Progress in Health Promotion: Has There Been Enough in the Past 20 Years?

October 14, 2025 12:00 pm Central | Register

Guest Panelists:

Persistent and pervasive challenges with physical, emotional, social, and financial well-being raise questions about the success of our efforts in promoting health and well-being in the past two decades. Despite concerted efforts of multidisciplinary scientists and practitioners, rates of obesity, anxiety, depression, burnout, loneliness, lack of social connection, financial distress, and disconnection from nature remain concerningly high.

This webinar will summarize the findings of a systematic comparative analysis that examined progress in health promotion literature from 2003 to 2023. A team compared the articles published in five top-tier health promotion journals (American Journal of Health Promotion, Health Education and Behavior, Health Psychology, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, and
American Journal of Preventive Medicine) in 2003 to those published in 2023. Only articles relating to primary research studies with a health promotion focus or behavior outcome were included. Reviews, commentaries, and studies that did not have a health behavior focus (e.g. disease focus or health services research) were excluded. Each paper was reviewed in depth to extract year of publication, journal, health behavior topic, study design, data collection methods, intervention delivery method (if applicable), theoretical framework, sample size, length of follow-up (if applicable), population characteristics, and setting.

Join us to reflect on insights about where we’ve been and where we are going as a field – as well as how we can accelerate our progress in the next five years.

 

Learning Objectives
Following this session, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the amount of progress in health promotion literature in the past two decades.
2. Identify three strategies for designing or collaborating on applied health promotion research with short-term practical implications.
3. Name three key areas in which health promotion research needs to be advanced.

 

SPEAKERS

Sara Johnson, PhD, is the Co-President & CEO of ProChange Behavior Solution. She is also the Senior Research Fellow for the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO), immediate past Chair of the Art and Science of Health Promotion Conference, and immediate former Co-Editor of Knowing Well, Being Well. She has been the principal investigator on over $10 million in federally-funded research. Sara has been recognized as one of the Top Ten Most Influential Women Scholars in Health Promotion by the American Journal of Health Promotion. Previous honors have included receiving HERO’s Mark Dundon Research Award and being named one of the 50 on Fire by Rhode Island Inno and Health Care Services Woman to Watch by Providence Business News, as well as being selected as a Top 10 Health Promotion Professional by the Wellness Council of America. She has more than 40 publications.

Amy A. Eyler is a Professor at the Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis. The focus of her research is how policies and the built environment impact chronic disease prevention, mainly through behaviors such as physical activity and healthy eating. She is also Co-Director of the Nature and Health Alliance at WashU. She is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications and three books, including one of the first textbooks on Research Methods for Public Health. In addition to her research, Dr. Eyler is an advocate for gender equity at Washington University. She is a past president of the Association for Women Faculty and served as a Gender Equity Faculty Fellow in the Office of the Provost for six years. She is past chair of the Faculty Senate Council and Chair of the Danforth Campus Conflict of Interest Review Committee. Dr. Eyler has a bachelor’s degree in community health, a master’s degree in physical education from Ohio University, and a doctorate in public health from Oregon State University. She also serves as Chair of the Executive Board of Girls on the Run St. Louis and volunteers throughout her community. https://brownschool.wustl.edu/Faculty-and-Research/Pages/Amy-Eyler.aspx

Dr. Jay Maddock is a Regents Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and Director of the Center for Health and Nature. Previously he served as Dean of the School of Public Health and Chief Wellness Officer at Texas A&M University and as Director and Chair of the University of Hawaii Public Health Program. His research has been featured in several national and international media outlets including The Today Show, CNN, Le Monde, the BBC, Eating Well, Prevention and Good Housekeeping and he has authored over 150 scientific articles and has served as principal investigator on over $18 million in extramural funding. He has received numerous awards throughout his career from the American Public Health Association, the Surgeon General, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services and many
others. He is internationally recognized for his research in health behavior and social ecological approaches to increasing physical activity and increasing time spent in nature. Dr. Maddock received his undergraduate degree in psychology and sociology, magna cum laude, from Syracuse University and his Master’s and Doctorate degrees in experimental psychology from the University of Rhode Island.

CO-HOSTS

Karen Moseley is President & CEO of the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO), a national think tank dedicated to advancing best practices in workplace health and well-being. In collaboration with HERO members, Karen and the HERO team provide leadership in research and education by connecting science and practice to demonstrate the value of a health and well-being employer ecosystem.