Scientific and Professional Liaison Council Conference Call
Date:Monday, August 25, 2014
Time:3:00 p.m. ET, 2:00 p.m. CT, 1:00 p.m. MT and 12:00 p.m. PT
Scientific and Professional Liaison Council Conference Call
In Attendance
David Goodrich, EdD
Sherri Sheinfeld Gorin, PhD (Chair)
Paul B. Jacobsen, PhD
Sara J. Knight, PhD
Julie A. Wright, PhD
Staff:
Amy Stone
Guest:
Julie E. Volkman, PhD
Unable to Attend:
Jennifer K. Carroll, MD, MPH
Martin Cheatle, PhD
Mary Driscoll, PhD
Erika A. Waters, PhD, MPH
Minutes
1. Minutes from the 7/28/14 SPLC call were approved.
2. Introduction of Julie E. Volkman, PhD
Dr. Volkman is on the faculty at Bryant University. Health communications is a relatively new field, still defining itself and expanding its horizons. In part the field focuses on provider/patient communications, identifying ways to eliminate communication barriers. Dr. Volkman is a member of the health communications division of the National Communications Association (NCA) at http://www.natcom.org/,the International Communication Association (ICA) at http://www.icahdq.org/, and the Coalition for Health Communications at http://www.healthcommunication.net/ By serving as a liaison between SBM and these groups, Dr. Volkman hopes to bring more health communications scholars into SBM.
The NCA’s next annual meeting is November 20-23, 2014, in Chicago. The ICA’s next annual meeting is May 21-22, 2015, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Coalition for Health Communications meets bi-annually; its next meeting will take place at George Mason University.
Comments:
1) While one goal of forming liaisons is to encourage reciprocal conference sessions it may be a bit late to target either the November NCA meeting of the May ICA meeting.
2) Historically, several SBM members have championed liaising with health communication groups, including Martin Cheatle who sponsored a health communications symposium at the SBM 2012 Annual Meeting in New Orleans; Julie Wright; and Jay Eberhard with the CDC.
3) Adding health communications theory to annual meeting educational sessions will be valuable.
3. Liaison Reports
a. Health Decision Making
Dr. Sheinfeld Gorin said that Dr. Waters (who was unable to join this call) continues to plan a health decision making session for the SBM Annual Meeting and is still looking for suggestions for an insurance industry representative who could speak to the business dimensions associated with decision making processes. If you have any suggestions please forward them to her at
b. Public Health Law Research (PHLR)
Dr. Knight and members of PHLR are considering the scope of a 2015 SBM Annual Meeting session, i.e., whether to aim for a pre-conference session or something smaller.
c. North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG)
It was suggested that collaborations between NPCRG and SBM members interested in the intersections between bioinformatics and behavioral medicine would be fruitful. To that end, Dr. Wright and Dr. Sheinfeld Gorin are planning a 2015 Annual Meeting session that would engage people who straddle these two worlds, including AMIA and SBM members. Dr. David Ahern, Technology SIG Co-Chair and visiting scholar with Dr. Brad Hesse, Chief of NCI’s Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch, has been invited to serve as discussant. Keven Hwang and Jing Wang will be presenters and Alex Krist is an invited presenter.
Dr. Sheinfeld Gorin mentioned that the newly approved SBM Digital Health Council should help facilitate new technology-oriented relationships and SPLC representation on the Council has been proposed.
e. American College of Sports Medicine
Dr. Goodrich reported that he and Dr. Sheinfeld Gorin spoke with Dr. Beth A. Lewis, Physical Activity SIG Co-Chair, and exchanged ideas about an “exercise is medicine”-focused SBM Annual Meeting 2015 pre-conference session. If, per chance, this session does not materialize, Dr. Goodrich is submitting a panel abstract focused on translating physical activity into community mental health settings.
f. American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS)
Dr. Jacobsen reported that the SBM Board approved endorsement of the joint American Psychosocial Oncology Society/ International Psycho-Oncology Society conference 28 July-1 August, 2015, in Washington, DC. The conference theme is: "From National to Global: Implementing the Standard of Psychosocial Care.”
Ms. Stone will determine willingness of both of the aforementioned societies to endorse the SBM Annual Meeting.
g. The Obesity Society
On Dr. Catherine Davis’ behalf, Ms. Stone noted that Dr. Davis will soon touch base with Dr. Dawn Wilson to learn more about the partnership Dr. Wilson initiated with The Obesity Society, before undertaking any new steps. Dr. Davis will be presenting a symposium during Obesity Week. If joint health policy work were to be undertaken it would be helpful to learn more about The Obesity Society’s positions regarding a number of issues.
4. SPLC Liaison Forms and Website
Those individuals that have not submitted their liaison reports to SBM staff are encouraged to do so prior to the next conference call. The information collected on the completed forms will be used to update the Council’s webpage.
5. Other Business:
Dr. Sheinfeld Gorin will be joining the September 2 Program Committee call when she will draw the Committee’s attention to SPLC-sponsored sessions.
Next meeting:
Monday, September 22, 2014
Time: 3 pm ET, 2 pm CT, 1 pm MT and 12 pm PT
Please RSVP