Update: In December 2018, Healthy Equity Award prize winners were selected! Winners include Janeth Tapia of North Carolina Farmworkers Project in Benson, N.C., which provides access to affordable, quality health care for a population that is often politically marginalized and isolated Tapia educates health care providers about the hazards that farm workers face, and she helps farm workers take charge of and advocate for their own health. The program provides transportation and volunteer translators for medical visits, and it has worked for extended clinical hours so farmworkers can get care at night or on weekends. Have you worked hard to improve access to quality care, education, or the environment for Latinos or other minorities? Then you could win the Health Equity ...
Life happens. Would you be able to come up with $1,000 for an emergency like a car wreck, a broken arm, or a busted air conditioner? Sadly, 61% of Latino and all Americans say they could not pay for an unplanned emergency expense, according to a report by financial site Bankrate. “Even though unemployment is down and there's been a recent uptick in wages, we aren't seeing the needle move savings,” said Greg McBride of Bankrate told CNN Money. Unexpected bills and expenses aren’t uncommon. More than 30% of all U.S. households had at least one unplanned expense in 2017. But most Americans don’t have an ability to cover it. Almost one in five Americans said they would put the expense on a credit card, Bankrate reports. This usually makes the expense even higher in ...
Thanks to her spiritual “Lita” who was a friend to all, Elena Martinez was taught to love all. And Martinez has already applied her caring attitude to the benefit of many people here in San Antonio, having actively participated in programs on obesity and cancer prevention, immunization education, health literacy, and youth mental health awareness. Martinez, a Dallas native, is currently a master’s-degree student in health and kinesiology at UT San Antonio. She earned a Certified Health Education Specialist status in 2013 and has helped plan and evaluate health initiatives and programs for all age groups in San Antonio. She also has played an active role in Building a Healthy Temple, a chronic disease prevention program at UTSA under Dr. Meizi He, since 2015. To further ...
More kids in Philadelphia experience four or more childhood traumas (21.5%) than kids across the nation (14.3%). Multiple traumas like abuse, parental death, racism, fear of deportation, and others—known as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)—can significantly impact a child's brain development, academic achievement, and physical and mental health into adulthood. Latino kids are at high risk of multiple traumas, and acting out. That's why we are excited to see three philanthropic groups team up in Philadelphia (14.4% Latino) to create a new guide to help funders and groups focus on bringing trauma-informed care for local kids. Trauma-informed care shifts the outlook from "What's wrong with you?" to "What happened to you and how can we help?" "Understanding the ...
More than 700 Salud America! members and thousands of other people and groups across the nation submitted formal public comments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to oppose its proposal to weaken school nutrition standards! Way to go, Salud America! family! These comments urge the USDA to reconsider its proposal, announced Nov. 29, 2017, to allow schools to serve of refined grains over whole grains, flavored milk, and higher levels of salt in meals. The USDA has not announced any action since the end of the public comment period on Jan. 29, 2018. Still, there now is hope for the many Latino kids who depend on school lunch for a healthy meal, thanks to members of the Salud America! network and others who took action!
The Salud America! Response
The USDA proposal ...
Neglect. Abuse. Domestic violence. Living in foster care. Racism. Civil unrest. Fear of deportation. These traumas can severely damage children's minds and bodies. In fact, childhood trauma—also called adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)—can increase risk for health conditions like diabetes, spur risky behaviors like substance abuse and smoking, and cause depression and other mental health issues. These problems, which can last into adulthood, affect Latino children at a much higher rate. A trauma-informed approach can help educators and caregivers recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma to help children heal. Let’s use #SaludTues on Feb. 6, 2018, to Tweet about a trauma-informed approach to improve Latino and all kid’s health. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “A ...
Update on April 25, 2018: A federal judge orders the U.S. government to continue Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and accept new applicants, according to the Washington Post. Immigration is a politically divisive issue. It can be hard to keep in mind that real people are affected, no matter what your political views. People's livelihoods began to hang in the balance in September 2017 when U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Trump administration would be rescinding the DACA. DACA is an Obama administration program begun in 2012 that allows undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children to apply to defer deportation and legally reside in the country for two years. They can apply for reinstatement after. How many ...
From her supportive abuela to her two-hour-long big family dinners, Arielle Guzman feels a strong connection to her Mexican heritage. So she knows very well that Latinos face big health obstacles. This experience, and her own father’s struggle with multiple myeloma, inspired her to pursue a career as a culturally competent healthcare professional targeting cancer. Currently a master’s degree student in public health and epidemiology at Loyola University Chicago, Guzman already honed her health skills as a volunteer at a Chicago hospital and in Santo Domingo, Ecuador. She also will participate in cancer health disparities research. Her main goal is to find cutting-edge ways to boost cancer screening, beneficial policies, and health education among Latinos. To further her ...
Does Tom Brady have a face that can stop traffic? Boston P.E. teacher Sam Balto wanted to find out. Balto laminated a photo of Brady to make a street sign. He put the sign in the street to slow drivers and keep students safe as they walked to his 62% Latino school, Ellis Elementary, in the city's Roxbury neighborhood, the Boston Globe reports. Before Brady: Drivers sped up to 55 mph in a 20 mph school zone. Few yielded. Some ran over crosswalk signs. After Brady: Drivers slowed down. Smiled more. “It definitely helped to get cars to slow down," Balto recently told Salud America! via Twitter.
The Brady Experiment
Balto first brought the Brady-as-crosswalk idea to WalkBoston. Brendan Kearney of WalkBoston said they spit-balled the idea on a walk audit. The audit found ...
