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.
The Kaiser Family Foundation has set up a “frequently asked questions” page for those seeking information on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Open enrollment for the ACA is currently ongoing and ends January 31, 2016. The ACA puts consumers back in charge of their health care. Under the law, a new “Patient’s Bill of Rights” gives the American people the stability and flexibility they need to make informed choices about their health. The Kaiser Family Foundation has made an effort to gather and up-to-date and accurate information. The ACA is working to make health care more affordable, accessible and of a higher quality, for families, seniors, businesses, and taxpayers alike. This includes previously uninsured Americans, and Americans who had insurance that didn’t provide ...
According to the Indiana Department of Health, seven out of every 1,000 infants born will not see their first birthday. The state is above the national average for infant deaths and it also has higher rates of pre-term births and prenatal smoking. Indiana is also lower than the national average among pregnant women who receive prenatal care in the first trimester of their pregnancy. The rate is especially high among minorities, including Latinos. “What we see in Indiana is that we can really do well ensuring prenatal care and healthy births in a select group of women,” said Dr. Jen Walthall, deputy health commissioner for the Indiana State Health Department. “Our infant mortality rate … is much better than the national average.” Diseases that can lead to pre-term labor, ...
The City of San Antonio and Pre-K 4 SA are offering San Antonio area schools and licensed childcare centers the opportunity to apply for competitive education grants befitting four-year-olds across the city. From now until Dec. 18, applications are available to support “innovative ways to expand and enhance existing access to high quality prekindergarten education.” Public school districts, charter schools, accredited private and parochial schools, and licensed childcare centers can apply for support including, but not limited to: improving curriculum, increasing professional development, decreasing class sizes, and reducing teacher-to-student ratio. “By moving forward with these competitive grants, our board is delivering on the promise to tax payers that funds would be ...
In November, over 2,300 people attended the League of United Latin American Citizens’ (LULAC) Latinos Living Healthy: Feria de Salud in Brownsville, Texas. A variety of free health care services were offered to the festival’s attendees including diabetes screenings, blood pressure screenings, as well screenings for HIV and cholesterol. Attendees were also offered free flu shots, dental checkups, and mental health consultations. Children participated in numerous interactive events, including basketball drills, a hula hoop contest, and a healthy images art project. Local food vendors also provided free samples of local, fresh fruit to encourage healthier eating habits. This was the first time the festival was held in Brownsville, which is a city, according to LULAC, in which nearly ...
A coalition formed by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) resulted in a 40% increases in colorectal screening rates over four years. The program is now being looked at as a possible pilot for other communities to boost their cancer screening rates. A report headed by Dr. Steven Itzkowitz, a professor of medicine/oncological sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS), now provides a framework for how communities might learn from a program to increase screening rates and ensure equal access based on race and ethnicity. “The increased screening rates from 2003 to 2012 translates to an additional 833,000 New Yorkers who have undergone screening colonoscopy and represents an important public health intervention,” said Dr. Itzkowitz. ...
Bishop Jose Torres, a father of three girls who plays volleyball in his spare time, was concerned about the lack of health awareness among his congregation in Severn, a suburb of Annapolis, MD. He wanted to do something about it. So with a few dedicated partners, he created a Hispanic Health Festival for his community. For over five years, the Hispanic Health Festival has provided much-needed health information and services to hundreds of Latinos in the community and has even saved a few lives.
Concern over a community's health
Located in Severn, a suburb of the city of Annapolis, MD (16.8% Latino), the Heritage Community Church has a sizeable Latino population. Bishop Jose Torres and the rest of the Church leadership were concerned about the health and health literacy of their ...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded $2 million in grants recently to support research on nutrient education and obesity prevention for disadvantaged children and families. “Childhood obesity rates in America have tripled over the past three decades,” said NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy. “While we are beginning to see promising signs of progress with the epidemic leveling off in children, these grants will help evaluate and strengthen existing nutrition education and obesity prevention efforts to help ensure this progress continues.” Funding has been granted to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Utah State University in Logan, UT. The funding will help create two additional Regional Nutrition Education and ...
The U.S. Surgeon General, with help from the National Human Genome Research Institute (part of the National Institutes of Health), is encouraging families to create a comprehensive health history and have created a new Family History Health tool to aid people in this task. Health concerns such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease are often inherited. Tracing illness back generation after generation can help you and your healthcare practitioner predict your risk for specific diseases. It is also important to know your family health history in order to see what screenings and treatments you might need before any disease is evident. The Surgeon General’s online tool will allow people to record their family health history before going to any medical appointment. It also allows users ...
Early education prepares children for school and gives families an opportunity to get ahead. According to the Center for American Progress, roughly only 34% of preschool-aged children are enrolled in schools in the United States. One of the main prohibiting factors is the rising costs of child care, which prohibits many American families, including Latinos. The Center is launching a new social media campaign, #WithinReach. In many states, high-quality child care is more expensive than the median rent payments. It is also more expensive than the average tuition and fees for a four-year public university in 31 states and the District of Columbia. The goal of the #WithinReach campaign is to unite national and state leaders, advocates, and the general public in a coordinated effort to ...
