Stephanie L. Fitzpatrick, PhD, FSBM
President, Society for Health Psychology (APA Div 38)
Fellow, Society for Health Psychology (APA Div 38)
Professor, Institute of Health System Science
Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, Northwell Health
In this first issue of our Society’s newsletter, I am grateful for the opportunity to introduce myself and my initiatives and goals as the Society for Health Psychology’s 2024-2025 President.
I’ve been a long-time member of the Society (18 years to be exact) and have served in several leadership roles including chair of the Health Research and Health Policy Councils, the 2018 Program Chair, and Member-at-Large. Currently, I am the Simons Distinguished Chair in Clinical Research and Professor in the Institute of Health System Science within the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health in New York. I describe myself as a behavioral medicine researcher and implementation scientist as my work really focuses on effectively and sustainably implementing evidence-based behavioral interventions for chronic disease prevention and management in clinical care and community-based settings. My work particularly highlights the role of adverse social determinants of health at the community and individual level (i.e., health-related social needs) and designing combined behavioral and social care interventions to help individuals, families, and communities live their best life. In short, I am a fierce advocate for health equity, and I have had the joy of not only being able to advocate through my research, but also as an appointed public health official in the state of Oregon where I currently live.
My overarching presidential theme for this year is promoting health psychology through inclusive engagement. Now more than ever, we need to promote our science and engage members and soon-to-be members from different racial/ethnic backgrounds, gender identity, career stages, and career focus (research, practice, teaching, and industry). To do this, my initiatives fall into three major buckets: Growth/Sustainability; Efficiency; and Forward Thinking and Movement.
Growth/Sustainability: The success of the Society relies on active, engaged members. Over the past year, our membership has dropped by a little over 3%. This may seem like a small number, but this has implications for the Society’s longevity and finances. Membership dues as well as subscriptions to our stellar journal, Health Psychology, are what supports us financially to be able to offer the great programming and resources you have come to enjoy. So, to turn the tide, I am implementing a few new activities:
- Membership Drive/ Battle of the Councils and Interest Groups – At the 2024 APA Convention we kicked off this fun, friendly competition where Councils and Interest Groups will compete to bring in the highest number of new members over the course of the year. The winning Council or Interest Group will be named Membership Ambassadors of the Year.
- Board Member Ambassador Training – This winter, SfHP Board Members will attend a virtual workshop where they will learn tips and strategies on how to promote the Society and all it offers to soon-to-be members.
- Better alignment and use of our Communication Channels – Did you know SfHP has accounts on X, LinkedIn, Instagram, and BlueSky? I am calling on all members to promote our science, programming, and resources across our social media channels. We should no longer be the best kept secret amongst the social science and health organizations.
- Presidential Research Webinar Series and Research Office Hours – I will be encouraging and promoting research-related programming and resources to better engage our soon-to-be members who identify more as researchers. For too long the SfHP has had the reputation that we are only an organization for clinicians. However, without research we don’t have evidence-based treatments. Translational science and population health are pivotal and we need researchers to help this field continue to progress.
Efficiency: I will be taking a hard look at how we work over this year and will be examining and implementing ways we can work smarter and not harder. Part of this effort will involve starting to track metrics, so we have more data on where we are successful and where we have gaps. In addition, I plan to implement ways in which we can foster more collaborations across our Councils and Interest Groups.
Forward Thinking and Movement: Related to sustainability, we need to always be thinking into the future and how we can continue to meet the needs of the next generation of health psychologists. I plan to form two task forces during my presidency that will help us continue to grow and progress.
- SfHP Conference Task Force – The purpose of this task force will be to determine the pros and cons of the Society having their own conference separate from APA. While establishing these pros and cons, the task force will also determine what is needed to hold a conference (costs, funding support, administrative needs, other logistics). The task force will compile all this information in a report that will be shared with the Executive Committee who will decide if the Society will move forward with a SfHP conference or not.
- Funding Campaign Task Force – The purpose of this task force will be to develop a plan to solicit donations from individuals, institutions, and industry to support initiatives that our members care about (e.g., leadership training, science communication, policy and advocacy). This will help us diversify our funding streams and move some important initiatives forward.
If you have questions about any of my initiatives or want to figure out how you can be involved, please reach out to me directly (sfitzpatrickphd@gmail.com). I am excited for all that we will accomplish this year and I hope you join me in promoting health psychology through inclusive engagement!