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The Innovation Arena: A Method for Comparing Innovative Problem-Solving Across Groups
Published on: May 13, 2022
Need for Innovation in Public Health Research
Ralph DiClemente1, Azure Nowara1, Rachel Shelton1
1Ralph DiClemente is with the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, New York University College of Global Public Health, New York, NY. Azure Nowara, Rachel Shelton, and Gina Wingood are with the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and the Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY. Azure Nowara, Rachel Shelton, and Gina Wingood are also Guest Editors for this supplement issue.
Abstract:
The recent conference Turning the Tide: A New Generation of Public Health Interventions highlighted the need to utilize innovative and emergent methodologies to confront increasingly complex public health challenges. In this commentary, we discuss three dominant themes from the conference: addressing multiple levels of causality in reducing health problems; technology-based methodologies to enhance health promotion; and improving translation and sustainment of effective health promotion programs. The subsequent articles, included in this supplement issue of AJPH, provide compelling examples and arguments supporting these progressive approaches to public health promotion. We recommend that public health researchers draw inspiration from these examples and embrace interdisciplinary, innovative methods within their future work.
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