When:  Tuesday, 14 April, 16.30-17.30 hours
This event is open for external attendees: To register, please send an email with your name and affiliation.

Special ACHC lecture by Dr Heather Patrick
This is a keynote lecture in the Amsterdam Center for Health Communication (ACHC) Symposium, Dr Patrick. She is a health psychologist working at the intersection of digital technology and health behavior change. Over her nearly 20-year career she has worked as an academic researcher, within the US federal government, and in the private sector. Her primary expertise is in applying principles of motivational science (e.g., self-determination theory) to promoting healthy nutrition, physical activity, weight management, stress management, and smoking cessation. As a behavioral scientist working in the private sector, she collaborates with cross-functional teams to develop digital solutions to promote health behavior change and to support the integration of human-delivered care and technology.

A walk on the wild side: Tales of translating behavioral science into health tech
Health technologies, including digital sensors, wearable devices, and mobile applications offer tremendous potential to bridge the gap between recommendations from healthcare providers and people’s capacity to implement those recommendations in their daily lives. However, many of these solutions have been developed by (1) technologists with limited or no input from relevant experts in the behavioral and social sciences or (2) behavioral and social scientists with limited or no input from relevant experts in human-centered design, user experience, or software engineering. As a result, many health tech offerings have had limited impact on population health and health behavior change — particularly when it comes to the sustained behavior change that is needed to maintain health and to prevent and manage chronic conditions. In order for health tech to live up to its potential, experts from the behavioral and social sciences, health technology, and clinical care must work together. This requires that technology professionals develop a more sophisticated understanding of human motivation and behavior change and that behavioral scientists develop science communication skills to be able to implement robust principles of human motivation and behavior change into technology solutions. This keynote address will focus on (1) how the intersection of health and technology has evolved in recent years, (2) what behavioral scientists need to know when collaborating with partners in the tech industry, and (3) what tech industry experts need to know when collaborating with behavioral scientists.

Note: To participate in the ACHC symposium (full program), please see details directly on the ACHC website.