The Division of Health Behavior Research is devoted to research and training in clinical care, patient education and health psychology. It is part of both the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine.
The division was founded in 1977 as the "Diabetes Education Center" of the department's Diabetes Research and Training Center, supported by a major grant from the National Institutes of Health. Initial projects included development of a series of courses to train nurses, dietitians and other health professionals in basic clinical aspects of diabetes care and patient education. These courses have since expanded to include such topics as patient counseling and organizational and administrative aspects of effective diabetes care programs. In addition, the Diabetes Education Center has developed educational programs in diabetes care for a wide range of professionals, including social workers, pharmacists and teams of physicians and other health professionals interested in the latest technologies in insulin delivery and metabolic control.
Ranging across the many disciplines of both the medical school and the faculty of Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, the interests of the center staff included a variety of preventive and health care activities in diabetes and other diseases. Therefore, in 1984, the center joined with the medical school's Specialized Center of Research in Ischemic Heart Disease to launch several research projects in prevention and management of cardiovascular disease, funded by the National Institutes of Health.
The development of active research in cardiovascular disease to complement that in diabetes resulted in adoption of the name Center for Health Behavior Research. In December 1997, the center became a division of the Department of Internal Medicine and the Department of Pediatrics. Recognizing its pertinence to many areas of health care in both acute and chronic disease, the division has developed further collaboration with other research centers in the medical center, including those sponsored by the National Institutes of Health in Alzheimer's disease and in immunologic disease. An important initiative of the division is its central role in prevention and control activities of the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine. This includes research aimed at cancer prevention and ways to encourage early identification of cancers while they are still treatable. It also includes research and innovative clinical plans addressing the psychosocial needs of patients with cancer and their families.