“`html
Bonnie Spring has always possessed the motivation and aspiration to enhance public health.
The Florida State University educator’s initial inquiries into severe mental health disorders, during her master’s and doctoral studies at Harvard, have been referenced over 3,000 times. When further advancement faced obstacles due to an absence of objective measurement tools, the psychology graduate shifted gears and retrained as a health psychologist.
Spring concentrates on risky behaviors such as smoking, overeating, unhealthy diets, and physical inactivity — the chief contributors to chronic detrimental health issues like diabetes and cardiovascular disease — and strategies to encourage individuals to modify their behavior patterns.
“It was the impact achieved through behavioral interventions that captured my enthusiasm, and the opportunity to scale an intervention to provide a public health advantage continues to captivate my focus,” she remarked.
Over the last three decades, her research has revolved around both preventing and intervening in health-risk behaviors. She employs various analytical tools, including longitudinal modeling and machine learning for predictive analytics.
Spring is passionate about the suite of Multiphase Optimization Strategies, known as MOST, which is a framework employing engineering principles to develop multi-component behavioral interventions. MOST strives to formulate interventions that are effective, economical, scalable, and efficient, often referred to as EASE.
“Marginalized populations rarely have only a singular behavioral health risk, and effective interventions typically comprise multiple components,” she stated. “Addressing the root causes along with the behaviors tends to yield more favorable outcomes.”
Spring became part of the Florida State University College of Medicine late last year, after a 19-year tenure at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. She holds the position of Krafft Professor of Behavioral and Social Medicine, in addition to being the director of the College of Medicine’s Florida Blue Center for Rural Health Research and Policy, located within the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine.
“We are privileged to have attracted such a well-respected and well-funded researcher like Bonnie Spring,” remarked College of Medicine Dean Alma Littles. “With the college continually enhancing its research opportunities for all students, including M.D., PA, and Ph.D. candidates, her research expertise and proven dedication to mentoring will be invaluable to our students and junior faculty alike.”
“Her understanding of rural health issues will guide her in elevating the Florida Blue Center for Rural Health Research and Policy to new levels of success and likely influence legislation in Florida and nationwide.”
The center was originally established in 2002 through a donation from the Florida Blue Foundation, the philanthropic division of Florida Blue Cross Blue Shield. Professor Heather Flynn, a clinical psychologist and researcher who chairs the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, is thrilled to see Spring revitalizing the center and utilizing her expertise to enhance the lives of rural Floridians.
“Bonnie brings a multifaceted and innovative vision for the center and its upcoming activities, incorporating advancements in digital health research and training the next generation of researchers,” Flynn stated. “She has excelled at integrating various digital health tools and technologies — including wearables, apps, and electronic medical records — with telehealth coaching to create successful interventions for individuals with multiple health risks.”
Spring’s foray into rural health research was facilitated by Nancy Schoenberg, Marian Pearsall Professor of Behavioral Science in the University of Kentucky’s College of Medicine.
Schoenberg, who has an anthropology background, pondered if an intervention Spring had designed and executed in the Chicago area years prior could be modified for rural communities. After reaching out to Spring, a fruitful collaboration ensued.
“Residents in rural areas tend to be older, sicker, and economically disadvantaged,” Schoenberg explained. “Bonnie excels in developing and implementing interventions, and I was particularly fond of this one. The results were remarkable, and the positive impacts were enduring. I spent about a year and a half or two years adapting it.”
Spring and Schoenberg subsequently collaborated on a $2.5 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health, for a clinical study on stress and sleep, in which participants documented their daily dietary intake and physical activity.
For Spring, her work in rural Appalachia was transformative. During her college years, she embraced three enduring core values — commitment, community, and creativity — to make a positive difference in her surroundings. Engaging in rural health research offered a renewed chance to uphold all three and inspired her to “get back to the basics.”
Now at Florida State University, Spring aspires to leverage her extensive experience and dedication to train more students and ultimately engage new communities encountering healthcare disparities.
“We have the most expensive healthcare in the world, and we’re living in a false sense of security,” Spring stated. “The demand for healthcare will always surpass availability. You must maximize your available resources and involve the communities whose needs you aim to address.”
“We need to meet people where they’re at and accept them as they are, so they will embrace us as partners.”
The post Distinguished behavioral scientist brings decades of research & mentoring expertise to FSU College of Medicine appeared first on Florida State University News.
“`