UNT creates Center for Psychosocial Health

Several research studies have proven that social support and coping strategies may lead to a better quality of life for people living with chronic diseases.

However, the type and source of support and the type of coping strategy a person uses can make a difference, says Mark Vosvick, assistant professor of psychology.

"Friends who give problem-solving advice about your condition may stress you out more than friends who listen to you with empathy," he says.

Vosvick will direct a new UNT center that will research these and other psychosocial factors associated with chronic conditions. The UNT Center for Psychosocial Health will also provide assistance to Dallas-Fort Worth organizations that serve people living with these conditions.

Located in the Department of Psychology in Terrill Hall, the new center will bring together faculty members in the departments of anthropology, sociology and psychology and at the UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth.

In addition, faculty members of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have expressed interest in collaborating in research with the center, which is the only one of its kind in the North Texas region, Vosvick says.

The center will examine which psychosocial factors lead to positive or negative behavior regarding chronic illness, he says.

"For example, if you believe you are stigmatized by others because of your condition, you may be embarrassed to take your medication in public. That may lead to you not taking your medication regularly," he says.

Vosvick, a former staff member at the Medical College of Wisconsin's Center for AIDS Intervention Research, says the Center for Psychosocial Health will initially focus on AIDS and HIV infection.

"There isn't a lot of psychosocial research being conducted on HIV and AIDS in the Dallas area, yet Dallas now has the highest growth of HIV infection in the nation," he says.

He points out that HIV infection is not limited to Dallas' inner city.

"In rural areas, physicians don't always think to test for HIV, so some in the rural population don't find out that they're HIV positive until they have full-blown AIDS," Vosvick says. "Another population that is hard to test for HIV are the immigrant workers from Mexico, who often don't have access to health care and education on HIV."

The new center will provide education and training in HIV prevention for the general population through AIDS Services of North Texas, the Fort Worth AIDS Outreach Center and the Resource Center of Dallas. Eventually, it will broaden its scope to include research on other chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

"Life expectancies in the United States are greater than at any time in previous history," Vosvick says. "As people live longer lives, their likelihood of developing chronic diseases increases."

In addition to research and service, the center will provide courses for UNT undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in becoming behavior health researchers. The first course, Psychosocial Issues in HIV, will be offered in Spring 2004.

BY NANCY KOLSTI nkolsti@unt.edu

Other web references

• Center for Psychosocial Health

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• Council focuses on daycare
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