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Amelie Ramirez

I am director of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio. I have spent 30 years directing research on human and organizational communication to reduce chronic disease, cancer, and obesity health disparities affecting Latinos.

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Articles by Amelie Ramirez

Research: Discrimination Impacts Educational Outcomes for Latinos


Latina student bullying cohesive culture research review

This is part of the Salud America! Achieving a Cohesive Culture for Health Equity in Latino and All Communities: A Research Review» Discrimination, Segregation Impacts Latino Students Many Latino children are at risk of not getting the proper care, services, and environment they need for healthy formative development. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs; including racism, discrimination, and violence), poor nutrition, physical inactivity, and low participation in preschool programs can impair Latino children’s social and emotional development, health and wellbeing, and academic achievement.32 Even when minority children live in wealthier areas, research shows that they are often treated differently by teachers. “[Children of color] are more likely to be harshly punished for ...

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Strategy for Equitable Change: Social Media


mobile social media tablet communication

This is part of the Salud America! Achieving a Cohesive Culture for Health Equity in Latino and All Communities: A Research Review» Social Media and Social Justice While much has been said about the detrimental effects of social media on relationships, it is also clear that social media can be used to bring people together, and to bring about social change. The #BlackLivesMatter movement began on Twitter in 2016 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. It has reached and engaged millions of people across America, becoming an organization with chapters in more than 30 cities across the United States. The death of Trayvon Martin, and the subsequent deaths of Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, Breonna Taylor, and others at the hands of police, ...

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Research: Poverty among Latinos


Latina girl in poverty cohesive culture research review

This is part of the Salud America! Achieving a Cohesive Culture for Health Equity in Latino and All Communities: A Research Review» Latino Families Are More Likely to Live in Poverty Child poverty rates are more than twice as high for black children than white children (38% vs 14%, 2019 data)10 and Latino children than white children (23.7% vs 8.9%, 2018 data) across the United States,5 according to data published in the 2019 County Health Rankings and Roadmaps Report10 and the 2018 U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Report.5 The Institute for Policy Studies found that between 1983 and 2013 there was a 51% decline in the wealth of the median Latino household (from $4,100 to $2,000); during this same period, wealth of the median white household increased by 14% from $105,300 to ...

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Mechanism of Discrimination: The Problem of Moral Disengagement


Latino boy sad moral disengagement cohesive culture research review

This is part of the Salud America! Achieving a Cohesive Culture for Health Equity in Latino and All Communities: A Research Review» Moral Disengagement Is a Key Mechanism People Use to Excuse Discrimination among People of Color, Those in Poverty Moral disengagement is the cognitive process of decoupling one’s internal moral standards from one’s actions, thus allowing oneself to conduct unethical behavior without feelings of guilt or distress.65 In simpler terms, it is the psychological process of rationalizing bad decisions, by convincing oneself that ethical standards do not apply within a particular context or situation. Moral disengagement has been studied in relation to cruelty to animals, support for the death penalty, or in cases where victims are said to have “brought ...

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Strategy for Equitable Change: Peer Modeling


women diverse walking woods forest peer modeling cohesive culture research review

This is part of the Salud America! Achieving a Cohesive Culture for Health Equity in Latino and All Communities: A Research Review» The Benefits of Peer Modeling Liebkind and McAlister77 designed an intervention to determine whether moral engagement and tolerance of other groups could be improved through peer modeling based on the extended contact hypothesis, which supposes that positive intergroup attitudes can be promoted via the knowledge that an in-group member has a close relationship with an out-group member. The in-group friendship partner becomes a positive peer model that demonstrates tolerance in interacting with the outgroup, while the outgroup friendship partner becomes a positive example that repudiates the negative beliefs or stereotypes about the outgroup.77 In the ...

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Discover the State of Health Equity in Your Community!


Health Equity Report Card blog

Wonder what health equity looks like in your community? Select your county name and get a customized Health Equity Report Card from Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio, which shows your area stacks up in housing, transit, poverty, health care, food, and other health equity issues compared to your state and nation. The Health Equity Report Card auto-generates local data with interactive maps and comparative gauges, which can help you visualize and explore health inequities. Get your Health Equity Report Card! “People can easily email their local Health Equity Report Card to decision-makers, share it on social media, and use it to make the case for community change to boost health equity—where everyone has a fair, just opportunity to live the healthiest lives ...

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Start ‘Handle With Care’ to Help Kids Who Face Trauma, Even If Schools Are Closed!


Action Pack Start ‘Handle With Care’ to Support Traumatized Kids, Even When Schools Are Closed 4

Some kids witness domestic violence or murder. Some see loved ones hurt in accidents. These kids still have to go to class or carry on while school is out for summer or due to a pandemic. They face a burden of stress and trauma that can interfere with their behavior and grades—and schools often aren’t even aware there’s an issue. Fortunately, you can still help these kids. Download the free Salud America! “Handle With Care Action Pack.” The Action Pack helps police, school, and mental healthcare leaders start the Handle with Care program, in which police notify schools when they encounter children at a traumatic scene, so schools can provide support right away. They can virtually support kids if school is out for summer or closed due to a pandemic like the ...

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19 Ways to Ensure Health Equity for Latinos During (and After) COVID-19


19 Ways to Ensure Health Equity for Latinos During (and After) COVID-19 coronavirus

Health equity is where everyone has a fair and just opportunity to live their healthiest life possible. But health inequity remains. Now the COVID-19 pandemic is worsening historical inequities, and disproportionately affecting and killing Latinos and other people of color. So what can we do? We need both immediate focus to ease the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on Latinos and people of color, as well as long-term strides to address underlying inequities that are aggravated during this time. It won't be easy, or fast. But here's few ways to push for health equity. 1. Understand the Need for Heath Equity During COVID-19 and After Where you live matters for your health. Even before COVID-19, inequitable city planning, historic discriminatory practices like ...

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