Health education & behavior : the official publication of the Society for Public Health Education
-
Historical Article
Implications of the 21st Century Cures Act for the Behavioral and Social Sciences at the National Institutes of Health.
The 21st Century Cures Act provides funding for key initiatives relevant to the behavioral and social sciences and includes administrative provisions that facilitate health research and increase the privacy protections of research participants. At about the same time as the passage of the Act, the National Institutes of Health Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research released its Strategic Plan 2017-2021, which addresses three scientific priorities: (a) improve the synergy of basic and applied behavioral and social sciences research; (b) enhance and promote the research infrastructure, methods, and measures needed to support a more cumulative and integrated approach to behavioral and social sciences; and (c) facilitate the adoption of behavioral and social sciences research findings in health research and in practice. This commentary describes the implications of the Cures Act on these scientific priorities and on the behavioral and social sciences more broadly.
-
Community health worker (CHW) interventions are known to be an effective strategy to improve health behaviors and outcomes in relation to diabetes, particularly for racial/ethnic communities. Although understanding the function of identity with same race/ethnicity among clients of CHW interventions could contribute to more effective program design, few studies have explored whether levels of racial/ethnic identity among participants can influence the effectiveness of CHW interventions. ⋯ This study suggests the importance of considering racial/ethnic identity of the participants in designing and operating the CHW intervention for racial/ethnic minority population.