Equity, Inclusiveness, and Transformation
The theme of this year's conference was equity, inclusiveness, and transformation. Hogrefe Publishing asked Dr. Spaderna how the European Journal of Health Psychology fulfills this brief. This is what she said:
“Equity and inclusiveness have gained considerable attention during the last decade and it has become clear that they constitute key elements in sustainable health care. However, the transformation of health care systems, health-care delivery and prevention has only just begun.
“For Health Psychology to be useful in this process theories and interventions have to be developed along the needs of a wide range of societal groups. Balanced and inclusive samples are warranted to arrive at empirical findings that matter. Efforts have to be increased to reach vulnerable populations, to make interventions more accessible and to tailor programs to specific needs. Digital innovations are one promising approach in this regard.
“The European Journal of Health Psychology contributes to this brief. A forthcoming special issue edited by Verena Klusmann and Theda Radtke will cover the significance of digitalization for health from a psychological perspective. Another special issue is in preparation that will highlight current conceptualizations and operationalizations of health and their relevance for transformation towards equity and inclusiveness. And of course, the journal publishes empirical studies with balanced and well-recruited samples. One example is an in-press article on ambivalence toward preventive measures in the context of COVID-19. To compare facets of ambivalence towards preventive measures between vaccinated and unvaccinated adults, Hahn and Walther (in press) took care to include participants from Telegram groups of German skeptics of the COVID-19 preventive measures. Apparently, these unvaccinated citizens have a rather complex pattern of univalent negative attitudes and ambivalent subjective experiences.”
Hahn, L. & Walther, E. (in press). Ambivalence toward the implementation of preventive measures in (un-)vaccinated German citizens. European Journal of Health Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1027/2512-8442/a000137