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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

Mind, Body, Spirit: A Holistic Approach to Help Latina Breast Cancer Survivors



Stress is a grim reality for many Latinas after breast cancer. Survivors deal with health, fitness, finance, discrimination, and social challenges that reduce their quality of life and boost their risk of new or recurring cancers. That is why Drs. Amelie G. Ramirez, Daniel Carlos Hughes, and Patricia Chalela at UT Health San Antonio will conduct a holistic intervention to improve Latina breast cancer survivors' physical, mental, and spiritual well-being, thanks to a new, three-year, $600,000 grant from Susan G. Komen. Researchers will recruit 70 breast cancer survivors, half of them Latinas. Over six months, they will get: therapeutic yoga with meditation optional tailored exercise and diet counseling real-time psycho-social support based on survivors’ motivational ...

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How Farmers Markets Can Promote Racial Justice


farmers market week racial justice

Does your town have a farmers market? Farmers markets are a path to healthy food access. They are especially important amid the push for nutrition security and racial/ethnic justice. Fortunately, the Farmers Market Coalition is stepping up to support farmers markets. They’re supporting markers, creating an anti-racist toolkit, and sharing how markets increase equitable access to healthy, fresh produce and social connections, and engage farmers in the local economy. "As hubs for connection and community resilience, farmers markets have particularly risen to the occasion this year by providing a necessary sense of unity and stability during a time of great uncertainty," according to the coalition. "Farmers markets don’t just happen. The hard work of farmers market operators ...

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Donate a Biospecimen Today to Improve Latino Health Outcomes!



Have you ever wanted to help improve Latino health? Now is your chance! The National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program is recruiting at least one million diverse people to share information about their health history and environment. Information collected for the database helps researchers learn how biology, lifestyle, and our environment affects our health. As part of the effort, participants donate a biospecimen in the form of a blood or saliva sample. Biospecimens can help researchers find new ways to prevent, diagnose, or treat diseases, such as Alzheimer’s or cancer, among Latinos and other groups. “We may study your samples to measure things that naturally occur within our bodies, for example, cholesterol,” according to the All of Us ...

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¡Done Muestras Biológicas Hoy para Mejorar los Resultados de Salud de los Latinos!



¿Alguna vez ha querido ayudar a mejorar la salud de los latinos? ¡Ahora es su oportunidad! El Programa Científico All of Us de los National Institutes of Health está reclutando por lo menos a un millón de personas de diversas nacionalidades, para compartir información sobre su historia de salud y de su medio ambiente. La información recogida para la base de datos ayuda a los investigadores a aprender cómo la genética, el estilo de vida y nuestro medio ambiente afectan nuestra salud. Como parte del esfuerzo, los participantes donan muestras biológicas en la forma de una muestra de sangre o de saliva. Las muestras biológicas pueden ayudar a los investigadores a encontrar nuevas formas de prevenir, diagnosticar o tratar enfermedades, como el Alzheimer o el cáncer, ...

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Watch Webinar: Why Should I Think about Joining a Clinical Trial?



Clinical trials can have big benefits. They help researchers learn more to help slow, manage, and treat Alzheimer’s and cancer for ourselves and our abuelos, moms, dads, and others we love. So then why don't many Latinos join? To address this issue, you’re invited to join our Zoom webinar — Why Should I Think about Joining a Clinical Trial? — at 6 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. Webinar speakers Dr. Adolfo Diaz Duque of UT Health San Antonio and Dr. Bárbara Segarra-Vázquez of the University of Puerto Rico will help health care professionals and the Latino public understand clinical trial processes, explore trials as treatment options, and share testimonials of real Latinos who have benefited from trials. Panelists will also cover the barriers that prevent ...

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Vea el Seminario Web (Webinar): ¿Por Qué Debería Pensar en Participar en un Estudio Clínico?


Estudio Clínico

Los estudios clínicos pueden tener grandes beneficios. Ayudan a los investigadores a aprender más para ayudar a demorar, controlar y tratar el Alzheimer y el cáncer, para nosotros y nuestros abuelos, madres, padres y otras personas que amamos. Entonces, ¿por qué no muchos latinos participan en los estudios clínicos? Para abordar este problema, le invitamos a ver nuestro seminario web (Webinar) vía Zoom: ¿Por qué debería pensar en participar en un estudio clínico?  — a las 6 p.m. CT el miércoles 17 de agosto de 2022. Los panelistas del seminario web, el Dr. Adolfo Díaz Duque de UT Health San Antonio y la Dra. Bárbara Segarra-Vázquez de la Universidad de Puerto Rico ayudarán a los profesionales de salud y al público latino a entender los procesos de los ...

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#SaludTues Tweetchat 8/2: Get Your Vaccines!


get your vaccines covid-19 child mask shot

COVID-19. Flu. Hepatitis. Measles. Mumps. Polio. We face many health threats in life, but we have an important tool – vaccines – to protect ourselves against these and other serious diseases. Who should get vaccines? For which diseases? And when? And why do some groups, like Latinos, face vaccine barriers in access and uptake? Let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022, to explore the availability of vaccines and how we can promote equitable access to and uptake among Latinos and other people of color, in celebration of National Immunization Awareness Month in August.  WHAT: #SaludTues: Get Your Vaccines! TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. EST (Noon-1 p.m. CST), Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022 WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues HOST: @SaludAmerica CO-HOSTS: U.S. Dept. of ...

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Go into Bars, Clubs to Enroll Smokers in Quit-Smoking Services?!


Direct outreach in bars and clubs for quit smoking service 2

In the bar or club, it's easy to find people smoking and drinking. What would happen if health workers walked into these venues to ask cigarette smokers — face to face — to join a quit-smoking service on their phone? To find out, UT Health San Antonio researchers and an ad agency trained "street teams" to go into bars and clubs in San Antonio, Texas, to talk to patrons about joining Quitxt, a bilingual service that uses text messages to help young Latino adults quit smoking. Street teams talked with 3,923 people and enrolled 335 to Quitxt over 10 days in March 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic halted work, according to a new study in the journal JMIR Formative Research. "Direct outreach in bars and clubs is a useful method for connecting young adult cigarette smokers with ...

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Finding a Clinical Trial Just Got Easier!


clinical trial search

Clinical trials are responsible for many of today’s life-saving procedures and treatments. But finding and enrolling in clinical trials can be difficult process, especially for Latinos who may experience language barriers or lack of information. In response to these challenges, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) recently updated their search engine to better help patients find and enroll in an NHBLI-sponsored clinical trial. Available in Spanish, interested participants can now browse for clinical trials by age group, condition, and location. The search engine also includes an overview of how clinical trials work, who can participate, and benefits, risks, and safety measures of trials. Diseases and conditions studied in NHBLI-sponsored clinical trials ...

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