FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.

 

For more information, contact:

Elizabeth Maynard-Garrett, APR

UTHSC Communications and Marketing

(901) 448-4957 or

 

Anne W. Manning

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UTHSC RESEARCHER WINS GRANT TO FOCUS ON FAMILY CAREGIVER HEALTH

           

Memphis, Tennessee (August 16, 2005) – Mona Newsome Wicks, PhD, RN,  professor with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) College of Nursing (CON), has been awarded a $219,000 three-year National Institutes of  Health (NIH), National Institute of Nursing Research grant.  The study will investigate whether or not a regular support group intervention with African-American family caregivers of patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) will reduce the caregiver’s symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as improve their ability to function. ESRD disproportionately affects African-American families

“Research indicates that about one-third of family members who care for patients with ESRD experience significant depressive symptoms. Because these family caregivers provide important unpaid long-term care to ESRD patients, we need to be concerned about their health as well,” said Dr. Wicks. 

Dr. Wicks received her PhD in nursing from Wayne State University in Detroit.  She has been named to Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Nursing and Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, and has won numerous awards for excellence in teaching.

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