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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

Olga Cardona: Cancer Survivor Makes a Career of Helping Others with Cancer


Guadalupe cornejo patient navigation promotora community health worker

A wave of shock swept over Olga Cardona as she listened to her doctor. “You have breast cancer.” Cardona knew nothing about cancer. She thought it was a death sentence. She was scared. She worried more when her insurance wouldn’t cover all chemotherapy. How could this be happening to me? A patient navigator calmed her fears. The navigator, a trained community health worker, taught Cardona what cancer is, got her in a breast cancer support group, and led her to resources to cover her treatment. Cardona, years later, now is in remission—and she became a promotora to promote health at the San Ysidro Health Center in California, where she was first diagnosed. “I wanted to pay it forward because I felt so grateful to everyone that had helped me through my ...

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New Program to Bring Patient Navigators, Breast Cancer Screening and Education to South Texas Women


Latino cancer patient smiling with doctor nurse clinic

Some women have low breast cancer screening rates. Even if they are screened, they delay confirmatory diagnosis and treatment because of costs, language issues, competing responsibilities, and more. That’s why Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, professor and director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio, is offering the Navegando Salud patient navigator program, which trains bilingual community health workers to offer breast cancer screenings, education and other services to women in South Texas. Navegando Salud just received a one-year, $100,000 grant from the Avon Foundation. The grant was among 10 announced at the 12th Annual Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Houston on April 13, 2014. “We’re honored to receive this grant, which will help ...

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How to Increase Participation in Potentially Life-Saving Cancer Clinical Trials


doctor with patient clinical trials outreach manual

Only 5% percent of Latinos participate in federal clinical trials, far less than their 19.5% makeup of the US population. This gives researchers fewer chances to find new cancer treatments for this population, which can benefit all people. What can a health agency do to get more people into clinical trials? A new guide, Clinical Trials Outreach: Program Replication Manual, developed by researchers at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio, was created to help health agencies reach into communities and increase participation in cancer clinical trials to better reflect the US population. With the guide, a health agency can: Learn about cancer clinical trials; Learn about donation of biospecimens (human materials such as skin, hair, and ...

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‘Breast Friends Forever’: A Unique Support Group for Young Women with Breast Cancer


BFFs breast cancer survivor suppport group

Amy Cleveland, fresh out of college and just starting a career in marketing, discovered a coarse lump in her breast while putting on some tanning oil. Only age 22, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. “It was a struggle for me because I was young and there was no one my own age I could relate to or confide in about having cancer. People always say, ‘My mom had that,’ or, ‘My grandma had that.’ But it’s tough for young people,” Cleveland said. Fortunately, Cleveland—now age 28 and free of cancer—found some “Breast Friends Forever,” thanks to a unique support group for young breast cancer survivors in San Antonio (63% Latino) developed by the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health San Antonio and Susan G. Komen San Antonio. The ...

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