WED-059 - Examining SOPHE Presidential Addresses over Time
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM PST
Location: Pacific I/II, 2nd Floor
Area of Responsibility: Area VIII: Ethics and Professionalism Subcompetencies: 8.4 Promote the health education profession to stakeholders, the public, and others., 4.3 Manage the collection and analysis of evaluation and/or research data using appropriate technology. Research or Practice: Research
Associate Professor California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, California, United States
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this session, participants will be able to:
Summarize common themes across 21 past SOPHE presidential addresses.
Discuss key implications from past presidential addresses for the future of SOPHE and field of health education.
Compare differences in themes across decades among SOPHE presidental addresses.
Brief Abstract Summary: One of the major professional organizations, the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE), has been working to establish professional credentials and standards while advocating for health equity for over 75 years. Each year, the SOPHE president provides their address that highlights historical events and challenges for the future. The SOPHE History Committee will be presenting a summary of these presidential addresses in order to showcase how SOPHE’s past can inform its future. A thematic analysis was used to identify overarching themes across the presidential addresses. A total of 21 presidential addresses were obtained and analyzed by two research assistants. Overarching themes and implications for SOPHE future will be highlighted. As SOPHE moves past its 75th anniversary, this analysis will provide a reflection of major accomplishments and challenges while providing insight into future directions for the organization.
Detailed abstract description: Historical research of a field is important for understanding the past to inform the present and the future. The field of public health education has evolved and changed over the last century, however, there have been some challenges and goals that have persisted over time. One of the major professional organizations, the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE), has been working to establish professional credentials and standards while advocating for health equity for over 75 years. Each year, the SOPHE president provides their address that highlights historical events and challenges for the future. The SOPHE History Committee will be presenting a summary of these presidential addresses in order to showcase how SOPHE’s past can inform its future. SOPHE presidential addresses were primarily obtained through the SOPHE journal, Health Education & Behavior. If the address had not been published, the past president was contacted and permission to use their presidential address was sought. A thematic analysis was used to identify overarching themes across the presidential addresses. A total of 21 presidential addresses were obtained and analyzed by two research assistants. Overarching themes and implications for SOPHE future will be highlighted. As SOPHE moves past its 75 anniversary, this analysis will provide a reflection of major accomplishments and challenges while providing insight into future directions for the organization.
