News: Latino Health Research, Stories & More



Find the latest in Latino health—from fighting Latina breast cancer to helping Latinos pursue doctoral degrees—in the new E-newsletter from the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday. The E-newsletter has these stories: Story and Video: Giving Latinas a Chance vs. Breast Cancer (Pg 1) Story: How a Typewriter Helped a Latina Launch a Career in Health Promotion (Pg 2) Story and Video: Depression after Cancer Keeps Latinas from Follow-Up Care (Pg 3) Story: Apply by 3/1/12 for Éxito Program to Get Help Pursuing a Doctoral Degree (Pg 5) Story: San Antonio Schools Get Salad Bars (Pg 6) Story and Video: Latino Man Works to Interrupt Street Violence (Pg 8 ) The E-newsletter is jam-packed ...

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‘Entre Mujeres’ Program to Teach Latina Moms, Daughters about Cervical Cancer



Dr. Deborah Parra-Medina, a professor at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, is leading a new project to teach Latina moms and daughters in South Texas about the HPV and cervical cancer, which disproportionately affects Latinas. Conexión, a publication of the San Antonio Express-News, has more: A new program called Entre Mujeres from the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at the UT Health Science center will allow mothers and daughters, ages 11-17, in the lower Rio Grande Valley to come together in a unique setting to educate themselves on HPV and its prevention. Entre Mujeres will combine community health workers, or “promotoras,” and college students from UT Pan American's Kappa Delta Chi sorority to present educational ...

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VIDEO: ‘Are We Moving the World in Cervical Cancer Prevention?’



Dr. Isabel Scarinci, a cancer prevention expert at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, spoke about ways to improve cervical cancer prevention on March 17, 2011, at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center (CTRC) in San Antonio as part of the SALSI/CTRC Health Disparities Lecture Series. Scarinci's talk highlighted her innovative work in cervical cancer prevention among low-income, Latina and African American, and immigrant women. Watch video of her talk here. The SALSI/CTRC Health Disparities Lecture Series, sponsored by the San Antonio Life Sciences Institute (SALSI) and the CTRC, brings some of the top U.S. health disparities experts to San Antonio to offer the latest trends, tools and advancements in the fight against cancer health disparities. The series is a joint project of the ...

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IHPR Researcher Gets Grant to Study HPV Vaccine Use by South Texas Latinas



Congrats to Dr. Deborah Parra-Medina! The researcher at our Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR), the team behind SaludToday, is one of two researchers at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio to get a grant in the new round of prevention research awards from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. Dr. Parra-Medina will receive $297,173 for a peer education and outreach program encouraging use of the HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer among Latina mothers and daughters living in Texas-Mexico border communities. The program will train “promotoras,” or community health workers, who will be assisted by female college students to educate Latina mothers and daughters about cervical cancer risk factors and the HPV vaccine, which prevents cervical ...

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CDC: Too Many Cancers Spotted Too Late (Including Cervical Cancer Among Latinas)



Although screening tests are widely available, many cancers aren't diagnosed until the disease is well-advanced and, therefore, less treatable, a new U.S. government report finds, HealthDay reports. Almost one-half of colorectal cancers and cervical cancers and one-third of breast cancers in the U.S. are detected at a late stage, according to the report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report also found that Latinas ages 50-79 have the highest rates of late-stage cervical cancer. Yet, if caught early, these three cancers have very high survival rates. "People need to be aware of what they need to have done medically and follow-up with their providers," said report co-author Dr. Lisa Richardson, associate director for science in CDC's Division of Cancer ...

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A Snapshot of Latinos’ Health Problems



With the nation facing a healthcare crisis, Latinos and racial/ethnic minorities are paying a high price for health care disparities: diminished health and, quite literally, lives lost, the New York Times-Union reports. Hispanic women, for example, have the highest rates of new cases of cervical cancer and the second highest death rate from cervical cancer. More from the story: Studies have found that cultural and communications challenges lead to treatment delays, receipt of wrong benefits or services, misdiagnoses and medical errors. People who have limited English proficiency are more likely to use expensive emergency room services for primary care since they may seek care only in emergency situations. Inadequate patient-provider communication negatively impacts medication ...

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