About the Author

Author Picture

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.

Connect with Cliff:
Twitter Link

Articles by Cliff Despres

Students, Teachers Push for Big Mental Health Solutions


mental health heroes

Nearly 1 in 5 Latinos suffers a mental health problem. But Latinos are less likely than other groups to seek out treatment for mental health conditions. They fear being stigmatized. They lack of health insurance. They face cultural barriers. Or they simply a fail to recognize symptoms. That’s why we at Salud America! are spotlighting heroes who are improving mental health for Latino families! Irán Barrera: Helping Latinos Answer Mental Health Questions Dr. Irán Barrera believes there is a difference between mainstream mental health and Latino mental health. Latinos don't use words like anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress. This means health professionals need training to address Latinos' mental health needs. That's why Barrera applied for and received ...

Read More

El corazón y el riñón del legendario pelotero Rod Carew, procedieron del jugador de la NFL


ROD CAREW

Rod Carew, miembro del Salón de la Fama del béisbol y reciente receptor de un trasplante, sabe ahora a quién le pertenecieron el corazón y el riñón que lo mantienen vivo: a Konrad Reuland, tight end de la Ravens y Jets y 49ers quien murió después de la ruptura de un aneurisma cerebral. Se cree que es el primer trasplante de su especie entre atletas profesionales, pero ese es solo uno de los muchos vínculos que comparten estos dos deportistas. Otro de ellos es que Reuland acudió a la misma escuela secundaria que los hijos de Carew. Los caminos del donante y del receptor ya habían coincidido desde antes. Hubo amigos mutuos que fueron atando los cabos entre la muerte de Reuland y la segunda oportunidad de vida de Carew. Las familias colaboraron para confirmarlo. Luego ...

Read More

How a ‘Neighborhood Health Action Center’ Could Solve Latino Health Inequities


health action center lobby rendering

Imagine: You are a 20-year-old Latina new mother in East Harlem, N.Y. You already live in a poor neighborhood that has a higher infant mortality rate than the nearby, wealthy Upper East Side. Now, as you leave the hospital, you need resources to care for yourself and the baby. Where do you get help? What if, blocks from your home, there's a place with workshops on infant safety and bonding? What if it also has a lactation room? What if it also has yoga and dance classes? What if it also offers primary care, mental health care, screenings, and vaccinations? What if you apply there for insurance, and get referrals to other local services, too? In New York, city leaders are creating these "Neighborhood Health Action Centers." Dr. Mary T. Bassett, the city's health ...

Read More

Community Heroes Create Bigger, Better Ways for Families to Play


three salud heroes of play

Kids need places to play to be healthy. Physical activity is proven to help control weight, reduce risk of disease, strengthen muscles, and improve mental health. But Latino families are more likely than white families to live in neighborhoods with no recreational facilities, or unsafe ones. This is according to recent research cited by Salud America!, a national Latino childhood obesity prevention network at UT Health San Antonio and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. That’s why we at SaludToday are spotlighting heroes who are creating play opportunities for Latino families! Irma Rivera: First Park in the 92701 Irma Rivera saw a child nearly hit by a car while playing in an empty parking lot in park-poor Santa Ana, Calif (78% Latino). She vowed to do fix ...

Read More

A Bad Pepsi Ad, Exploitation of Latino Kids, and the Cost of Obesity


pepsi and kid social justice

Have you seen Pepsi's soda ad that it yanked after big public outrage? It shows a staged protest with good-looking multicultural crowd and model Kendall Jenner. Jenner gives a Pepsi to a police officer. He smiles, everyone's happy. Social justice delivered and police brutality solved—by soda. The ad sparked a storm of criticism, for some obvious reasons. Even scarier is that sugary drink marketers continues to exploit Latino and Black youth, and stir obesity issues in these groups, according to commentaries by Vox's Julia Belluz and The Washington Post's Michelle Singletary. Belluz writes: "The public health community has long argued that big soda’s targeting of African Americans and Latinos is exacerbating health problems in those communities. We now have a big ...

Read More

Hombre latino salva a un compañero de trabajo después de ver video de RCP


heart-news CPR

Para un hombre neoyorquino, el ritual diario de leer el periódico le ayudó a aprender una aptitud que usaría para salvarle la vida a una colega. Cuando va camino al trabajo en el subterráneo, David Martinez hojea The Washington Post en su Kindle para ponerse al día en las noticias de política. En julio del año pasado, al hombre de 55 años le llamó la atención un artículo que publicó el Post sobre un tipo de reanimación cardiopulmonar (RCP) realizada por un espectador, conocida como reanimación cardiopulmonar solo con las manos. La página web del periódico tenía, junto con el artículo, un vídeo que mostraba cómo realizar la reanimación cardiopulmonar solo con las manos al ritmo de una versión a capela y pegadiza de la canción popular de los Bee Gees, ...

Read More

#SaludTues Tweetchat 4/11: Sleep for Salud


hispanic sleeping lady tired clock

Sleep. Everyone needs it—and wants it. Not getting enough sleep can contribute to heart attacks, diabetes, obesity and other serious health issues that affect Latinos more, CDC reports. For Sleep Awareness Month in April, let's use #SaludTues on April 11, 2017, to explore how much Latinos sleep (or don’t sleep), why sleep is key for good health, and how you and your family can improve sleeping habits. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Sleep for Salud” TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, April 11, 2017 WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues HOST: @SaludToday CO-HOSTS: Dr. Chris Winter (@SportSleepDoc), American Academy of Sleep Medicine (@AASMOrg) We’ll open the floor to questions on sleep like: Why is it good to have a daily ...

Read More

Study: Liver Cancer in Latinos Linked to Contaminated Food


aflatoxin in corn liver cancer

Even as U.S. cancer rates decline, liver cancer rates remain on the rise, especially among Latinos. But why? A new UT Health San Antonio study found that Latinos with liver cancer had much higher levels of aflatoxins than those without liver cancer. Alfatoxins are cancer-causing chemicals produced by mold that can contaminate improperly stored foods. People can ingest aflatoxins in contaminated corn, nuts, rice, sesame seeds, wheat, and some spices. For the study, researchers gauged aflatoxin exposure in 42 liver cancer cases and 42 non-cases from clinics in San Antonio, Texas. Two-thirds of the pairs were Latinos. Liver cancer cases had 6 times higher odds of having detectable levels of aflatoxins in their blood, compared to non-cases. "This study means that Latinos ...

Read More

Study: Latinas Don’t Eat a Healthy Diet Before Pregnancy


pregnant latina mom

Most Latina and black women do not eat a healthy diet before pregnancy, despite its many benefits, according to a new study. A healthy maternal diet can reduce risk of obesity, preterm birth, and preeclampsia. The study scored the diets of 7,500 women in the weeks leading up to pregnancy. No women in any racial/ethnic group met the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, according to study leader Lisa Bodnar of the University of Pittsburgh. Only about 25% of white, 14% of Latina, and 5% of black women had well-scored diets. Soda was the primary contributor to energy intake among Latina an black women, according to the study. "Our findings mirror national nutrition and dietary trends. The diet-quality gap among non-pregnant people is thought to be a consequence of many factors, ...

Read More