Society's Name Change Advances Our Mission

Abstract

As a community of health professionals, we have long recognized that health is more than just the absence of disease. The health of adolescents is no exception to this truth and, more than for any other age group, often depends on an interdisciplinary team of professionals working in concert. The organization that sponsors this journal has long acknowledged this fact and now has chosen to state the importance of this emphatically by changing its name to the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. This change represents our commitment to advancing a holistic approach to adolescent wellbeing. It recognizes that it takes a variety of unique health services and disciplines coming together to ensure a healthy adolescent and young adult population. The addition of “health” also reflects our desire to change our profile so that we can expand our identity and embrace all the partners that play a role in adolescent health. As a reader of this Journal, you know that its name and its pages have reflected just such an interdisciplinary approach to adolescent health and have done so for nearly two decades. Now its parent organization demonstrates a similar philosophy, which we have long espoused internally, in its new name. I am delighted that we can move forward with an agenda for positive change as the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. If you are not a member of SAHM, I encourage you to join us in our mission of serving the unique health needs of adolescents.