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Poster presented on March 6-8, 2002 at the conference on Communicating the Future: Best Practices in Communication of Science and Technology to the Public, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, and NIST. Poster topics were selected as "best practices" through a formal peer review by a committee of distinguished science writers, educators, and researchers. Health
Behavior News Service and H.A.B.I.T. |
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What We Do and Why To bridge the gap between research and the public, the Center for the Advancement of Health created the Health Behavior News Service to focus the news media's attention on important research, and on the Center's mission itself—to become the "go-to" organization for journalists and the public interested in the unique niche we have carved out—translating health research into effective policy and practice. Success is measured primarily by increases in media "hits" and, secondarily, by improved reputation for unbiased and scientifically credible news and commentary. The Center also has been successful in uniting more than 5,000 health care researchers from around the world by means of the Health and Behavior Information Transfer (H.A.B.I.T.), an electronic newsletter published every three weeks. H.A.B.I.T. reports on federal research policy, and funding opportunities across disciplinary boundaries. It builds bridges among disciplines that otherwise do not communicate with one another. The Center serves H.A.B.I.T.'s diverse audience as an impartial, responsive advocate while challenging science's narrow focus.
We believe that the heavily funded promotion of biomedical and pharmaceutical science leads to an unintended bias in the news media toward reporting predominantly on biological aspects of health as opposed to balanced reporting that includes the economic, social and behavioral and economic components of health. This, in turn, presents a dangerously inaccurate picture of what produces disease, and it contributes to a narrow focus on high tech expensive fixes with questionable impact. What We Know About Changing Behavior 1. People decide to change for lots of different reasons. Fear of disease and disability is one powerful motivator to do things differently, but the trigger for change also can be personal and very idiosyncratic. 2. Once usually isn't enough. Most people try and fail several times before they successfully change habits like smoking. It's helpful to think of those failed attempts as practice. 3. Working at some changes is forever. In the case of behaviors like eating and exercising, figuring out how to maintain healthy behaviors over a lifetime can be more important than finding ways to stop doing 'bad' behavior. 4. The only constant in change is change itself—what worked yesterday may not work today or tomorrow. Strategies for managing a chronic disease or maintaining healthy behaviors usually need to be tweaked over time and in response to new circumstances. 5. A little structure makes a big difference in changing behaviors: Plan. Keep track of what happens. Change the plan if it isn't working. Repeat as necessary. 6. Most people change on their own, without special programs or interventions, but seek help and tips as they need them. 7. What works for one person may not help another person at all. Matching information about change with what a person wants to know—and how he or she learns best—makes success more likely.
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Site: Back to Best Practices home page Back to Best Practices posters page Created: 7/9/2002 |
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