The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps one in eight Americans put food on the table. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, millions of Americans lost their jobs and experienced reduced incomes – causing Congress to make temporary emergency changes to SNAP. As a result, SNAP recipients experienced a boost in benefits, either receiving an additional $95 in benefits or an additional benefit valued up to the maximum benefit for their household size, whichever value was greater, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. While these emergency allotments have ended in many states, the Lone Star State has continued providing eligible households with an increased food budget. However, Texans may feel the pinch in the next few weeks, as Congress ...
In the small rural Central California town of Selma, a young Trinidad Solis watched long stretches of farmland float by through the car window. She listened to her parents in the front seat discuss their upcoming doctor’s appointment in Spanish. As Mexican immigrant farmworkers, Solis’ parents faced hardships accessing healthcare, including a language difference. Since her parents were monolingual Spanish-speakers, Solis often served as translator during her parents’ health appointments and helped them navigate the complex healthcare system. These childhood interactions spurred Solis’ desire to become a bilingual, background sensitive family physician who could provide healthcare, including infection prevention and control services, to vulnerable patients like her ...
As more healthcare systems start to screen patients for non-medical drivers of health (NMDoH), we at Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio are spotlighting why screening for NMDoH is so important to improve health outcomes for all people, including Latinos. Today, we are sharing three NMDoH screening tools that can help address NMDoH-related needs, or the non-medical challenges to health, of all patients. You can use these screening tools – questionnaires that gather information from patients – in your healthcare facility or use them as inspiration to create your own screening tool. Let’s dive into these health-changing tools!
The Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patients’ Assets, Risks, and Experiences (PRAPARE®)
PRAPARE® helps health centers and other ...
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be debilitating and place a significant burden on patients, their families, employers, and the government. While genetics and health differences do play a role in the development and progression of RA, such as lack of family and friend support, can also play a role in the progression of the disease. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center want to learn more about how social and genetic factors affect RA in Latinos, who often face social issues when it comes to health. You can help by participating in a clinical trial no matter where you live in the US!
Rheumatoid Arthritis Study Qualifications
To be eligible for this clinical trial, you must be age 18 or older and of Hispanic/Latino background. You may have RA or ...
In a modest house in Los Angeles, California, a young girl buried her nose in a book. She focused on the book’s colorful graphics of doctors helping sick patients. Closing her eyes, she pictured herself in this role. Her mother’s words echoed in her mind, “Education is the key to opening doors in life.” The young girl wasn’t sure how, but she decided she was going to go to medical school, and she was going to become a doctor. Decades later, the young girl — now a grown woman – has a successful career in medicine. Dr. Marlene Martin is an associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and a hospitalist at San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH). In these roles, Marlene combines her passion for clinical care ...
Did you know that your Zip code is more important than your genetic code in predicting how long you will live? That’s right – where you live can have a big impact on your health. In fact, our health is influenced by a variety of non-medical factors, such as the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age. These conditions are known as non-medical drivers of health. Addressing non-medical drivers of health is key to improving health for Latinos and all people. Numerous studies suggest that non-medical drivers of health accounts for between 30-55% of health outcomes and non-medical drivers of health influences individual health behaviors, which account for another 30% of health outcomes. Fortunately, healthcare systems are placing more emphasis on screening ...
Clinical trials are studies with volunteers that help researchers learn how to slow, manage, and treat different diseases. There are four phases of clinical trials that each help scientists answer different questions. Phase 1 clinical trials are the first step in testing a new treatment in people. They focus on evaluating the safety, side effects, best dose, and timing of a new treatment, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Phase 1 clinical trials usually include a small number of patients who have not been helped by other treatments. In the past, participants in phase 1 trials for cancer treatment generally had low tumor response rates. And, because phase 1 trials are focused on assessing safety of treatments, doctors have hesitated to refer patients to these ...
Have you ever had a conversation with a doctor that left you feeling confused? These situations can be frustrating, especially when it hurts your health. Unfortunately, poor doctor-patient communication is common, even though doctors acknowledge they should avoid medical jargon when talking with patients. In a new study in JAMA Network Open, researchers surveyed 215 adults and found that when medical jargon was used by physicians, participants frequently misunderstood and often interpreted the exact opposite of what the physician intended. This confusion can lead to adverse health outcomes, according to the study. "You could be the smartest doctor in the world, yet you're useless if your patients don't understand what you are saying," Dr. Michael Pitt, study author and ...
We use a lot of shared devices and equipment in healthcare. But these devices and equipment are all surfaces that can have germs on them. Because healthcare workers use and share devices and equipment many times a day and for many different tasks, it’s important to understand the role that these devices can play in the spread of germs.
Medical Devices
Medical devices are used on a patient’s body, such as a stethoscope or blood pressure cuff. They’re also used in a patient’s body, such as an IV needle, an endoscope, or an artificial hip. When devices are used on or in a patient’s body to provide care, any germs on those devices can spread to places in or on the patient’s body. That’s how devices can be the germ’s entryway into the body. Devices that are ...
