• Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine

    What is BSSM?

    Behavioral Science (BS) is the study of when and why individuals engage in specific behaviors by experimentally examining the impact of factors such as conscious thoughts, motivation, social influences, contextual effects, and habits. Social Medicine (SM) is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the profound interplay between socio-economic factors and individual health outcomes.

  • Regulatory Issues in HIV Electronic Health Records

    BSSM Center for Translational Behavior Science (CTBS) team members, led by Sara Green, MSW, alongside Samantha Chahin, MPH, Meardith Pooler-Burgess, DrPH, and Professor Sylvie Naar, Ph.D., published in JMIR a manuscript titled “Regulatory Issues in Electronic Health Records Adolescent HIV Research: Strategies and Lessons Learned.” In this paper, Green’s team discussed electronic health records as a cost-effective approach to providing necessary foundations for clinical trial research, as well as highlighting challenges of the regulatory process in the implementation of utilizing electronic health records in adolescent HIV research.

    Read The Manuscript Here

  • Harmology Workshop: Understanding How Helping Can Cause Harm

    The BSSM Center for Behavioral Health Integration is proud to host an upcoming discussion with Motivational Interviewing & Beyond titled “Harmology: Understanding How Helping Can Cause Harm,” featuring MI co-developer Dr. Steve Rollnick and MI pioneer Dr. Joel Porter. Tune in on Zoom for this virtual workshop taking place on April 23, at 2pm EST.

    Register Here

  • Tackling Mental Health Challenges at Collaborative Collision

    Professor and Mina Jo Powell Endowed Chair in Neurological Sciences, Dr. Andrew Kozel, M.D., gave a talk on mental and behavioral health at the FSU Office of Research’s Collaborative Collision event in March. Kozel’s lecture provided an overview of how far the field has come and challenges that continue to face the research community.

    Learn More About the Event

  • ADvancing interRAI: Using Better Data, Better

    BSSM faculty members Jeffrey Harman, Ph.D., Samantha Goldfarb, Dr.PH., M.P.H., Katelyn Graves, Ph.D. and Jon Mills, Ph.D., M.B.A. introduce ADvancing interRAI. This new initiative is building shared infrastructure that supports state efforts to improve how they assess people and provide them Home and Community Based Services using the interRAI Home Care system, to assign resources and use data for policy and program improvement.

    TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT, CLICK HERE

  • Flynn Links Antenatal Anxiety as Postpartum SI Predictor

    Department Chair Heather Flynn, Ph.D., co-authored a journal article titled “Antenatal Anxiety Symptoms Outperform Antenatal Depression Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation as a Risk Factor for Postpartum Suicidal Ideation.” During this study on suicidal ideation (SI), Flynn’s team identified antenatal anxiety symptoms to outperform the previous leading risk factor, antenatal depression symptoms, as a predictor of SI during a mother’s postpartum phase.

    Link to Journal Article

  • Watch Community Rounds on Pediatric Rare Diseases

    Last week, BSSM held its quarterly Community Rounds series with a panel on “Highlighting Pediatric Rare Diseases and Community Impacts.” Hear from Fran Hokkanen, volunteer at NORD, about her experience in patient advocacy, Michele Holbrook, 2023 National Ambassador for the Children’s Tumor Foundation, spoke on her personal experiences with rare diseases, Assistant Professor Yang Hou, Ph.D., with her informational lecture on rare diseases, and Director of the Florida State University Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases, Pradeep Bhide, Ph.D., introducing this new FSU institute and the services it will provide to the community.

    Full Video and Additional Resources

  • AHEC Hosting Tobacco Education Conference

    College of Medicine’s Area Health Education Center will hold a Tobacco Education Conference on May 16-17, at the Key West Marriot Beachside Hotel. Registration for the conference will include a fee of $185. AHEC encourages individuals who wish to receive education on prevention of tobacco usage to sign-up for the conference on its website before registration closes on April 30th.

    conference registration

  • Uniting Minds to Combat Mental Health Crisis

    BSSM Department Chair Heather Flynn, and President of the International Society for Interpersonal Psychotherapy (ISIPT), hosted the 10th Biennial ISIPT Conference in Newcastle UK this week. Interpersonal psychotherapy is an evidence-based treatment for mental health disorders being used around the world. Over 200 participants from 32 countries shared information on research and treatment to help combat the global mental health crisis.

    conference highlights

DEPARTMENT SPOTLIGHT
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OUR VISION

 

The Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine will transform behavioral and person centered science and scholarship in 21st century medical education - facilitating improvements in the health and well-being of individuals, their communities, and especially the underserved.

 

OUR MISSION

 

 

The Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine investigates and emphasizes the influence of individual, interpersonal, and community factors on health, in the context of behavior, social, and societal forces. Our work integrates community partnership with principles and methods from the behavioral and social sciences and bioethics to promote health, especially for the underserved. This is demonstrated through:

 

 

 

 

Practice based teaching and training in bioethical and biopsychosocial aspects of health.

 

 

 

 

Conducting cutting edge interdisciplinary research and scholarship that generates knowledge leading to improvements in interventions, healthcare practice, and health outcomes.

 

 

 

Service activities that support and advance our professions and improve health for individuals and communities.