Social and Behavioral Health Sciences Research

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Social and Behavioral Health Sciences Research

• Julie Baldwin, Ph.D.
• Professor, Department of Community Family
  Health
• University of South Florida

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The Social and Behavioral Sciences Core Concepts

• Anthropology
• Sociology
• Demography
• Psychology

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Social Behavioral Sciences Objectives

• Develop theories, models or conceptual frameworks
  to explain health behavior or health problems
• Test hypotheses based on those theories
• Use results to design effective interventions
• Efficacy trials in controlled settings
• Effectiveness in natural settings

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Social and Behavioral Science Characteristics

• Use scientific method
• Organized way of asking questions and analyzing
  data
• Objective, replicable, verifiable precise
• We are influenced by socio-cultural environment
• Must be aware of assumptions made as interpret
  others behavior

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Social Science Methods

• Interviewing - formal interaction between
  researcher and participant
• Observation of phenomena in their natural
  environment
• Experimental design - manipulating situation in
  order to test behavior patterns

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Theory

• Set of interrelated concepts, definitions,
  propositions that present systematic view of
  phenomena by specifying relations among
  variables, with the purpose of explaining and
  predicting phenomenon
• Generality
• Testability
• Models and conceptual frameworks

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Emergence of Social Ecology Model

• After sanitary awakening, many problems remain
• Unequal distribution in population
• Replacement of infectious diseases with chronic
  diseases
• Required understanding of health behavior

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Unifying Model Social Ecology Model

• Builds on traditional model (host-agent-environmen
  t)
• Incorporates social environmental variables into
  model
• Highlights socio-cultural context
• Directs attention to complex, multiple conditions
  and processes
• Problems viewed within broader context of social
  and physical environment

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SEM Is Multilayered

• Human relationship to disease and health ordered
  into different layers
• Individual
• Social
• Family
• Community
• Living and working conditions
• Broad conditions
• State
• Global

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Social Ecology Model-Visual
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Social Ecology Model-Visual
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Broad Conditions and Policies

• Institutions
• Church policies and relations
• Educational policies
• Economic conditions
• Broad social conditions
• Income inequality
• Urbanization
• Racism
• State level policies
• Global systems
• Trade agreements

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Living and Working Conditions

• Employment status
• Occupational hazards
• SES
• Environment
• Transportation
• Water and sanitation
• Housing
• Park facilities
• Public health, health, and social services

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Interpersonal or Social

• Family networks and dynamics
• Community factors
• Social cohesion
• Environmental factors
• Crime
• Others

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Individual or Intrapersonal Level

• Biological or innate characteristics
• Social characteristics
• Individual behavior

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IOM Report Recommendations

• Need to understand the social ecology model (SME)
• Use SME to identify pathways and design effective
  interventions
• Recognize and address interactions between
  determinants
• Acknowledge need for multiple approaches

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Other Skills

• Community collaboration
• Ability to work with stakeholders
• Businesses
• Media
• Academia
• Interdisciplinary research
• Team work
• Advocacy and policy development

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Examples of SBS Research in HIV/AIDS Prevention

• Preventive Interventions
• Measurement/Assessments
• Translational research

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Preventive interventions

• Elucidate factors linked to HIV/AIDS acquisition
  and transmission and develop and test innovative,
  multi-level preventive interventions

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Preventive InterventionsStudy Examples

• Exploring the role of stigma as it may influence
  risk behaviors associated with HIV acquisition
  and transmission
• Formative studies on HIV-related behaviors in
  HIV adolescents
• 3) Developing and testing theoretically-based
  and culturally sensitive HIV preventive
  interventions targeting individual, social, and
  environmental factors for vulnerable populations

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Measurement/Assessment

• Measurement quality developing instruments,
  establishing reliability and validity of
  measures, and ensuring the cultural
  appropriateness of measures
• Administrative methods testing different
  methods for collecting data
• Research designs using state-of-the art
  research designs and mixed-methods approaches to
  evaluate programs

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Measurement/Assessment Examples

• 1)Assessment of measures of behavioral skills
  required for sexual risk reduction
• 2)Studies related to measurement of knowledge of
  risk and acquisition of STIs, including HIV and
  HPV
• 3)Measurement of sociocultural and structural
  determinants of HIV disparities in particular
  populations
• 4) Evaluation of HIV/AIDS prevention programs

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Translational Research/Community Engagement

• Foster cross-disciplinary dissemination and
  implementation science with the ultimate goal of
  improving public health and clinical practice
  settings through the availability, adoption,
  adaptation, and sustained maintenance of
  evidence-based HIV/AIDS preventive services

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Translational Research Examples

• Identify culturally appropriate HIV/AIDS research
  methodologies for engaging and collaborating with
  communities
• Characterize the factors necessary for increased
  implementation of recommended HIV prevention
  services
• 3) Translate effective prevention and adherence
  programs into practice integrate programs across
  mental health, drug abuse treatment and public
  health care systems