Alejandra Mendez: Overcoming Hurdles to Boost Latino Health


Mendez Alejandra

Discrimination. Micro-aggressions. Going back to college with kids. With a mother who overcame these hurdles as an immigrant to the U.S. from Honduras, Alejandra Mendez learned resilience. Now Mendez always looks for opportunities for success, rather than possible barriers. Her optimism has enabled her to help people similar to her mother, conducting research on the impact of racial discrimination, and volunteering to help uninsured clinic patients. Mendez recently earned her master’s degree in public health in health behavior and health education from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Under the guidance of her preceptor, Mendez conducted research on how racial discrimination affects health throughout the life course and adverse birth outcomes. Prior to her ...

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Where Are Latinos at the Oscars?


latino actors

No Latinos actors are nominated for 2018 Oscars, Variety reports. In 2017, actor/composer/poet Lin-Manuel Miranda's original song for “Moana” was one a very few Oscar-nominated performances by a Latino. Why don't Latino performers in Hollywood get more recognition? First, data show there are not a lot of Latino roles to begin with. Latinos had less than 5% of speaking roles in the top-grossing films, according to USC. Second, when they are available, they're often filled by non-Latinos. Ben Affleck played Mexican American CIA operative Antonio Mendez in 2012's Argo and Jon Favreau played a Cuban food truck entrepreneur in 2014's Chef, according to an L.A. Weekly op-ed. "The dearth of Latino storytelling and overlooking of Latino talent is especially remarkable when you ...

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Watch: How to Add a Water Bottle Fountain to Your School



Looking for an easy way to improve your school's health? Look no further! Watch the new Salud America! webinar How to Get a Water Bottle Fountain at Your School to get all the info you need to bring all-day access to clean water to your school or district. The webinar features our very own Salud Hero, Cathy Lopez, an elementary school teacher at South San ISD in San Antonio, who raised funds and worked with school and community leaders to add her school's very first water bottle fountain! The webinar also provides information on: Why all schools need water bottle fountains; How Lopez rallied support from students, parents, and school and community leaders; How Lopez worked with her school's maintenance staff to install a water bottle fountain in less than 6 months and ...

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College Shows How to ‘Cultivate Health’ in a Diverse Neighborhood



Dr. Janet Houser wants her Regis University in Denver to "make a difference in the world" for better health. So they've started in their own backyard. Houser, the university's provost, is uniting community groups and developers to "cultivate health" in the neighborhood around the university—creating affordable housing and surrounding it with a health clinic, health education, and access to active spaces and healthy food. In just a few years, they want to give local families a place where they can equitably live, learn, work, and play. Is such a big transformation really possible? A Rising Latino Population Denver is one of the largest, fastest-growing cities in the country. It also has a rising Latino population, from 23% in 1990 to 31% in 2014. This changing ...

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Climate Change: A Solution to Global Warming & Health Equity



More Latinos walk and bike instead of drive cars than non-Latinos, which could be the key to address climate change and health equity, according to a recent English and Spanish survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Transportation design, however, doesn't always make it easy to walk and bike safely. Salud America! continues its three-part series exploring the issue of climate change for Latinos, today tackling whether leaders get more people out of cars and into active transportation, boosting health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Part 1 of the series tackled what climate change is, why Latinos are worried, and whether they should be. Part 2 addressed what kinds of policies Latinos would support to address climate change. The Rise of Latinos Walking ...

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Claudia Chavez: Pushing for Culturally Competent Healthcare for All


Chavez Claudia-Edit

If you need someone with a variety of experience in health fields, Claudia Chavez has it. Neuroscience? Check. Healthcare administration? Check. Delivering a baby (as part of EMT training)?! Check. Today, Chavez is growing her already strong health-promotion skills as a second-year student in the master’s program in healthcare administration at UT Southwestern in Dallas, where she also works as a research assistant. Chavez, a Dallas native, wants to make culturally competent healthcare a right—not a privilege—for all people. To further her training and education, Chavez applied for the Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. The program, led by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez at UT Health San Antonio with support from the National Cancer Institute, ...

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Climate Change: Latinos Support Big Policy Changes


People of color are exposed to more pollution from cars, trucks, and power plants than whites a new 10-year study shows. SoPeople of color are exposed to more pollution from cars, trucks, and power plants than whites a new 10-year study shows. Source: Latina Listaurce: Latina Lista

U.S. Latinos are more supportive of climate change policies and are more willing to demand political action than non-Latinos. In fact, half of Latinos (50%) think the United States should make large-scale effort to reduce global warming, even if it has large economic costs, compared to 33% of non-Latinos, according to a recent English and Spanish survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Salud America! continues its three-part series exploring the issue of climate change for Latinos, today addressing what kinds of policies Latinos would support to address climate change. Part 1 tackled what climate change is, why Latinos are worried, and whether they should be. Part 3 will focus on a potential solution for both climate change and health equity. Two Big Policy ...

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#SaludTues Tweetchat: Workplace Eye Health and Safety Month



Every year, nearly 25,000 Americans visit the emergency room due to workplace eye injury, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.  Good vision is an important part of overall eye health, especially in the workplace. As part of Workplace Eye Health and Safety Month in March, let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, March 6, 2018, to tweet about the latest on workplace eye injury, eye safety, and preventative measures that can help Latinos and all workers.  WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat "Workplace Eye Health and Safety Month" TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, March 6, 2018 WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues HOST: @SaludAmerica CO-HOSTS: Prevent Blindness Texas (@PBTEXAS), National Eye Institute (@NatEyeInstitute) We’ll open the ...

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Climate Change: Latinos Are Super-Worried



More than three of four Latinos worry about global warming and climate change, a higher worry rate than their non-Latinos peers, according to a recent English and Spanish survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Why are Latinos so worried? What policies can help? How willing are Latinos to take action, and how will that impact health equity and safer streets? Salud America! is excited to launch a three-part series exploring the issue of climate change for Latinos. Today we will tackle what climate change is, why Latinos are worried, and whether they should be. Part 2 will address what kinds of policies Latinos would support to address climate change. Part 3 will focus on a potential solution for both climate change and health equity. What is Climate ...

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