Eric Moreno is a Content Curator with the Salud America! program at UT Health San Antonio. He specializes in covering the topics of health equity and family and social support. He holds a BA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and an MA from Gonzaga University.
According to a new report, the United States ranks ninth among the world’s 19 wealthiest nations in terms of overall child well-being. According to the Save the Children report, the U.S. has this dubious ranking despite having “the world’s largest economy.” The Child Prosperity Index looks at indicators in eight areas that affect children throughout the world; these indicators include: health, education, income, safety, employment, and gender equality. The index doesn’t directly report on child poverty data, but it does emphasize the prevalence of the issue in many high-income countries. According to research, 22% of American children live below the poverty line. “The U.S. really needs to make sure every child benefits from the economic growth of the country,” said ...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released an updated version of the Marketplace enrollment manual. The manual is designed to provide guidance for users on eligibility and enrollment activities with the federally facilitated Marketplaces (FFM), the federally facilitated Small Business Health Options Program (FF-SHOPS), and to state-based Marketplaces and SHOPs that use the federal eligibility and enrollment platforms (SBMs-FP). The topics covered by the manual include the initial open enrollment periods and important dates, premium payments, direct enrollment, and special enrollment periods. Open Enrollment for 2017 begins November 1, 2016 and ends on January 31, 2017. Outside of the Open Enrollment period, individuals can enroll in a health insurance plan ...
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) recently announced more than $140 million that will be distributed among 12 workforce programs across the country. A study from the Association of American Medical Colleges projects a shortfall of between 14,900 and 35,600 primary care physicians by 2025. The award from HRSA will fund grants related to primary care training, specifically, encouraging diversity in the primary care workforce. As the Latino population continues to grow in the United States, there is also a growing need for qualified Latino/Hispanic healthcare workers to address this population’s needs. In addition to needing someone to communicate in Spanish, having healthcare workers that are culturally sensitive to the needs of their patients is essential to the ...
The U.S. Department of Education has compiled a checklist of 7 things every high school graduate needs to do before leaving for their first semester of college. Make sure your school has your financial aid ready. Many students fill out an application for financial aid. Early and/or mid-summer is an opportune time to check with the financial aid office to make sure all your paperwork is complete. It is also important to make sure that you have enough money to cover any gaps between the cost for school and your financial aid award. Find a part-time job. If this is something you’d be interested in, it would be a good idea to start checking out opportunities in the area of campus before classes start. Working during school can not only provide extra income, but I can also teach ...
A new survey determined that four out of every 10 University of California system students do not have a consistent source of high-quality, nutritious food. Nearly 9,000 students were surveyed in what is believed to be the largest look ever at campus food security. The survey also determined that 19% of students “went hungry at times” and 23% were able to eat, but lacked regular access to a “good-quality, varied, and nutritious diet.” In conjunction with the release, University President Janet Napolitano announced a $3.3 million effort to expand the campuses’ fight against student malnutrition. Each campus in the University of California system will receive $151,000, adding to the $75,000 the campuses received last year. The effort will go toward building what school ...
Urban planning plays a significant role in addressing the health equity and health disparities of Americans, especially Latinos. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), environmental, social, and economic conditions in cities can have both positive and negative impacts on human health. Urban planning plays an important role on these conditions. Air and water quality, the location of affordable housing, and access to public transportation are all factors that shape health. Perhaps no place in the world is more known for its “urban form”—its physical layout and design—than metropolitan New York City (29% Latino population). From the towering skyline of Manhattan, the neon lights of Times Square, the rolling hills and paths of Central Park, New York has built an ...
A new poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), and Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that many employers do not do enough to reduce the stress of their employees. Of the working adults who say they’ve experienced a great deal of stress in the past 12 months, the vast majority (85%) report that efforts to reduce stress in the workplace are fair or poor. Compared to the general population, Latinos are more likely to engage in healthy behaviors, such as exercising and spending time with friends and family, to manage stress. Unfortunately, stress is still a major health concern for Latinos, as more than half report they are worried about stress in their daily lives. Overall, 43% of working adults reported that their job negatively affects their stress ...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of Minority Health will present a special From Coverage to Care (C2C) webinar on Wednesday, July 20 at 1:00pm ET. The event will serve as an opportunity to learn more about C2C as well as discuss how to best get involved in the community to help people get the most from their health coverage. Participants will be invited to share their input and discuss the best strategies available. Tools for health care professionals will also be shared as part of the event. The overall goal is to ensure people live the best and healthiest lives possible. This Spanish-language webinar will last 60 minutes in total. There is no cost for the webinar. You can register online at the C2C Spanish webpage. Share this story on ...
The National Institutes of Health has awarded an $11.3 million grant to researchers studying health inequities in youth in Tulsa, Okla. (14.82% Latino population). The funding will be used to establish the Children’s Health Equity Solutions Center, which will be a partnership between researchers from the Oklahoma State University (OSU) Center for Health Sciences and the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa. “The number one predictor in not just how long you will live, but how well you will live is income,” said Jennifer Hays-Grudo, a regents professor of human development and family science in the College of Human Sciences at OSU. “Unfortunately, in Oklahoma, if you’re born in the bottom 20% of the income level, you are more likely to die in the bottom 20 percent than in other ...
