Sharing Toolkit: Share Project Firstline Infection Control Training Opportunities with Your Colleagues!


share toolkit

We know you are a healthcare worker who cares about infection control. That’s why we urge you to use your platform – LinkedIn – to ask your fellow doctors, nurses, or other healthcare staff to take an infection control module from Project Firstline, a training and education collaborative designed by the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). Just follow these easy steps: 1. See Why You Should Share! Read up on Project Firstline and why you should share. 2 Choose a Message to Share! Do you know the latest in infection control action? Earn CE credit and refresh your knowledge on infection control through a variety of short, easy-to-understand modules and activities by CDC’s Project Firstline. #saludfirstline salud.to/CEcredits Friends, are you ...

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Unpacking Latino Genes to Find Answers for Alzheimer’s Disease



Researchers are exploring a genetic variant that could explain the higher rates of Alzheimer’s among Latinos living in Puerto Rico. This work – which is ongoing – could help fill a critical gap in Latino Alzheimer’s research and spark new treatments for dementia, according to researchers at the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics at the University of Miami. “A genetic target, which drug companies are showing interest in, is twice as likely to be successful therapeutically than nongenetic targets,” Margaret Pericak-Vance, leader of the Hussman Institute, told NBC News. Let’s dive into the research and how it impacts Latinos! The Need for Genetic Research on Alzheimer’s among Latinos Latinos are 1.5 times more likely than their peers to have ...

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February is American Heart Month


American Heart Month Announcement

Ah, February. The month dedicated to celebrating love and relationships. But before you take a deep dive down the Valentine’s Day candy aisle, consider a healthier way to show yourself and loved ones some love. February is American Heart Month, a time for Latinos and all people to focus on their cardiovascular health. Join us in raising awareness of heart disease, the driving forces behind it, and how to address it throughout the month of February and beyond. What is Heart Disease? Heart disease refers to several types of heart conditions, according to the CDC. The most common type of heart disease in the US is coronary artery disease, which can restrict blood flow to the heart and cause a heart attack. Other forms of heart disease include irregular heartbeats, ...

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Webinar Series: Let’s Address Health Equity Together


Webinar Series Let’s Address Health Equity Together

Health equity is where everyone has a fair, just opportunity to be healthier. How can we reach this ideal, especially as Latinos face cancer and chronic disease health disparities rooted in systemic inequities in access to clinical trials, income, health care, food, housing, and discrimination? You're invited to a webinar series, "Let’s Address Health Equity Together," a collaboration of the Salud America! program at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio, and Genentech. Here are the three webinars planned for 2024: 4/25/24: How to Identify and Equitably Respond to Local Cancer Needs 6/5/24: How to Support Latino Cancer Survivors 9/10/24: How to Fight Back Against El Asesino ...

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As Texans Lose Pandemic SNAP Benefits, Food Banks Brace for ‘Wave’ of Hunger


Losing SNAP benefits

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps one in eight Americans put food on the table. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, millions of Americans lost their jobs and experienced reduced incomes – causing Congress to make temporary emergency changes to SNAP. As a result, SNAP recipients experienced a boost in benefits, either receiving an additional $95 in benefits or an additional benefit valued up to the maximum benefit for their household size, whichever value was greater, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. While these emergency allotments have ended in many states, the Lone Star State has continued providing eligible households with an increased food budget. However, Texans may feel the pinch in the next few weeks, as Congress ...

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Study: COVID-19 Has Scary Impact on Young Brains



The rise of COVID-19 worsened daily life for Latinos and many others in areas like healthcare, housing, income, and food access. Stress and anxiety are other grim outcomes of the pandemic, especially for youth. Following COVID-19-fueled school shutdowns and social isolation, adolescents experienced more symptoms of anxiety and depression and greater internalizing problems than before the pandemic, according to a new study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The brains of teens and young adults were also deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. “In addition to replicating prior findings that the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected adolescents’ mental health, this study showed that the pandemic may have physically aged their brains,” according to ...

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Dr. Trinidad Solis: Harvesting Infection Control Solutions for Farmworkers



In the small rural Central California town of Selma, a young Trinidad Solis watched long stretches of farmland float by through the car window. She listened to her parents in the front seat discuss their upcoming doctor’s appointment in Spanish. As Mexican immigrant farmworkers, Solis’ parents faced hardships accessing healthcare, including a language barrier. Since her parents were monolingual Spanish-speakers, Solis often served as translator during her parents’ health appointments and helped them navigate the complex healthcare system. These childhood interactions spurred Solis’ desire to become a bilingual, culturally sensitive family physician who could provide healthcare, including infection prevention and control services, to vulnerable patients like her ...

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Long COVID: What Is Known & How Is It Impacting Latinos?


Man experiencing long COVID symptoms.

When COVID-19 first struck America in 2020, Latinos were deeply affected. Not only did the pandemic create high rates of infection, hospitalization, and death among Latinos, it also worsened historical health inequities, from access to healthcare and vaccinations to food insecurity, housing issues, and misinformation. Today, as new variants continue to arise, an unresolved threat has emerged – Long COVID. Let’s analyze the lingering symptoms of Long COVID-19 and how it impacts Latinos today. What is Long COVID? The Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC, and other partners have worked to define “long COVID” or “post-COVID conditions.” “In April 2020, shortly after the beginning of the pandemic, anecdotal reports from patients started to emerge that ...

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3 Tools to Screen for Social Determinants of Health


SDoH screening tool

As more healthcare systems start to screen patients for social determinants of health (SDoH), we at Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio are spotlighting why screening for SDoH is so important to improve health outcomes, especially among Latinos. Today, we are sharing three SDoH screening tools that can help address social needs, or the non-medical barriers to health, of Latinos and all patients. You can use these screening tools – questionnaires that gather information from patients – in your healthcare facility or use them as inspiration to create your own screening tool. Let’s dive into these health-changing tools! The Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patients’ Assets, Risks, and Experiences (PRAPARE®) PRAPARE® helps health centers and other providers ...

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