Health Promotion and Interventions at the Individual Level – HPII
NOTE: Starts with the October 2026 Council round submission dates (Cycle I due dates). This study section was evaluated as part of CSR’s ENQUIRE process to align study sections with advances in science. Learn more about ENQUIRE.
Health Promotion and Interventions at the Individual Level (HPII) Study Section reviews social and behavioral applications and intervention studies focused on the early uptake/adoption of health behaviors to prevent chronic and infectious diseases or health conditions at the individual level. Applications include a wide range of bio-behavioral, psychological, cultural/social, and clinical interventions and approaches designed to change behavior. Interventions may be delivered in clinical or non-clinical settings and often target prevention, early action or behavior change prior to disease onset. The study section does not review applications using animal models, or studies with a focus on community-level or population-level variables.
Review Dates
Topics
- Interventions to promote cardiovascular health (e.g., prevention and screening for risk factors)
- Interventions to promote healthy sleep (e.g., minimizing sleep problems, healthy sleep habits);
- Health promotion in aging populations (e.g., fall-prevention, reducing sedentary behavior);
- Interventions to promote maternal health, improve pregnancy outcomes and reproductive health (e.g., prenatal care, breastfeeding);
- Interventions targeting suicide prevention (e.g., identifying individuals at risk, minimizing risk factors);
- Interventions to increase uptake of preventive health services and screenings (e.g., HPV vaccination, cancer screening);
- Digital, media, and communication-based interventions (e.g., social media, messaging campaigns to reduce stigma) designed to influence health beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors, or preventive health decision-making;
- Individual-level interventions to reduce harmful environmental exposures (e.g., air quality, allergen avoidance) and improve respiratory and other related health outcomes.
Shared Interests and Overlaps
HPII and Health Promotion for Communities (HPC) share interests in studies of health promotion and behavior change. Prevention interventions focused on the early uptake/adoption of health behaviors to prevent diseases not using community-based approaches are reviewed in HPII. HPC reviews applications proposing interventions using community-based approaches aimed at promoting health or moderating health risks in the general population or implemented in community organizations or other non-clinical settings (e.g., schools, worksites, service delivery organizations).
HPII and Biobehavioral Medicine and Health Outcomes (BMHO) have shared interests in using behavioral methods to promote health and reduce disease risk at the individual or small group level. Prevention interventions focused on the early uptake/adoption of health behaviors prior to disease onset are reviewed in HPII. Applications that emphasize the psychosocial sequalae of diseases, and psychological approaches to manage and remedy, slow or treat the progression of those diseases are reviewed in BMHO.
There are shared interests in individual interventions that address psychosocial skills or psychological wellbeing with Psychosocial Influences on Healthy Development (PIHD) and Social and Interpersonal Processes of Health Disparities (SIPH). Applications that propose an intervention designed to improve an interpersonal or social process (e.g., increase social integration/reduce isolation), or that target a developmental skill (e.g., self-efficacy, resilience, etc.) are reviewed in PIHD or SIPH. Applications that propose an intervention designed to change behavior to reduce the likelihood of disease occurrence are reviewed in HPII.
HPII and Adult Lifespan Psychopathology (ALP) have shared interests in suicidal behavior. Studies focused on the development and implementation of interventions to prevent suicide would go to HPII. Studies focused on the mechanisms associated with suicide, with an emphasis on suicide in the context of psychopathology, would be reviewed in ALP.
