Callie's passion is spreading awareness of public health issues through various communication channels. Her work helps mitigate health disparities while promoting positive, healthy changes in communities.
Migrating and resettling in a new country is a difficult process, marked with mental, emotional, and physical challenges, including potential family separation. For Latino immigrants, challenges may continue even after resettlement in the US, including significant socioeconomic and healthcare access disadvantages. Despite these hardships, studies show that Latino immigrants have better physical and mental health outcomes compared to their US-born counterparts. This interesting phenomenon is known as the Latino Immigrant Paradox. And the paradox applies to parents, too, according to a new report. Latino immigrant parents have a lower prevalence of mental health disorders (29%) than Latino parents born in the United States (51%), according to a report by the National Research ...
Substance abuse in the US is a public health problem that affects many people, including Latinos. Yet, Latinos are less likely than their White peers to get treatment they need. There is a new investigational treatment for substance abuse —the use of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS), a non-invasive procedure that uses magnetic pulses to temporarily stimulate areas of the brain. Fortunately, you can make a difference by representing Latinos in the Stimulus Research Study, a clinical trial at UT Health San Antonio and other sites that will help researchers learn if the use of rTMS can help people reduce or stop their cocaine or methamphetamine use. “The rTMS clinical trial and others like it hope to develop and apply new treatments that work for Latinos ...
The COVID-19 saga continues as the virus continues to mutate, and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) identify new subvariants of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The CDC is studying a new subvariant, called BA.2.12.1, to determine how it spreads and how well existing treatments and vaccines for COVID-19 work against it. “[BA.2.12.1 and other subvariants of Omicron] are more contagious with more immune escape, and they are driving a lot of the increases in infection that we’re seeing across the nation right now,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, White House Covid-19 response coordinator, according to Vox. Latinos, who are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 hardships, are still struggling to recover from the initial hit of the ...
“The good news is, we can’t kill you trying to save you. You showed up fit to fight.” Still in shock of recent events, Loriana Hernandez-Aldama tried to process the words of world-renowned oncologist Dr. Mark Levis. In such a short period of time in January 2014, her life had completely changed. Just a few days earlier, Loriana, a married mother and TV news anchor with a successful career in Austin and Dallas, Texas, was excitedly working with her fertility doctor to have another baby. But a precautionary blood test before a traditional embryo transfer revealed a disheartening diagnosis of AML Leukemia, an aggressive blood cancer. At the advice of her doctor and healthcare connections, she kissed her then 2-year-old son, Gabriel, goodbye, and boarded a plane to Johns ...
Oncologists who identify as Latino remain highly underrepresented in the workforce, according to a new report from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Although the percentage of Latino hematologists/oncologists has risen slightly over the past decade, from 4.1% in 2008 to 4.7% in 2018, Latino participation decreases at nearly every step in the path to becoming an oncologist, according to ASCO. “As a result, [Latino] patients are deprived the benefits of a representative workforce, such as improved access, enhanced culturally and linguistically competent care, and minimization of health disparities,” wrote Dr. Gladys Rodriguez of the START Center for Cancer Care in San Antonio, and her colleagues, in a recent study in JCO Oncology Practice. Why is this a ...
Different viruses are spread in different ways. The main way that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, spreads between people is by respiratory droplets. “In this case, a ‘droplet’ doesn’t just mean water that you can see, like big raindrops or splashes in the sink or a pool,” said Dr. Abigail Carlson, an infectious diseases physician with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), as part of CDC Project Firstline’s Inside Infection Control video series. “These droplets we’re talking about are actually really tiny, and where they come from may surprise you.”
Where Do Respiratory Droplets Come From?
You might think that when you breathe out, all that comes out is air. But our breath contains water too, in the form of respiratory droplets. ...
Cleaning removes dust, dirt, and germs from surfaces and objects. Disinfection makes sure that as many germs as possible are destroyed or killed. Cleaning and disinfection are both important infection control actions in hospitals and other healthcare settings because they keep germs away from people and help keep germs from spreading. Seems like common sense, right? “Even though it’s common sense, it’s important to think through all the reasons why we’re so careful about keeping an environment clean,” said Dr. Abigail Carlson, an infectious diseases physician with the CDC, as part of CDC Project Firstline’s Inside Infection Control video series.
The Importance of Cleaning and Disinfection: The Immune System
When we are healthy, our bodies have many built-in ways to ...
Where you live, work, and play significantly impacts overall wellbeing. That’s why it’s important to explore and understand health inequities that can impact quality of life and health outcomes for Latinos and other people of color. County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (CHR&R) is one such resource that helps leaders and county residents evaluate their community on a national scale. Created by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, CHR&R publishes an annual national findings report. The report revealed worsening health trends for women, minorities, and low-income individuals in 2022, similar to the 2021 report findings, but driven by COVID-19, the worst public health crisis in more than a ...
As the average American takes a shower, cooks, or enjoys a drink from the tap, chances are they simply turn on a faucet to access clean, drinkable water. People who live in colonias have a much harsher experience. While the average American uses 88 gallons of water per day, Cochran colonia residents in El Paso County, Texas, use a mere 50 to 100 gallons per month, facing daily struggles for safe water. Join us as Salud America! explores this rising health disparity through a three-part series on Latino drinking water contamination. Part 1 focused on nitrates, how prevalent they are in Latino drinking water, and emerging efforts to promote safer water for Latinos and all people. Part 2 addressed drinking water contamination at Superfund sites, its impact on Latinos, and ...
