HIV study finds no ethnic ties
Depression among HIV-infected women is due to socioeconomic
status and prior psychiatric history instead of ethnic differences,
according to a Medical Center psychiatry department study.
The two-year long study examined HIV-negative and HIV-positive
women in three ethnic groups: African American, Latin American and
white. Investigators have data for 457 women from all over L.A.
County.
Factors in the study included amount of education, per capita
income, and employment status. Psychiatric history involved anxiety
disorders such as panic and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The diagnostic study, led by psychiatry professor Gail Wyatt,
also confirmed that depression rates are higher in HIV-infected
women than non-infected women.
Home care found to affect jobs
People who care for their frail elderly relatives instead of
putting them in nursing homes frequently miss work or leave their
jobs entirely, according to research from San Francisco VA Medical
Center.
Latino, African American and female caregivers are especially
likely to make these sacrifices, the study found.
Researchers say family caregivers deserve public aid or tax
breaks because they save the government billions in Medicare
expenses by keeping these elderly out of nursing homes.
“These caregivers are the backbone of our system of caring
for the elderly,” said the study’s lead author Kenneth
Covinsky, UCSF assistant professor of medicine and SFVAMC staff
physician.
Two-thirds of elderly people eligible to live in a nursing home
get their care at home instead, usually from members of their
extended family. The value of this care is estimated to be $196
billion dollars a year.
Covinsky and his colleagues surveyed more than 2,800 elderly
people who were eligible for, but not living, in a nursing
home.
The ethnic disparity may be due either to cultural differences
or access to care, Covinsky said.
Class instills idea of college in kids
Students in the Asian American Studies class titled “Youth
Empowerment: Community Education” toured 110 students from
Wilton Place Elementary School ““ located in Korea Town
““ around campus Friday.
“We try to answer their questions of what college is and
to get the idea of college into their head,” said fifth-year
political science student Raymond Ramirez.
Students in the class visit the elementary school weekly to
teach unity and teamwork.
Reports from Daily Bruin wire services.