Belongingness, Well-Being and an Interview With Dr Pauline Dow.

The Supreme Court decision that race conscious admissions policies in universities are unconstitutional has created questions and concerns about the sustainability of diversity, equity and inclusion programs in many organizations and across sectors. This editorial provides hopeful examples of how belongingness is being embraced as a core value in many organizations. In an interview with education expert, Dr Pauline Dow, we discuss ways that the education sector creates trust and belongingness and explore best practices and leadership development methods that allow teachers to thrive. Lessons learned in the educator sector offer insights into how belongingness can be cultivated in other sectors, organizations and communities.

What are you Reading? A Glimpse Into What is Captivating Health Promotion Professionals.

Story telling is one of the most time honored methods for conveying ideas, inspiring action and offering insights into the foibles and ferment of the human condition. This editorial offers a glimpse into what is sparking the imaginations and passions of health promotion professionals by simply asking them 'what are you reading?' Those who shared the books currently sitting alongside their reading chairs were not asked to select books that were related to improving health and well-being. Still, it came as no surprise that contributors to this article uniformly described plots, characters and narratives that illuminate how life circumstances can accost health and jeopardize well-being. What's more, you will see that in fiction, non-fiction and fanciful fables alike, health promotion professionals extract inspiration from these books and find ways to apply the moral of these stories toward the improvement of our profession.

Research Findings Journalists Cannot Resist: A Tale of Three Mental Health and Well-Being Studies.

Addressing employee mental health needs and fostering organizations that enable thriving has become a priority for most workplace health and well-being initiatives. While mental health issues for the nation were of growing concern before COVID-19, the pandemic amplified concerns about loneliness, burnout and deaths of despair. A recent study that garnered attention from the popular press found that participants of individual-level mental health interventions were no better off than non-participants. This editorial reviews that study, summarizes limitations and beneficial learnings from the research, and argues that organizational factors have been shown to mitigate or amplify the effectiveness of mental health services. Tenets of 'patient-centered care' and the principles behind Total Worker Health® will need to be more broadly embraced so that the voice of employees can better inform workplace well-being strategies and strategic plans.

The "Best of 2023 List" of Health Promotion Researchers.

Each year the editorial team of the American Journal of Health Promotion selects our "Best of the Year List" of health promotion studies from the prior year. This editorial features the Editor's Picks Awards, the Editor in Chief Awards, the Michael P. O'Donnell Award and the Dorothy Nyswander Award for the best research and writing published in 2023 in this journal. Our criteria for selection includes: whether the study addresses a topic of timely importance in health promotion, the research question is clearly stated and the study methods used are well executed; whether the paper is often cited and downloaded; if the study findings offer a unique contribution to the literature; and if the paper is well-written and enjoyable to read. Awardees in 2023 offered new insights into legal issues related to obesity and LGBTQ+ discrimination, the role of employers in the use of lifestyle medicine and the influence of Cannabis use on depression and suicide behaviors. This "best of 2023 list" featured studies based in communities, health systems, workplaces and schools and includes case studies and qualitative and quantitative research methods that enabled researchers to better explain what amplifies or hampers well-being.

Why Not Offer Routine Screenings for Brain Health?

The merits of routine health screening for cancer and cardiovascular diseases are well established given the strong evidence that early detection can lead to effective interventions. Health systems, insurance providers and public health agencies have incorporated systematic approaches to ensuring that preventive screenings for hypertension, hyperlipidemia and cancers are encouraged, readily accessible and reimbursed. Workplace wellness programs intent on containing preventable healthcare costs have also sponsored age- and risk-adjusted health screenings, often including financial incentives to encourage same. Should we also screen for brain health? Is early detection of value for a condition with no proven treatment or cure? This editorial reviews the pros and cons of testing for cognitive decline, Alzheimer's and related dementias and suggests that with nearly every country in the world getting proportionally older, promoting brain health could emerge as a key intrinsic motivation for promoting healthier lifestyles. I conclude that a person-centered approach to deciding about testing is needed given uncertain evidence connecting health behaviors to cognitive decline.

Ken the Movie: Allyship and When KENough is not Enough.

This editorial reviews Barbie the Movie in the context of workplace and community health and well-being. Issues of gender equity, patriarchy, and the role of women in empowering women were all factors that were dealt with thoughtfully and poignantly in the movie's script. A missed opportunity in the movie related to the role men could play as allies in the gender equity movement. Hence, I set out to reconcile this omission by proposing a story line for Ken the Movie. I present gender and health disparities as problems that will require leadership in, and best thinking about, gender equality from both men and women.

The Most Influential Women Leaders in Health Promotion.

This editorial features 13 of the most accomplished female leaders working in health promotion based on their contributions to health science, their mentorship, and their executive leadership for organizations with far reaching health impact. Meeting and far exceeding these criteria, the American Journal of Health Promotion is pleased to honor: Gail Christopher, Michelle Nunn, Karen Moseley, Kerry Evers, Wendy Lynch, Rachel Mosher Henke, Catherine Baase, Carter Blakey, Kinari Webb, Laurie Whitsel, Jessica Grossmeier, Vicki Shepard, and Michelle McMacken. Other renowned experts in the health promotion profession authored biographies of these amazing leaders and offered thoughts on how their influence will be felt in years to come. I offer reflections on the differential impact women leaders are having on the direction of the health promotion discipline.

The Ten Most Influential Women Scholars in Health Promotion.

This article features 10 of the most influential women scholars in health promotion: Drs Shiriki Kumanyika, Andrea Gielen, Leslie B. Hammer, Peggy A. Hannon, Sara Johnson, Michelle C. Kegler, Laura A. Linnan, Keshia Pollack Porter, Anastasia M. Snelling, and Glorian Sorensen. Other of the most influential researchers specializing in health promotion authored brief biographies of these extraordinary women summarizing what they are best known for and explaining how their influence on this profession will continue to be felt in the years ahead. I reflect on the merits of celebrating women in leadership and how women are shaping the health promotion discipline.

ESG Standards are TBD in Health Promotion: What the ESG Movement can Learn From the Workforce Wellness Movement.

Large organizations produce annual shareholder reports that tout their business success, and many also describe their role in doing well by their employees and communities. What if systemic efforts to improve employee and community health were a reporting requirement on par with the reporting of profits, losses and liquidity? This editorial examines the nascent ESG movement and its potential role in sparking systems changes that improve individual and organizational health. ESG is an acronym for the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards that many investment fund managers are considering as a component of evaluating company performance. Today, assessing investments that factor in health alongside other business success measures is commonplace but, recently, ESG factors have become political fodder. How is it that there is growing acceptance of corporate social responsibility principles among business leaders but a growing opposition to ESG standards by many politicians who otherwise identify as pro-business?

Excellence in Total Worker Health® and an Interview With Dr Laura Linnan.

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) defines Total Worker Health® as "policies, programs and practices that integrate protection from work-related safety and health hazards with promotion of injury and illness prevention efforts to advance worker well-being." This editorial features an interview with Dr Laura Linnan, a leader of the workplace health and well-being movement and a Principal Investigator for one of the ten 'Centers of Excellence in Total Worker Health®' sponsored by NIOSH to study how approaches to better integrating health and safety can improve outcomes. We discuss differences between "comprehensive approaches" to workplace wellness and a Total Worker Health® approach. I also interview ChatGBT to assess whether the latest in artificial intelligence is accurate in its understanding of contemporary workplace based health promotion.

New Obesity Guidance for Pediatrics: Medicalizing Obesity or Acquiescing to Our Obesogenic Culture?

The publication of the American Academy of Pediatrics report on a "Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Obesity" has been met with considerable debate about the merits of taking a more aggressive treatment approach. Supporters of the new guidance argue that the time has come to treat childhood obesity with more intensive behavior therapy along with, as needed, weight loss medications and bariatric surgery. Detractors of the report believe that medicalizing this condition will lead to greater stigma and increase health disparities. Critics of the new guidance favor a "healthy at every size" approach. This editorial examines the reasoning behind these arguments. Given obesity is a complex issue that demands both clinical and societal solutions, this commentary advocates for multi-disciplinary cooperation and understanding in order to achieve an effective balance between prevention and treatment.

The Twenty Five Most Important Studies in Workplace Health Promotion.

In what direction has workplace wellness research been evolving over the past 20 years? What proportion of occupational health researchers have been focusing on how health impacts work compared to researchers who ask how work affects health? This editorial poses an audacious, albeit largely subjective, question. That is, what have been the most important research studies about workplace wellness? Readers are invited to respond with their opinions about seminal studies we missed. Readers are also challenged with a thought experiment and exercise designed to organize the past decades of workplace wellness studies into a table that identifies trends in this research domain. Based on trends, I posit that researchers are waning in their interest in how health affects work productivity and healthcare costs and waxing in their considerations of how work affects well-being.

The Stare Decisis Doctrine and Total Worker Health®: Prior Precedent and Continuous Improvement in Health Promotion.

What advantages are accruing to companies that intentionally integrate their health, safety and mental well-being initiatives? "Total Worker Health®", using the definition from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), is: "Policies, programs and practices that integrate protection from work-related safety and health hazards with promotion of injury and illness prevention efforts to advance worker well-being." The NIOSH WellBQ is an individual level questionnaire that asks employees about their perceptions related to their quality of work life, circumstances outside of work, supervisor support and physical and mental health status. Total Worker Health® related research funded by NIOSH is intended to "build the scientific evidence base necessary to develop new solutions for complex occupational safety and health problems." This editorial argues that there is an unreconciled tension in the health promotion field relating to the evidence needed to prioritize individual vs social responsibility for health. The NIOSH Total Worker Health® and organizational health scorecards are discussed in the context of honoring the need to balance both lifestyle and environmental oriented interventions.

The Twenty Five Most Important Studies in Health Promotion.

Which are the studies, special reports and commentaries that have been most influential in shaping the health promotion profession? This editorial poses that question to many of America's most accomplished researchers. Each was asked to name one or two 'must read' studies from other scholars as well as to feature one of their own research projects that has had the greatest reach. This review of seminal studies focuses on community health, patient education and behavior change research and a future editorial will focus on workplace based health promotion research. Readers are challenged to review the four decades of research represented by this list and consider whether trends can be identified with respect to the relative attention researchers are giving to individual, interpersonal, community and societal factors influencing health behavior. How clear is the evidence that the choices we make are determined by the choices we have?

A Rose is a Rose is a Rose: Reviewing Definitions for and Reimbursement for Health Promotion, Lifestyle Medicine, Behavioral Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Population Health.

How do the definitions between health promotion professions differ? Should the shift from using the term wellness to greater use of the well-being term challenge us to explain how our profession improves how people appraise their lives as a whole? After all, achieving well-being is a challenge as relevant to clergy, politicians, artists and entertainers as to health professionals. Successful organizations are keenly attentive to how they differentiate their services so as not to get lost in a sea of like competitors. The American College of Lifestyle Medicine has recently defined lifestyle medicine as a medical specialty delivered by certified clinicians. In contrast, the Society of Behavioral Medicine suggests that virtually any degree holder may be qualified to provide disease management and prevention services. If improved health is one of the surest ways to improve well-being, do we need to more clearly define the health promotion profession's value proposition? How should definitions about differences between professions influence reimbursement differences between professions?

Do Faith Friendly Workplaces Increase Well-Being?

Many will draw distinctions between finding your purpose and tapping into spirituality. And many more are quick to point out that they are spiritual but not religious. This predictable definitional dynamic makes me doubtful that adoption of purpose finding strategies will be the gateway to unlocking the ambivalence and stigma related to sharing one's faith in company settings. Drawing from tenets that drive social epidemics, wellness professionals and faith leaders travel in 'closed circles' and it will take 'connectors' with ties in both circles to spread the idea that workplace wellness and faith traditions can have positive synergies. Healthy People 2030 defines health and well-being as "how people think, feel, and function-at a personal and social level-and how they evaluate their lives as a whole." This editorial describes components of faith friendly organizations and argues that employee resource groups and trends in diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives could be a catalyst for greater openness to including people's faith traditions as a part of bringing their whole selves to work.

Improving Your Odds of Getting Published in this Journal.

Now in its 36th year of publication, The American Journal of Health Promotion (AJHP) is privileged to attract worldwide manuscript submissions from highly accomplished researchers and practitioners. Getting published in this journal has gotten quite competitive with less than 20% of submissions making it through our review process and into print. Our current impact score of 2.870 makes getting research published in AJHP well worth the effort for those with a goal of wide dissemination and frequent citations. This editorial aims to increase your chances of getting published in this journal by summarizing those issues that most often lead to a paper's rejection, even for an otherwise well executed study. Though our submission guidelines are detailed and clear, we find contributors, particularly those with less publishing experience, often neglect fastidious adherence to our author instructions and writing standards.

Well-Being and Evolving Work Autonomy: The Locus of Control Construct Revisited.

Will the new ways we work have positive or negative effects on well-being? How will hybrid work arrangements, flexible schedules, and increased telework impact job satisfaction and life satisfaction? Many factors related to employee productivity, creativity, and collaboration are being assessed as organizations consider how less time spent at a workplace impacts work culture and organizational success. This editorial argues that the internal-external locus of control construct could offer useful insights into the differential affects that new work arrangements may have on worker satisfaction. For many, greater autonomy will be felt as consistent with their beliefs and preferences for greater control in how they perform their work. Others may feel more stressed by the loss of structure and direction provided in a traditional workplace setting. Principles of motivation are discussed alongside the potentialities and hazards attendant to changes in the longstanding social contract between employers and employees.

Health Promotion Planning and an Interview With Dr Andrea Gielen.

This editorial features an interview with Dr. Andrea Gielen and the newly released book Health Program Planning, Implementation and Evaluation: Creating Behavioral, Environmental and Policy Change, published by Johns Hopkins University Press. Co-Editors for this edition are Lawrence Green, Andrea Gielen, Judith Ottoson, Darleen Peterson, and Marshall Kreuter. The PRECEDE/PROCEED planning model is summarized and the interview features research examples and practical applications of components of the model. PRECEDE, developed in 1974, stands for Predisposing, Reinforcing and Enabling Constructs in Educational Diagnosis and Evaluation. PROCEED, added in 1991, stands for Policy, Regulatory, and Organizational Constructs in Educational and Environmental Development. Each chapter of this 5th edition of "Health Program Planning" details the specific public health competencies needed to meet ever more rigorous certification and accreditation standards.

The "Best of 2021 List" of Health Promotion Researchers.

Each year the editorial team of the American Journal of Health Promotion selects our "Best of the Year List" of health promotion studies from the prior year. This editorial features the Editor's Picks Awards, the Editor in Chief Awards, the Michael P. O'Donnell Award and the Dorothy Nyswander Award for the research and writing published in 2021 in this journal. Our criteria for selection includes: whether the study addresses a topic of timely importance in health promotion, the research question is clearly stated and the methodologies used are well executed; whether the paper is often cited and downloaded; if the study findings offer a unique contribution to the literature; and if the paper is well-written and enjoyable to read. Awardees in 2021 offered new insights into addressing discrimination against race or sexual identity, preferred sources of information about COVID-19 and the impact of community and workplace interventions on healthy lifestyles. This year's award winning research spans from character to culture relative to improving well-being.