Profile

Dr. Thomas Teasdale

Presidential Professor Emeritus,
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Ribbons

Contact Details

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Oklahoma City, OK

Dr. Thomas Teasdale


Presidential Professor Emeritus,
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Bio

​Dr. Tom Teasdale is a health educator with 30+ years in the fields of geriatrics and gerontology.  He worked for nearly 20 years jointly at the Houston Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX.  In 2003, he moved to Oklahoma to join the Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Oklahoma Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatric Medicine where he was the Oklahoma site leader for the VA’s VISN 16 Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), leader of the Geriatric Department’s education mission, director of the HRSA-funded Oklahoma Geriatric Education Center, associate director of the Oklahoma Healthy Aging Initiative, and Department vice chair.  He retired from VA in 2013 after 30 years of service and in 2015 transferred from geriatric medicine to be appointed chair of the Department of Health Promotion Sciences in the University of Oklahoma College of Public Health.  Dr. Teasdale has developed many educational products for instruction in aging, and has authored over 50 publications/chapters.  His long-time interests have focused on the development, implementation, and evaluation of health care initiatives that improve the well-being of older adults and their family care partners.  His new public health role has rapidly expanded that focus.  
https://publichealth.ouhsc.edu/Faculty-and-Staff/Faculty-and-Staff-Contacts/Health-Promotion-Sciences/Teasdale


Current / Recent Funding:

  • Zero Suicide (Evaluator, 2021-2026).  Funding by SAMHSA to The Wichita and Affiliated Tribes.
  • Emergency COVID-19 Initiative (Evaluator, 2021-2022).  Funding by SAMHSA to The Wichita and Affiliated Tribes.
  • Emergency Response Suicide Prevention (Evaluator, 2020-2021).  Funding by SAMHSA to The Wichita and Affiliated Tribes.
  • Circles of Care (Evaluator, 2020-2023).  Funding by SAMHSA to The Wichita and Affiliated Tribes.
  • University of Oklahoma GWEP (co-PI, 2019-2024). HRSA.
  • Native Connections (Evaluator, 2019-2024).  Funding by SAMHSA to The Wichita and Affiliated Tribes.
  • Tribal Suicide Prevention and Surveillance Program (Evaluator, 2015-2021).  Funding by SAMHSA GLS program to The Wichita and Affiliated Tribes.
  • Step Up for Dementia (PI, 2017-2020). Funding by CMS to OK State Dept of Health to provide dementia care education in Oklahoma's nursing homes.
  • Oklahoma Public Health Training Center (PI, 2014-2019).  Funding by HRSA to Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Hygiene, Region 6 Public Health Training Center.

Education

University of Texas School of Public Health
Houston, Texas, United States
Dr.P.H., 1994
Aging
Dissertation: Feasibility of Self-Report Advance Directives Among Cognitively Impaired Elders

University of Texas-Austin
Austin, Texas, United States
BA, 1979
Anthropology

University of Texas-Houston
Houston, Texas, United States
MPH, 1983
Community Health

Job History

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Professor and Chair, Department of Health Promotion Sciences
Oklahoma City, OK, United States
April 2015 - present

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Vice Chairman, Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatric Medicine
Oklahoma City, OK, United States
February 2012 - March 2015

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Director of Research/Education, Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatric Medicine
Oklahoma City, OK, United States
June 2003 - March 2015

Veterans Affairs
Computer Operations Analyst/Health Science Specialist/Medical Statistician
Houston then Oklahoma City, TX, United States
August 1983 - September 2013

Baylor College of Medicine
Research Assistant then Assistant Professor
Houston, TX, United States
July 1982 - May 2003

Areas Of Expertise

  • Alzheimer's Disease
  • Caregiving
  • Caregiving: Direct Service Programs for Caregivers of Elders with Dementia
  • Caregiving: Spouse Caregivers
  • Community and Home Care: Care Issues for Elders with Dementia
  • Dementia
  • Education
  • Education: Families of Elders
  • Education: Nurses
  • Education: Undergraduate/Graduate Students
  • Gerontology
  • Health Promotion
  • Natural Disasters
  • Retirement

Discipline

  • Public Health