Resource center would provide support groups, other services for chronically ill students

With an idea that would be the first in the Pacific-10 Conference, two UA students are hoping to make being sick a little easier.

Their plan is to develop a resource center for students who suffer from chronic illnesses ranging from allergies to Crone's Disease.

"There are a lot of students who have illnesses and need to cope with them, as well as being a regular student," said Associated Students of the University of Arizona Senator and communication junior Jason Poreda, who, with the assistance of his senate aide, came up with the idea.

Poreda said the resource center would serve as a support group, as well as a place for information.

"Sometimes students need to take the semester off or start new treatments, and sometimes that can be scary and hard to deal with," said Poreda, who suffers from Crone's Disease, an intestinal disorder.

"It's something that no one has really thought of yet," Poreda said.

Working alongside Poreda on his quest to develop the resource center is his senate aide, industrial engineering junior Amanda Meaker, who also suffers from a chronic illness.

"We started looking at other universities to see if they had a program like this already implemented, and unfortunately none of them did," said Meaker, who has hypoglycemia, a condition that requires her to eat on a schedule that relates to her blood sugar levels.

"We would love for it to start at the U of A," said Meaker, who added that most of the universities she contacted expressed an interest in the program.

The proposed center would be student-run, with the help of medical officials, and would have connections to both ASUA and Campus Health Service.

UA currently offers services for students with illnesses through Campus Health and the Disabilities Resource Center, but Meaker and Poreda said they believe a condensed resource center would help ill students know what services already exist and expand on them.

The Disability Resource Center currently services 85 students with disabilities related to chronic illnesses, said Sue Kroeger, disability resource center director.

"Chronic illnesses are certainly viewed as disabilities because they can really impact a student's life," Kroeger said.

"If students really are impaired by their illness, then they can receive services here," said Kroeger, who added that a majority of the more than 175 students served at the center suffer from ailments other than chronic illnesses, such as psychiatric problems.

The center offers problem-solving support, test accommodations and note takers and deals with schoolwork time extension issues for disabled students. But the center does not have a specific support group for students with chronic illnesses.

Dr. Melvyn Weinberg, a general medicine physician at Campus Health, said he sees students with a variety of chronic illnesses and believes support groups would benefit them, as long as students can make time in their schedules for the groups.

"It's often helpful for people to see what others are also dealing with," Weinberg said.

The majority of chronic illnesses seen at Campus Health are diabetes and asthma, Weinberg said.

Both illnesses are encompassed in Meaker and Poreda's plan, in addition to a number of others.

"Our goal is to cater to some of the less severe illnesses that often go overlooked, but anyone will be welcomed," Poreda said.

Meaker and Poreda spent last semester brainstorming and proposing variations of the idea to both Campus Health and ASUA officials. They said the feedback has been positive.

"It's a simple idea, but a good idea," said Poreda, who added that the biggest obstacle thus far has been collecting data on how many students would actually use the facility.

Meaker and Poreda said that although their plans for the center are still in the baby stage, they hope to see some solid progress by next semester.