The Community Influences on Health Behavior (CIHB) Study Section reviews applications concerned with how factors at the local, neighborhood, or community level prevent or moderate health risks and behaviors. Community is defined in a variety of ways including geographically, by social unit or practices, virtual spaces, and group affiliations. Research approaches may include community-based participatory research, mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative analyses), ethnographic and other qualitative studies, policy and document analysis, and other various quantitative and non-interventional study designs. Studies focus on impact at the local and community level.

Review Dates

Membership Panel

The membership panel is a list of chartered members only.

Topics


  • Use of community-based methods to study influences on health behaviors and health outcomes.
  • Effects and impacts of local, neighborhood, community-level influences on a wide range of health behaviors and health outcomes, including substance use, obesity, maternal and child health, mental health, aging, and more.
  • Effects of local, county and state level policies, retail outlets, marketing, and media strategies on health behaviors and health outcomes. Examples include studies that examine the impact of local retail market density, local tobacco control, or alcohol policies on health behavior.
  • Effects of local neighborhood and community-level social, environmental, and cultural factors (such as social class, disparities, discrimination, etc.) on health behaviors and health outcomes.
  • Effects of institutional structures (such as networks, community-based organizations, etc.) and the build environment (such as access to green space, air/water pollution) on health behaviors and health outcomes at the community level.

Shared Interests and Overlaps

There are shared interests between CIHB and Health Promotion in Communities (HPC) in the study of health status in the community setting. Applications that focus on community-level social, cultural, and environmental risk factors, the relationships among these processes and that do not include an intervention design are reviewed in CIHB. Applications that emphasize community-oriented approaches or interventions to mitigate risk behavior and/or prevent onset of disease in the general population are reviewed in HPC.

There are shared interests between CIHB and Social Sciences and Population Services (SSPA & SSPB) in the study of social and contextual influences on health. Applications using community-level data or methods to understand social and contextual influences on the community or local/neighborhood level the are reviewed in CIHB. Applications involving population-level data, using large observational studies, or where contextual factors are being examined to understand social processes, outcomes, or policies at a multi-state or national level are reviewed in SSPA/SSPB.

There are shared interests between CIHB and Social and Environmental Determinants of Health (SEDH) in the study of social and environmental factors on health. Applications that emphasize social and environmental determinants of health behaviors and health outcomes at the community or local/neighborhood level are reviewed in CIHB. Applications that emphasize the effects of social and environmental factors at the population-level and how they manifest in biological or biobehavioral outcomes are reviewed in SEDH.

There are shared interests between CIHB and Social Psychology, Personality and Interpersonal Processes (SPIP) in the study of social network effects on health. Applications focused on the community-level risk factors, outcomes, and social networks as macro-level influences on health are reviewed in CIHB. Applications focusing on individual-level risk factors, outcomes, and perceptions of social networks are reviewed in SPIP.

There are shared interests between CIHB and Clinical Management in General Care Settings (CMGC) in the study of health status in community settings.  Applications that emphasize behavioral outcomes related to social, cultural, environmental, and other community-level factors are reviewed in CIHB. Applications that emphasize the clinical management and support of individuals and families coping with one or more pathological or comorbid conditions in general care settings (including ambulatory, community health care, or home-based settings) are reviewed in in CMGC.

There are shared interests between CIHB and Healthcare and Health Disparities (HHD) in the study of health disparities and health outcomes. Applications that focus on health disparities in the community or that emphasize community-level determinants of disparities are reviewed in CIHB. Applications that emphasize interventions and/or focus on the mechanisms and processes underlying health disparities in healthcare settings are reviewed in HHD. 

 

Last updated: 04/19/2024 10:38