Lambda Legal Files Suit Against Assisted-Living Facility For Allegedly Discriminating Against HIV-Positive Resident
Lambda Legal, a group that represents HIV-positive people, on Tuesday filed a law suit against the Fox Ridge assisted-living facility in North Little Rock, Ark., for allegedly evicting a resident because he is HIV-positive, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.The Rev. Robert Franke, a retired biology and religion professor who was diagnosed with HIV in 1987, moved into Fox Ridge, which is operated by Parkstone Living Center, in February. The day after he moved into the facility, an unidentified administrator told his daughter, Sara Franke Bowling, that her "superiors" said Franke needed to be discharged from the facility "because of his HIV." Franke disclosed his HIV status on application materials before moving into the facility. The suit alleges that Parkstone violated the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Arkansas Civil Rights Act and requests a permanent injunction to prevent the facility from denying apartments or services to people living with HIV/AIDS. The suit also seeks compensatory and punitive damages and attorneys" fees and costs. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Eisele. The facility declined to comment on the suit. Julie Munsell, a spokesperson for the state Department of Human Services, said Arkansas law allows for people who have been discharged for assisted-living facilities to remain in the facility pending a hearing if the discharge is appealed. Munsell said the department"s Long-Term Care Division received notice that Franke was appealing the discharge but that the appeal was later dismissed without a hearing. According to Munsell, facilities are not permitted to discharge residents based on medical diagnoses but that some facilities have said they do not have the capacity to provide care for certain conditions. Munsell also said that Fox Ridge is "claiming that they did not admit this client so there is no need for a hearing." Scott Schoettes, staff attorney for Lambda"s HIV Project, said that Franke was not seeking medical care from Fox Ridge, although the facility does provide medical services. "He didn"t require any services beyond which they were licensed to provide," Schoettes said. Franke"s eviction is "particularly blatant and egregious, but unfortunately, not all that uncommon," Schoettes said, adding, "This happens all across the country. We want to send a message that this kind of discrimination is not going to be tolerated" (Satter, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 5/13).
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What Is Psychotherapy? What Are The Benefits Of Psychotherapy?
will react in a more positive way. Put more simply, interpersonal psychotherapy focuses on the client"s relationship with family members and peers and the way the client sees himself/herself. It explores issues in relationships with other people. The aim is to help the client identify and modify interpersonal problems, understand them, and to manage relationship problems. The majority of women with recurrent depression may be able to prevent subsequent depressive episodes with monthly maintenance interpersonal psychotherapy, say researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. *Group therapy In group therapy there are usually between 6 to 12 clients and one therapist in a session. All the clients have related problems. The clients benefit from the therapist, and also by observing how other clients suffer and respond to feedback. Getting feedback from other people with related problems gives the clients a different perspective and is frequently helpful in triggering improvement and change. Taking part in group psychotherapy can help men who have erectile dysfunction to overcome their problem, and adding sildenafil (Viagra) to group therapy was found to be more effective than sildenafil alone, according to a team of Cochrane researchers. *Psychodynamic therapy This is also called insight-oriented therapy. It focuses on the automatic processes as they are exhibited in a person"s current behavior. This type of therapy aims to increase the client"s self-awareness and understanding of the impact of the past on present behavior. It enables the client to take a good look at unresolved issues and symptoms that arise from past dysfunctional relationships and exhibit themselves in the need and desire to abuse substances. Put simply, psychodynamic therapy helps people understand the roots of emotional distress, usually by exploring unconscious motives, needs and defenses. Psychodynamic therapy is especially effective for people with complex mental disorders, personality and chronic mental disorders, as this meta-analysis revealed. Another study carried out by researchers at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center found that psychodynamic therapy is efficacious in treating panic disorder. What does psychotherapy treat? Psychotherapy is used for treating many different problems. Some alone, and some in combination with drugs. The most commons ones are listed below: *Depression *Anxiety *Post-traumatic stress disorder *Low self-esteem *Anxiety disorder, including phobias *Emotional crises *Marital problems *Family disputes *Obsessive-compulsive disorder *Personality disorders *Alcoholism *Addiction *Problems stemming from child abuse *Behavioral problems *Bipolar disorder (in combination with drugs) *Schizophrenia (in combination with drugs) What are the benefits of psychotherapy? Professor Mick Cooper, of the University of Strathclyde, England, writes that the most important factor in successful therapy is the client, not the therapist. Participating in psychotherapy offers a number of benefits for the client. It is usually helpful to have somebody who really does understand you. Therapy may give the client a fresh perspective on a difficult problem and direct the client towards a solution. Most patients will say that the benefits of psychotherapy include: *Being able to understand yourself and your personal goals and values better. *Developing skills for improving relationships. *It helps the client overcome certain problems, such as an eating disorder, depression, or anxiety. *Obtaining a solution to the problems or concerns that made the client seek therapy. What are the disadvantages of psychotherapy *Some clients may find that the treatment results in changes they had not expected, or did not want. *Some people do not like to have to relive unpleasant events (not all psychotherapy techniques make the client do this). Written by Christian Nordqvist Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News TodayPages: 1 [2]