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Education
Materials > The Tuberculosis Behavioral
and Social Science Research Forum Proceedings > Introduction
The Tuberculosis Behavioral and Social Science Research Forum
Proceedings
Section I. Introduction and Background
Introduction
These proceedings summarize the presentations and discussions that
took place during The Tuberculosis Behavioral and Social Sciences
Research Forum: Planting the Seeds for Future Research, which
was held in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 10-11, 2003. This meeting
was built on the foundation of a previous workshop, Tuberculosis
and Behavior: National Workshop on Research for the 21st
Century, held in Bethesda, Maryland in 1994. Plans for holding
a second workshop emerged largely in response to renewed calls for
further TB behavioral science research. Specifically, the Institute
of Medicine’s (IOM) 2000 report Ending Neglect: The Elimination
of Tuberculosis in the United States identified the need for
further behavioral and social science research in TB control and
treatment. The IOM report included the following: “Recommendation
5.3. To promote better understanding of patient and provider nonadherence
with tuberculosis recommendations and guidelines, a plan for a behavioral
and social science research agenda should be developed and implemented”
(IOM 2000 report, page 123). The Forum provided an excellent and
timely opportunity to revisit the behavioral science issues raised
during the 1994 workshop.
The goals of the Forum were to provide participants an opportunity
to
- Identify and prioritize TB behavioral and social science research
gaps;
- Develop a feasible, goal-oriented research agenda that will
guide TB behavioral and social science activities;
- Establish an ongoing partnership among national, state, and
local governmental and non-governmental behavioral and social
science researchers focusing on TB; and
- Create a mechanism for ongoing communication among TB behavioral
and social science researchers.
The Forum was designed to be an interactive “working meeting” and
included presentations, panel discussions, and breakout sessions.
The Forum brought together an interdisciplinary group of over 60
individuals involved or interested in TB behavioral and social science
research, including academicians, researchers, contractors, TB program
staff and patients, and staff from the National Center for HIV,
STD, and TB Prevention, including many from the Division of Tuberculosis
Elimination.
We hope that this document will be useful in several ways. It may
be cited as a statement of the need for interdisciplinary research
that includes the perspectives of the behavioral and social sciences.
It may also inspire researchers to conduct studies to address the
identified research gaps and needs, leading to improvements in TB
treatment and control. It is also hoped that it will serve as a
foundation for the development of a TB research agenda for the behavioral
and social sciences. Finally, it will also serve as an important
document confirming the important role that behavioral and social
sciences play in TB prevention and control and reminding researchers
and program staff alike that, although we are making progress toward
the elimination of tuberculosis, we still have much to learn and
improve upon before we arrive at that goal.
For more information about the CDC DTBE Forum,
join the TB Behavioral and Social Science listserv at
http://cdcnpin.org/scripts/tb_behavioral_science.asp
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Released September 2005
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention
Division of Tuberculosis Elimination - http://www.cdc.gov/tb
Please send comments/suggestions/requests
to: tbinfo@cdc.gov, or to
CDC/Division of Tuberculosis Elimination
Communications and Education Branch
1600 Clifton Rd., NE - Mailstop E-10, Atlanta, GA 30333 |
