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.
Austin, Texas (34.83% Latino population) is one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. It is a rich and diverse city, complete with a thriving economy that has attracted a large number of new residents. According to data from the Internal Revenue Service, the total household income these new residents bring is $2,359,803,000. With this new growth comes changes; for many long-time residents of the city, these changes have them concerned. A local community group is now looking to bring light to the challenges faced by the city’s established Latino community. Gilbert Rivera is a longtime East Austin resident and president of the Rosewood Neighborhood Contact Team, a group of residents and property owners in the Rosewood neighborhood of Austin invested in the development and ...
A recent study by the Economic Policy Institute that, while the economy has bounced back from the Great Recession, new college and high school graduates, especially minorities such as Latinos, will still have a difficult time dealing with unemployment, underemployment, and living wages. A detailed study looked at the economic outlook for the Class of 2016. Despite officially ending in 2009, the Great Recession had a lasting effect on the employment prospects of young people. The recession left millions unemployed for prolonged stretches of time. The slow recovery has meant that eight classes of graduates have entered into a very weak labor market and have had to compete with more-experienced workers for limited job opportunities. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there ...
For those living with it or have members of their family that have the disease, understanding diabetes is important because it can cause serious, life-threatening complications if goes uncontrolled; however, diabetes is also a disease that allows people to live a “normal” life if it is managed well. The National Diabetes Statistics Report determined that nearly 30 million Americans have diabetes, which means that nearly every tenth person is affected by the disease. Studies have also proven that it is the seventh leading cause of death; those who do not die directly from diabetes may find that their life expectancy has been reduced by several years. According to several national surveys, Latinos are nearly twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to be diagnosed with diabetes by a ...
Raising Women’s Voices (RWV), a national initiative working to make sure women’s voices are heard and women’s concerns are addressed as policymakers put healthcare laws into action, has finished preparation of Mi Salud, Mi Voz: Una Guía Paso a Paso Para Mujeres Sobre Cómo Usar el Seguro Médico. This guide is a Spanish translation of many popular health literacy materials. RWV Regional Field Manager Cecilia Saenz Becerra worked with three translators—Tony Macias, Jen Hofer, and Lucy Acevedo to produce the Spanish-language guide. “Working with the team of translators, we used Spanish language that was precise and accurate, while also trying to make it accessible to diverse Spanish-language readers,” she explained. Mi Salud, Mi Voz: Una Guía Paso a Paso Para Mujeres ...
Open Enrollment for health insurance as part of the Affordable Care Act through a 2106 Marketplace plan is over. However, for those who qualify for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), you can get health insurance any time of year, with coverage starting immediately. Medicaid provides health coverage for many low-income families and children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Many states have expanded their Medicaid programs to cover all people below particular income levels. CHIP provides the same type of low-cost health coverage to children in families that are above the pay threshold for Medicaid. In some states, CHIP is provided to pregnant women, as well. According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), 95% of ...
A new report from the Heartland Regional Health Equity Council addressed the disparities in heart disease in four Midwest states: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. The Heart Disease Disparities Report provides an overview of the demographics and heart disease disparities in these states. Chronic conditions, such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes are among the most frequent and costly health conditions in the United States. Latinos are disproportionately burdened by many of these chronic illnesses. The data in the report covers the time period from 2000 to 2010. The data was collected from numerous sources, including online tools, state health department offices, and surveys. Some of the findings from the report include dramatic Latino population increases in the four ...
Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, Sylvia M. Burwell, announced over $260 million in funding awarded to 290 health centers in 45 states across the country. The funds will be used for renovation, construction, or expansion. “Health centers are cornerstones of the communities they serve,” said Secretary Burwell. “[These] awards will empower health centers to build more capacity and provide needed health care to hundreds of thousands of additional individuals and their families.” The goal is for health centers to utilize these funds to increase their patient capacity and provide additional comprehensive primary and preventive health services “to medically underserved populations.” The new and/or renovated centers are expected to ...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of Minority Health has recently released data detailing the quality of care received by people with Medicare Advantage by racial or ethnic groups. Based on the analysis from two sources, researchers analyzed how well the needs of Medicare beneficiaries are met for a variety of medical issues, several of which are disproportionately felt by the Latino population such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and chronic lung disease. “This is the first time that CMS has released Medicare Advantage data stratified by race and ethnicity. Increasing understanding and awareness of disparities and their causes is the first step of our path to equity,” said Dr. Cara James, director of the CMS Office of Minority Health. ...
In 2013, Bill de Blasio campaigned for the office of mayor of New York City (29% Latino population) on the promise of universal pre-K. A little over three years later and the city enrolls more children in full-day pre-K than any other state besides Georgia. The preschool enrollment of New York City exceeds the total number of students in San Francisco or Boston. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever been a part of,” said deputy mayor Richard Buery, who oversaw the pre-K expansion, in an interview to The New York Times. “Every aspect has been a challenge.” Two thousand teachers had to be recruited, 3,000 classrooms had to be opened, and 300 community providers had to be vetted as partners. More work still had to be done to ensure that the program was a success. The city ...
