FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 4, 2000

CONTACT: Janet Dolan
(916)734-9040

CONFERENCE FOCUSES ON HEALTH OF AGING LATINOS
UC Davis researcher to announce results of health study

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -- The UC Davis Center for Aging and Health, UC San Francisco Center for Aging in Diverse Communities, and Latino Coalition for a Healthy California are sponsoring a conference on "Aging Latinos and the Health-Care Paradox: Research and Clinical Care" on Tuesday, May 16, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Sierra Health Foundation, 1321 Garden Highway, Sacramento.

Mary Haan, associate professor and director of the UC Davis Center for Aging and Health says, "The conference will alert policymakers, health care providers, clinical researchers, community organizations and the general public to key health and related issues affecting the aging Latino population."

Senator Deborah Ortiz will open the conference with an address on insights into Hispanic health care and policy. During the conference, Haan will announce baseline results from the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging (SALSA) -- a five-year study assessing common health problems among 1,800 older Latinos.

Other topics will include health problems associated with diabetes, hypertension and chronic health conditions. Speakers will also address stress among caregivers of dementia patients, as well as delivery enhancements for medical care. Representatives from Clinica Tepati, a UC Davis School of Medicine student-run clinic for Latinos, will discuss the challenge of providing care to the Latino community, and a representative from the Spanish Arthritis Self-Management Program at Stanford will talk about the role of self-management education for people with chronic disease.

Among the speakers and topics will be:

· Haan, "Diabetes in Older Latinos: The SALSA Study" and "Common Problems Among Older Latinos"

· Eliseo Perez-Stable, M.D., director of the Center for Aging in Diverse Communities, UC San Francisco, "Aging Latinos and the Health Paradox"

· Roberto Paez, special assistant to the UC Davis Chancellor and Provost, "The Challenge of Providing Care to the Latino Community"

· J. Luis Bautista, M.D., medical director of Bautista Medical Group, Fresno, "Diabetes in the Hispanic Population"

· Dolores Gallagher-Thompson, Ph.D., associate professor of research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University; "Interventions to Reduce Distress in Hispanic/Latina Family Caregivers of Dementia Victims"

· Stephen McCurdy, M.D., M.P.H., UC Davis associate professor of epidemiology and preventive medicine, "The Aging Hispanic Farm Worker"

For a complete list of speakers and topics, call (530) 752-9463. The $30 conference fee includes a syllabus, continental breakfast, break snacks, lunch and a networking reception. Registration deadline is May 12.

Copies of all news releases from UC Davis Health System are available on the web at http://news.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu .

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