the Director

Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research --The Committee encourages the OBSSR to foster the NIH's behavioral research portfolio by planning and sponsoring interdisciplinary initiatives that further the public health missions of multiple Institutes and Centers. In particular, the OBSSR's efforts to encourage research on new methodologies in the behavioral and social sciences are appreciated. The Office is urged to follow up on its conferences on sociocultural research and health disparities by developing initiatives with the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities and the NIH Institutes and Centers. The Committee encourages the OBSSR to push forward on planned initiatives to increase scientific understanding of  the elements of education and the workplace that most affect health, and to follow up on its successful program of grants on behavior change by focusing on the challenge of maintaining behavior change.   

National Institute on Aging

Behavioral research-- The Committee recognizes the NIA's efforts to spur research on aging and cognitive function, and it urges the Institute to focus on the many difficult questions involved in long-term maintenance of positive behavior change. The Committee applauds efforts in the Behavioral and Social Research branch to encourage multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary behavioral economics research that may address questions of savings and resource allocation in the pre- and post-retirement populations.

National Human Genome Research Institute

Behavioral research --Recent research has revealed that different genes can be turned on or turned off at different points in a person's life. Understanding what events or behaviors influence gene expression is an important frontier of scientific knowledge. The Committee encourages the NHGRI to develop collaborations with other Institutes and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research to support integrative research aimed at understanding the role of environmentally induced gene expression in the course of disease and in the promotion of health.                                                                

National Institute of Mental Health

Translating behavioral and social sciences research --The Committee supports translational research in the behavioral and social sciences to address how basic behavioral processes inform the diagnosis, treatment, and delivery of services for patients, particularly for young people, with mental disorders. To further the translation of research knowledge into practice, the Committee encourages ongoing collaboration between the NIMH and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to reduce the current lag time between the discovery of an effective treatment or intervention and its availability at the community level. The Committee also promotes the establishment of translational behavioral research as a priority funding area for the NIMH.         

National Institute on Drug Abuse

Community-friendly behavioral therapies --Research-based behavioral treatments are often criticized as too lengthy, costly, complex, or difficult for treatment providers to integrate with more traditional methods of care. The Committee applauds NIDA's efforts to remedy this situation by developing and bringing behavioral therapies to community treatment centers. NIDA is urged to encourage researchers to make behavioral treatments more ``community friendly,'' while still maintaining their effectiveness. The Committee is pleased that NIDA has expanded the scope of its research beyond testing new treatments to include studies on financing and organizational adaptation and change.  The Committee encourages NIDA to continue testing new treatments in clinical trials and supporting research on how to move effective treatments into health care systems.                     

Stress and substance abuse --Stress plays a major role in the initiation and continuation of drug use, and in relapse to addiction.  The Committee encourages the NIDA to increase its research portfolio on this topic as well as on post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse.                                                                                                          

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Alcohol treatment services --Given the rapid growth of managed behavioral health care, the Committee is concerned that more needs to be known about how alcohol treatment services are delivered under managed care arrangements and the specific characteristics of behavioral health components of health insurance plans and managed care organizations. The Committee continues its support of the NIAAA Advisory Council's   comprehensive plan for health services, particularly its recommendation to prioritize research to understand the effects of managed care on treatment services. The Committee acknowledges the NIAAA's progress in implementing this recommendation, and it encourages the Institute to consider supporting additional research in this area.                  

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Environmental effects on child health and development --The Committee applauds the NICHD on its efforts to work collaboratively with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on developing the Longitudinal Cohort Study on Environmental Effects on Child Health and Development, which is now called the National Children's Study. This study aims to quantify the effects of environmental exposures plus the biological and social factors on child health and development. The Committee is pleased that the NICHD is undertaking a strategic planning process that strongly emphasizes a collaborative process between the biomedical and behavioral sciences and reaffirms its commitment to this entire effort.           

National Institute of General Medical Science

Behavioral science research and training --As the NIH Institute most concerned with basic research, the NIGMS has provided leadership in basic research on physiological and biological structures and functions that may play roles in numerous health conditions. The Committee encourages the NIGMS to develop collaborations with other Institutes, such as the NCI and NIMH, and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research to fund basic research to integrate physiological   knowledge of predisease pathways with behavioral studies.   

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Behavioral research--The Committee encourages the NIDDK to continue a research emphasis on the links between depression and diabetes. Diabetics who have co-occurring depressive symptoms have less success managing their illnesses. Depression has been linked to poorer adherence to medical and behavioral regimens and lower rates of exercise. The Committee also notes that a recent NIDDK clinical trial on diabetes, the Diabetes Prevention Program, demonstrated that diet and exercise could be more successful than medication in preventing the development of diabetes in groups that faced a high risk of diabetes.  The NIDDK is strongly encouraged to build on its investment in          behavioral research, particularly in areas that would add to the science base on the maintenance of positive behavior change.                   

National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

Behavioral research on positive health --The Committee notes that the NHLBI has sponsored important research demonstrating the power of social connectedness to help speed recovery after heart attacks. The Committee is interested in research that helps reveal the pathways through which positive experiences and emotions may enhance health or protect against illness. The Committee encourages the NHLBI to continue its work in this area and to expand where possible any initiatives to increase basic behavioral research on the etiology of disease resistance. The Institute is also encouraged to examine initiatives that may be ready for field-testing in community populations.               

National Cancer Institute

Behavioral research --The NCI is encouraged to continue its recent emphasis on the interactions of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that affect cancer risk and the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer. The Committee is particularly supportive of work on risk determination and better communication of that risk to the public and public health infrastructures. The NCI is uniquely positioned to develop and expand large collaborative human population studies that can help build the science base. The NCI is also encouraged to expand research efforts to define the biological, behavioral, and social bases of tobacco use and addiction, and to refine treatment options for specific groups (e.g. pregnant women or young smokers).                

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