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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

Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez: Empowering Latino Health on CDC Podcast


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Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, leader of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio, shares insights on Latino health on a new episode of the CDC's Listen Up! podcast series for health communicators, by health communicators. In her episode, "Not a Monolith: Empowering Latino Health," Ramirez covers Latino culture and health. She also shares the importance of Salud America! Salud Heroes, how to take action to improve the social determinants of health, and how to build trust and wellbeing within Latino communities. Listen to Ramirez's episode. See the full Listen Up! podcast series, hosted by Dr. Betsy Mitchell in CDC’s Office of Communications. "It's family, faith, and language that are key, important cultural issues to keep in mind [when sharing health messages to empower Latinos]," ...

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Get Help Quitting Smoking for World No Tobacco Day on May 31!


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On May 31, you can join thousands of people who will begin their smoke-free journey on World No Tobacco Day! This annual event from the World Health Organization to "draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and the preventable death and disease it causes." Need help quitting smoking? Enroll in Quitxt, a free English or Spanish text-message service that turns your phone into a personal “quit smoking” coach from UT Health San Antonio. To join Quitxt, text “iquit” (for English) or “lodejo” (for Spanish) to 844-332-2058. “On World No Tobacco Day, we’re excited to share Quitxt to provide real-time help with motivation to quit, setting a quit date, handling stress, and much more, all on your phone,” said Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of the Salud America! ...

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Watch Webinar: How to Support Latino Cancer Survivors



Latinos with cancer face a challenging survivorship journey. Explore these cancer survivorship challenges at UT Health San Antonio’s webinar, “How to Support Latino Cancer Survivors,” which occurred at 11 a.m. Central on Monday, July 15, 2024. The webinar featured experts from the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio, Genentech, as well as cancer survivors and safety-net organizations, who will explore cancer among Latinos and how to help them on the road to recovery. Topics covered patient advocacy, support groups, clinical trials, referrals to resources through screening for social determinants of health, and more. This is a part of a webinar series, “Let’s Address Health Equity Together.” The series is a collaboration of the Salud America! program at ...

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Honoring Latino Military Heroes on Memorial Day


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Memorial Day is May 26, 2025. We at Salud America! are excited to honor all U.S. military personnel, including the Latinos, who have served and died for our country. Latinos in the Military: History Latinos have a “proud and indeed enviable” record of military service that dates back all the way to the Civil War, according to a U.S. Army historical website. About 20,000 Latino serviceman and women participated in Operation Desert Shield/Storm in 1990-1991, 80,000 in the Vietnam War in 1959-1973, and more than 400,000 in World War II in 1939-1945. Latinos have earned more than 40 Medals of Honor, according to the Department of Defense. “Whether their heritage can be traced to Spain, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, or one of dozens of other Spanish-speaking countries or ...

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7 Reasons to Screen for the Non-Medical Drivers of Health in a Healthcare Setting


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Where you live can have a big impact on your health. Non-medical factors like where we are born, live, work, and age — known as social determinants of health (SDoH) — can influence health for better or worse. However, the U.S. has struggled to identify and help people with SDoH issues. That's where SDoH screening comes in. SDoH screening is a questionnaire given to patients in a healthcare setting to help providers identify non-medical barriers to health. These include issues like financial hardship, transportation, housing, food, employment, and safety. Patients can then be referred to helpful community resources. Here are seven reasons to implement SDoH screening in your healthcare system, hospital, or clinic. 1. SDoH Screening Helps Patients Speak Up SDoH ...

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Take Action for Brain Health During Brain Tumor Awareness Month!


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How often do you think about your brain health? We can maintain our brain health with everything from exercise to quality sleep, but conditions such as brain tumors can affect the brain and disrupt our lives. For Brain Tumor Awareness Month in May, Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio is partnering with the Low Grade Glioma Registry to raise awareness of brain tumors, real people with brain tumors, quality of life, and caregiving among the Latino population. Follow along for a month of amazing content! 7 Things You Should Know About Brain Tumors About 90,000 people are diagnosed with a primary brain tumor every year? For ourselves, our familia, and our comunidad, we should know a few important things about brain tumors so we can help all those impacted by a tumor ...

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Webinar: How to Equitably Respond to Local Cancer Needs



Do you how cancer impacts your local population? How can you help? Find new strategies to address the local cancer burden at UT Health San Antonio’s webinar, “How to Identify and Equitably Respond to Local Cancer Needs,” recorded live at 10 a.m. Central on Thursday, April 25, 2024. This webinar featured experts from the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio, Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida, Genentech, as well as a patient advocate, who together explored local cancer issues. Panelists shared how to strategically listen, engage, and respond to local cancer needs to guide cancer research, care, and outreach tailored to address the needs of local communities. This is a part of a webinar series, “Let’s Address Health Equity Together.” The series is a ...

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Dr. Amelie Ramirez: Helping Latino Cancer Survivors Share Their Journeys


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Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, leader of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio, recently shared the need to help Latino cancer survivors on "Science & Medicine," an audio collaboration of Texas Public Radio and UT Health San Antonio. Bonnie Petrie, TPR's bioscience and medicine reporter, hosted the segment. Ramirez spoke to Petrie about her project to improve care and life for Latino cancer, called “Avanzando Caminos (Leading Pathways): The Hispanic/Latino Cancer Survivorship Study.” "Our big goal is to really have more equitable care for everyone, not only in South Texas, but nationwide, and that their outcomes for survival are also improved,” Ramirez said during the segment. Listen to the full audio here. About the Avanzando Caminos Research Project Avanzando Caminos ...

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