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Cliff Despres

Cliff Despres, who has more than a decade of experience in journalism and public relations, is communications director for Salud America! and its home base, the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio.

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Articles by Cliff Despres

More Latino Men Are Dying by Suicide, Even as the National Rate Declines


Latino men suicide rates public health watch mask covid-19 sad mental health

By Jim Morris Public Health Watch While still jarringly high, U.S. suicide rates fell in 2019 and again in 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last month. The year-over-year rate declined by 3 percent overall, falling by 8 percent among women and 2 percent among men. But there were some stark outliers. Notably, suicides among Latino men increased by nearly 6 percent. What’s Going On? Plenty, it turns out. Problems that existed before COVID-19 got even worse during the pandemic, health advocates and providers say, including substance abuse, job loss, poor access to care and the stigma of mental illness in the Latino community. “[Latino men] weren’t getting much help to begin with,” said Fredrick Sandoval, executive director of the New ...

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Virtual Patient Education En Español: Clinical Trial Myths & Realities


latina patient doctor clinical trial patient

You are invited to join the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) for a free virtual education program for patients and their families in Spanish. The event, "Los Estudios Clínicos: Los Mitos y Realidades / Clinical Trials: Myths and Realities," is set for 6 p.m. CST on March 15, 2022, via Zoom. Clinical trials are studies that help researchers learn more to help slow, manage, and treat cancer for current and future family members. But without Latino volunteers for clinical trials, the benefits may miss this group. Dr. Patricia Chalela, an associate professor at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, will help participants will learn about: ¿Qué es un estudio clínico? (What is a clinical trial?) ¿Cuál es la importancia de los estudios ...

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Take Action for Obesity Care Week 2022!


obesity care week

Obesity Care Week 2022 (#OCW2022) is here! From Feb. 27 to March 5, 2022, Obesity Care Week is an annual public awareness effort to end weight bias, as well as raise awareness, educate and advocate for a better world for people living with obesity. Also, World Obesity Day is March 4, 2022. Our Salud America! Latino health equity team at UT Health San Antonio is happy to serve as an OCW2022 Champion to support this awareness week. "Unlike most other diseases, obesity is one that continues to be stigmatized and those impacted struggle to receive any care in many cases, let alone adequate care," said Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio and a leading health disparities researcher. It’s time to change the way we care for obesity, and OCW2022 ...

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Video Contest for Teens with an ‘Eye on the Future’ for Science Careers



The National Eye Institute has launched the Eye on the Future campaign to encourage teens to pursue careers in science, specifically eye health and biomedical research. The campaign is kicking off with a video contest! For the video contest, open to teens nationally, high school students can submit 30-second-to-3-minute videos on several science-related categories, such as their favorite scientific discovery or the impact they'd like to make in the science world in 20 years. Students can record video submissions on their own or team up with a group of friends. Submissions are due May 1, 2022. "Winners will get cash prizes — to to $2,000 — plus the opportunity to visit the National Institutes of Health for a day," according to the National Eye Institute, part of the ...

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1 in 3 Latinos Will Face Cancer in Their Lifetime: Conference to Address Disparities, Inequities



With 1 in 3 Latinos facing a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime, UT Health San Antonio is hosting the 2022 Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos in-person conference on Feb. 23-25 at the Westin Riverwalk, 420 W. Market St, in San Antonio, Texas. The biennial conference is expected to draw 200 researchers, oncologists, physicians, community leaders, and students for an open dialogue on research advancements and actions to translate basic research into clinical best practices, effective community interventions, system-change advocacy, and professional training to eliminate cancer disparities in Latinos. The first Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos conferences in 2018 and 2020 united 80 guest speakers and over 600 attendees from 25 states, from D.C and New York to ...

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Study: Peer Modeling with Psychological Inoculation Can Promote COVID-19 Vaccinations


covid-19 vaccines peer modeling with psychological inoculation study2

COVID-19 vaccination is often deterred by misinformation, from conspiracy theories to exaggerated side effects on social media. Vaccine misinformation is potent among Latinos due to lack of reliable information that is culturally relevant or in Spanish, along with little government outreach. That is why UT Health San Antonio researchers studied a new type of advertisement on Facebook to push people to get vaccinated. They used video testimonial ads of Latino peer role models, like Rosa Herrera, who tout the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine, while providing psychological inoculation by acknowledging misinformation, rejecting it, and receiving the vaccine. Compared to generic vaccine promotion ads from the CDC, the Latino peer model ads yielded a significantly higher rate of ...

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The 1st Surgery for Alzheimer’s Disease in South Texas


deep brain stimulation surgey alzheimers dementia clinical trial ut health san antonio 3

A San Antonio woman in her 70s underwent South Texas’ first deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery for Alzheimer’s — one of the first 300 surgeries of its kind in the world — at University Hospital on Nov. 5, 2021. UT Health San Antonio and clinical partner University Health are among 27 clinical trial sites worldwide evaluating the effectiveness of the DBS technique in a clinical trial to treat patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease. DBS is an established, nonpharmaceutical treatment that researchers hope could slow or even halt the progress of this devastating disease. Dr. Alexander Papanastassiou, associate professor of neurosurgery at UT Health San Antonio who sees University Health patients, implanted DBS electrodes during the operation. The surgery is minimally ...

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#SaludTues Tweetchat 3/1─Two Years Later: How COVID-19 Is Impacting Latinos


latina teacher with mask for covid-19 students hispanic

For the past two years, COVID-19 has continued to ravage the United States. Data continue to show that Latinos and other people of color are disproportionately affected, amid worsening historical health and social inequities. How can we address this? Let’s use #SaludTues on March 1, 2022, to explore health inequities facing the Latino population over the past two years (and long before that), and share solutions and strategies to promote health equity amid the pandemic! WHERE: Twitter WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat “Two Years Later: How COVID-19 Is Impacting Latinos” WHEN: 1-2 p.m. ET (12-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, March 1, 2022 HOST: Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio (@SaludAmerica) CO-HOSTS: The Children’s Partnership (@kidspartnership); Latinx Voces LLC ...

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