Delivering effective policies and programs that benefit all Americans means using every tool at our disposal. Specifically, integrating social and behavioral sciences is critical for federal policies and programs to achieve their intended outcomes. In January 2021, the White House issued a memo to champion evidence-based policy decisions guided by the best available science and data.
To that end, I have been co-chairing the rechartered Subcommittee on Social and Behavioral Sciences of the Committee on Science, National Science and Technology Council, along with Dr. Kaye Husbands Fealing (Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences) and Dr. Steve Newell (Assistant Director for Innovation and Equity at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy [OSTP]). Dr. William Klein (Associate Director of the National Cancer Institute’s Behavioral Research Program) serves as the Executive Secretary.
The Committee authored the Blueprint for the Use of Social and Behavioral Science to Advance Evidence-Based Policymaking, which the White House released in May 2024. The Blueprint is a resource to assist federal decision-makers in leveraging social and behavioral sciences to improve policy and program design and delivery. The Blueprint:
- Defines the social and behavioral sciences and related tools
- Underscores the value of social and behavioral sciences in advancing our national priorities
- Provides a framework for using social and behavioral sciences to advance evidence-based policymaking
- Offers recommendations for implementing the framework
- Highlights pathways and opportunities for partners, organizations, and communities outside the federal government to support these efforts moving forward
The Blueprint provides federal leaders and staff with a high-level framework and effective strategies for using social and behavioral insights to promote healthier lives. This framework emphasizes not only establishing priorities and evidence but also instituting actionable steps, implementation plans, and ongoing evaluations to improve programs and policies.
One strategy noted in the Blueprint is understanding multiple levels of influence—from individuals and families to communities, organizations, and society—when developing evidence-based policies. This is consistent with one of the co-funding priorities of the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), which is research that examines multiple levels of influence. At the National Institutes of Health (NIH), examples of multi-level research include Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL), part of the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2023, the network expanded to add programs addressing additional areas of health disparity, including maternal health, climate health, health knowledge, and primary care research.
To continue developing the infrastructure that will help federal agencies and offices effectively incorporate social and behavioral sciences, the Blueprint recommends that federal entities promote meaningful engagement and partnership. This includes strengthening connections between the federal government and the public, the private and nonprofit sectors, and communities. These recommendations are consistent with OBSSR’s operational priorities to promote community-based participatory research that involves community partners to gain an understanding of the contexts for research and policy implementation and to build equitable collaborations with NIH staff, federal agencies, and external partners.
NIH has a history of partnering and continues to engage with a wide array of federal agencies and organizations in the public and private sectors to leverage their respective expertise and translate NIH research findings into new therapies, technologies, and evidence-based practices for improving health. For example, cross-agency and public–private partnerships are critical in NIH violence research initiatives, which increase our understanding of public health interventions to prevent different forms of violence (e.g., child or elder maltreatment, youth violence, bullying, online harassment and abuse, community violence, firearms, intimate partner violence, sexual violence) and their resulting trauma.
Workforce development is crucial to the success of the Blueprint. At OBSSR, it is a strategic priority to develop and diversify the behavioral and social sciences research workforce. NIH has been actively recruiting experts in these fields to manage and expand relevant research areas. Recently, OBSSR published a blog post highlighting the many career opportunities at NIH for behavioral and social scientists. Especially with the Blueprint now strongly urging more comprehensive incorporation of the behavioral and social sciences into policy, NIH is always looking for behavioral and social science talent and expertise to join our ranks.
OBSSR looks forward to promoting the Blueprint framework for integrating social and behavioral insights into federal policies and programs, emphasizing scientific evidence, meaningful engagement, data sharing and access, promising practices, dissemination and implementation, and ongoing evaluations.
