CORE--BEHAVIORAL HEALTH DISPARITIES

Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In the Fall of 2000, the Vanderbilt DRTC received supplemental funding from the Office for Research on Minority Health to establish a Behavioral Health Disparities Core at Meharry Medical College under the direction of Margaret Hargreaves, Ph.D. This core is currently supporting four projects designed to help understand and/or eliminate disparities in diabetes in African Americans: 1) Improving Adherence and Metabolic Control in Low Income and African American patients with Type 2 Diabetes 2) the Nashville REACH 2010 3) Improvement Of Medical Care Of Patients With Diabetes Among The Medically Underserved In Middle Tennessee, and 4) The Southern Community Cohort Study. The core will provide the following services to research studies addressing issues relevant to health disparities in African Americans, other minority groups, and people living in poverty: 1) Study Recruitment and Retention, 2) Community Coalition Building, 3) Behavioral and Psychosocial Assessment, 4) Dietary assessment and analysis, 5) Physical Activity Assessment and Analysis, 6) Behavioral Intervention, 7) Clinical Management, 8) Adherence promotion, and 9) Training. The Behavioral Health Disparities Core (Disparities Core) will be lead by Dr. Margaret Hargreaves, Ph.D., a nutritional scientist with considerable experience in behavioral and community research, Dr. Mac Buchowski, Ph.D., a scientist with training in nutrition who specializes in the study of food intake and energy expenditure, and Dr. David Schlundt, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist who specializes in the assessment and modification of health behaviors. The core will be located at Meharry Medical College, a school that Historically has trained the majority of African American Physicians and Dentists in this country and will have a research staff to support its activities. Support from the NIDDK will enhance the collaboration between scientists at Meharry Medical College and the Vanderbilt Diabetes Center, support behavioral research aimed at reducing health disparities in African Americans and other minorities, and provide an infrastructure at Meharry that will allow its investigators to successfully compete for additional external funding in diabetes and diabetes related research.