Presently
there are, what many would agree, a plethora of professional associations
in which health promotion and health education specialists may participate.
For example, there are presently 8 health education elements within
7 national organizations that constitute the Coalition of National
Health Education Organizations.1 These organizations
have evolved from the traditional practice settings of community
and school health education, have health education members, and
a commitment to health education.2 They include the American
College Health Association (Health Education Section); American
Public Health Association (Public Health Education and Health Promotion
Section; School Health Education and Services Section); American
School Health Association; American Association for Health Education;
Society for Public Health Education, Inc.; Association of State
and Territorial Directors of Public Health Education; and the Society
of State Directors for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation.
Additional professional organizations have also developed to address
health promotion activities, particularly those relating to worksite
health promotion. These organizations include the National Association
for Public Worksite Health Promotion, Association for Worksite Health
Promotion, Washington Business Group on Health, National Resource
Center on Worksite Health Promotion, Wellness Councils of America,
and National Coordinating Committee on Worksite Health Promotion.
The
most recent association to be added to this rather long list of
professional organizations serving the health education and health
promotion professional is the American Academy of Health Behavior.
The Academy, as it is referred to, is a society of distinguished
researchers and scholars in the areas of health behavior, health
education, and health promotion. With such a large body of professional
associations, is there a use for yet another professional organization
in health education and health promotion?
If
the new association provides an identical mission and collection
of services for the same health education/health promotion professional
as existing organizations, the answer to this question is probably
no. If the association addresses an important unmet need of the
profession and targets a unique segment of health education and
health promotion professional, however, the answer is yes. To address
the question of the potential utility of the American Academy of
Health Behavior, a look at the mission, goals, and membership requirements
of The Academy in comparison to those of other existing health education
professional associations is necessary.
Formed in
1997, the American Academy of Health Behavior was created
to improve the stature of health educators by supporting and promoting
quality health behavior, health education, and health promotion
research conducted by health educators. The stated mission of the
newly formed Academy is to advance the practice of health
education and health promotion through health behavior research.3
The Academy is a society of researchers and scholars in
the areas of health behavior, health education, and health promotion,
whose objectives are to (a) foster and disseminate findings of health
behavior, health education, and health promotion research through
sponsorship of scientific meetings, symposia and publications; (b)
recognize outstanding achievements in the areas of health behavior,
health education, and health promotion research; (c) facilitate
collaborative research efforts by bringing The
Academy members in contact
with each other through a membership directory, professional meetings,
professional publications, and electronic media; and (d) advance
health education and health promotion by influencing health policy
and allocation of resources (government agencies, private foundations,
universities, etc) by developing and disseminating a cohesive body
of knowledge in the area of health behavior research.
Membership
qualifications for The Academy
include (a) possession of one degree in health education;
(b) evidence of scientific training beyond the undergraduate level;
and (c) minimum of 10 refereed, data-based publications (quantitative
or qualitative) published in national or international journals
that support or focus on health behavior, health education, or health
promotion. However,
for persons not holding a health education degree, but who are working
in the health education field, an Associate membership was created
with the following criteria: (a) demonstrate evidence of scientific
training beyond the undergraduate level, and (b) have at least 10
refereed data-based papers (quantitative or qualitative) published
in national or international journals that regularly report the
findings of original health behavior, health education, or health
promotion research. In
addition, to allow new professionals and doctoral students an opportunity
to work toward full membership, an Affiliate membership category
was formed with the following criteria: (a) hold or be working toward
one degree in health education, (b) demonstrate evidence of scientific
training beyond the undergraduate level, and (c) have at least two
refereed data-based papers (quantitative or qualitative) published
in national or international journals that regularly report findings
of original health behavior, health education, or health promotion
research. Lastly, Fellow
membership is the highest status conferred upon Academy
members in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field
of health behavior, health education, or health promotion research.
Fellow membership is open to members and Associate members
who meet 2 of the following 5 criteria:
(a) authored or co-authored at least 50 refereed
research papers (e.g. original data-based [quantitative or qualitative]
research, data-based literature reviews, research syntheses, research
theory papers) published in national or international journals that
regularly report the findings of original health behavior, health
education, or health promotion research; (b) presented at least
75 scientific papers at national or international professional meetings;
(c) received at least 25 external research grants as a principal
investigator or co-principal investigator; (d) received at least
$1.5 million (or U.S. dollar equivalents) in external research grants
as a principal investigator or co-principal investigator; or (e)
contributed significantly to the advancement of knowledge in health
behavior, health education, or health promotion through research
conducted and disseminated of such magnitude as to equal any of
the other categories above.
Similar to
other existing professional organizations serving health education
and health promotion specialists,2 The Academy
has health education members and a commitment to health education.
The former is reflected in The Academy's membership
qualification of possession of 1 degree in health education, or
in the case of Associate membership, those working in the health
education field. The
later is highlighted in the stated mission of The Academy
"to advance the practice of health education and health promotion"
and its purpose "to improve the stature of health educators".3
However, unlike other present health education and health promotion
organizations, The Academy is not affiliated with
a specific practice setting, such as communities, schools, or worksites,
and in fact does not stress the development of professional practice
other than research. Instead, The Academy exclusively
emphasizes the support and promotion of quality research conducted
by health educators, regardless of setting, although other professional
organizations advocate research as 1 of a number of their stated
objectives, the American Academy of Health Behavior is
the only association whose singular mission is the advancement
of health education and promotion practice through research.
This unique mission is reflected in The Academy's
equally rare membership criteria mandating graduate training and
no fewer than 10 refereed publications, and a Fellow Member status
with arguably the most discriminating criteria of any professional
association within health education and health promotion.
Does
The Academy address an important
unmet need of the profession for a unique segment of health education
and health promotion specialist? The demand for improved training
of health promotion and health education professionals in the application
of theory and research evidence4,5 and the importance
of research to the practice of health promotion and education6,8
have been emphasized by other health promotion specialists. Unfortunately,
recent reviews of published health promotion literature have shown
that much of the research produced is lacking in terms of sophistication,
breadth, and quality.9-11 The Academy
has the potential to enhance the growth and stature of health education
and promotion through impacting the critical need to advance the
research base of the profession.
The Academy is the first
and only professional association created specifically for health
education and health promotion researchers and scholars. It, therefore,
provides a needed professional home in which collegial support can
be fostered among this distinctive group of health promotion specialist
through holding sponsored scientific meetings, recognizing outstanding
achievements in research, facilitating collaborative research efforts,
and influencing public policy toward the allocation of increased
resources for research.
What
use, the American Academy of Health Behavior?
With The Academy in its infancy,
it is too early to answer this question with any certainty. However,
the American Academy of Health Behavior
holds considerable promise to influence the growth of health education
and health promotion practice by providing an organizational home
for researchers and scholars to interact and work toward the common
goal of advancing the profession by significantly increasing the
quality, breadth, and body of health education and health promotion
research.
1.National
Center for Health Education. Directory of the Coalition of National
Health Education Organizations, 1990-1991. New York, NY;
1991.
2.Breckon
DJ, Harvey JR, Lancaster RB. Community Health Education: Settings,
Roles and Skills for the 21st Century. Gaithersburg, MD:
Aspen Publishers, Inc; 1994.
3.American
Academy of Health Behavior. Mission Statement. American Academy
of Health Behavior Website. 1998. Available at: http://www.aahb.org/mission.htm
. Accessed September 23, 1999.
4.Green
LW, Kreuter MW. Health Promotion Planning: An Educational and Environmental
Approach. 2nd ed. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing
Company; 1991.
5.Rootman
I. Health communication research and health promotion. Can J
Public Health 1996;87(Suppl 2):S84-86.
6.Green
J, Tones K. Towards a secure evidence base for health promotion.
J Public Health Med 1999;21(2):133-139.
7.Nutbeam
D. Achieving `best practice' in health promotion: improving the
fit between research and practice. Health Education Research
1996;11(3):317-326.
8.Macdonald
D, Veen C, Tones K. Evidence for success in health promotion: suggestions
for improvement. Health Education Research 1996;11(3):367-376.
9.Aldana
S. Financial impact of worksite health promotion programs. The
Art of Health Promotion 1998;2:1-8.
10.Oldenburg
BF, Sallis JE, Ffrench ML, Owen N. Health promotion research and
the diffusion and institutionalization of interventions. Health
Education Research 1999;14(1):121-130.
11.Rychetnik
L, Nutbeam D, Hawe P. Lessons from a review of publications in three
health promotion journals from 1989 to 1994. Health Education
Research 1997;12(4):491-504.
Editorial
by: Chudley E. Werch, PhD, CHES, FAAHB, Research Professor and Director,
Center for Drug Prevention and Health Promotion, College of Health,
Department of Health Science, University of North Florida, 4567
St. Johns Bluff Road, South, Jacksonville, FL 32224-2645. Email:
cwerch@unf.edu
Am
J Health Behav 2000;24(1):3-5
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