In October of 1997, the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) announced a special Request for Applications (RFA) focusing on "Innovative Approaches to Disease Prevention through Behavior Change." The goal of this initiative was to stimulate investigations of innovative strategies designed to achieve long-term healthy behavior change. The health behaviors of interest — tobacco use, insufficient exercise, poor diet, and alcohol abuse — are among the top 10 causes for morbidity and premature mortality. This RFA solicited intervention studies aimed at either comparing alternative theories related to mechanisms involved in behavior change, or assessing the utility of a particular theoretical model for changing two or more health-related behaviors, rather than simply demonstrating the efficacy of a single behavior change program.

Coordinated by OBSSR, this four-year research grant program is co-sponsored by several NIH components, including:

• The Office of Disease Prevention (ODP);
• The Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH);
• The Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS);
• The National Cancer Institute (NCI);
• The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM);
• The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI);
• The National Institute on Aging (NIA);
• The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA);
• The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID);
• The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal
  and Skin Diseases (NIAMS);
• The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD);
• The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR);
• The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive
  and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK);
• The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH);
• The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS); and
• The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR).

The American Heart Association (AHA) joined with NIH in this groundbreaking program. These organizations jointly issued this RFA because the focal behaviors of tobacco use, exercise, diet, and alcohol abuse are behaviors with implications for a wide array of health outcomes for both women and men, including cancer, infectious and allergic diseases, osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, depression, periodontal diseases, obesity, and kidney diseases, as well as related outcomes such as mood and affect, functional impairment, disability, quality of life, and health care utilization. The behaviors of interest also share a common conceptual basis for change, and each can benefit from findings from research on learning, motivation, risk perception, and the like.

Response to the RFA was substantial, resulting in the submission of 62 applications by the May 21, 1998 deadline. Selected on the basis of the scientific review, the sponsoring organizations will commit approximately $8 million annually from FY 1999 to FY 2002 to fund 15 research grants. The grantees will be invited to semi-annual meetings sponsored by the American Heart Association throughout the duration of these four-year projects in order to report progress, discuss problems, and share information related to the conduct of their grants. A Behavioral Change Consortium (BCC) comprised of NIH program staff, research investigators at the individual sites, and representatives from co-sponsoring private foundations has been established to explore the opportunities for further collaboration across the studies.