Documenting 15 Years (2000-2015) of SOPHE Achievements: Recent Developments and Future Directions

For over six decades, the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) has been a leading professional organization for the field of health education (HE). This historical research extends the work of Cissell and Bloom by investigating the recent history of SOPHE. The aims of this historical study were to (1) identify key SOPHE and HE events from 2000 to 2015, (2) describe key contributions of SOPHE to the HE field during this time period, and (3) identify potential future directions for SOPHE. Johnson and Christensen’s five steps for historical research were followed to conduct an eDelphi study and one-on-one interviews. During the three-round eDelphi study, SOPHE officers (n = 16) and senior staff (n = 5), who served between 2000 and 2015, identified significant SOPHE’s leaders and rated the importance of SOPHE’s recent events. Key leaders (n = 25) participated in semistructured interviews to describe their involvement in SOPHE, specific SOPHE activities, and future directions for SOPHE. Brief, structure...