Home » Sections » Social and Behavioral Sciences

Mission


The aim of the Social and Behavioral Sciences section is to conduct inter-disciplinary and multi-method research to understand how sociocultural, behavioral, and psychological factors influence: a) the aging process; b) access, use, and quality of healthcare services; and c) patient-, family-, and organizational-level outcomes. Our objectives are to:
  1. Conduct research on caregiving and health and to develop effective interventions and policies to ameliorate social disparities, thereby improving healthy aging and quality of life across the lifespan.

  2. Provide training and mentorship to students and faculty to investigate the sociocultural, behavioral, and psychological dimensions of health and aging. This involves lending expertise in social science methodologies to the field of medicine.

  3. Interface with the surrounding community members and organizations to establish effective community outreach.
We strive to conduct all of the above activities in collaboration and consultation with the other Buehler Center sections, and with other social scientists from the fields of psychology, demography, sociology, and health services research.

Breast Cancer and the Effect on the Family


Whitney P. Witt, PhD, MPH, is the lead investigator of a grant from the Lynn Sage Cancer Research Foundation to examine “Breast cancer and the effect on the family.”  This study will examine the perceived experience and impact of breast cancer among family caregivers of breast cancer survivors.



Biological and Self-reported Measures of Psychological Stress Among Informal Caregivers of Patients with Prostate Cancer: A Pilot Study


Whitney P. Witt, PhD, MPH, is the lead investigator of an American Cancer Society-funded pilot study to understand the psychoimmunology of caregiving among family caregivers of prostate cancer patients. The physiological response to such stressors, and the relationship to perceived stress, has not been examined adequately among caregivers of patients with prostate cancer and such research might further help to understand the increased risk for and development of physical and mental health problems in these families.



Whitney P. Witt, PhD, MPH, at the 2005 Eckenhoff Lecture and Smart Symposium

EPEC-Long Term Care


Celia Berdes, PhD, MSPH, received a grant from the Retirement Research Foundation for a project called "Education in Palliative and End-of-life Care for Long-Term Care (EPEC-LTC)." The project will develop and test a novel method to assess the need for person-centered/palliative care in nursing homes. The results of the needs assessment will be used to create an adaptation of the existing EPEC Curriculum, for use in the long-term care setting.

Interactions Between Childhood Illness and the Family


Whitney P. Witt, PhD, MPH, is currently funded with a career award from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to examine the impact of childhood chronic illness on the family.

As part of this work she will assess and compare the level of psychological stress, both self-reported and biologically measured, between parents of children with cancer and parents of children without cancer. Moreover, this study will examine the feasibility, performance, and comparability of stress biomarkers and perceived psychological stress among parental caregivers and how such measures are related to child health outcomes.