Latinos face inequities in non-medical drivers of health (NMDoH), from housing to healthcare, making it harder to achieve health fairness. Watch the UT Health San Antonio webinar — “How to Address Non-Medical Drivers of Health in Our Clinics and Systems” — which was held at 11 a.m. CST on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, to explore how healthcare settings can care for patients' medical and NMDoH needs. Panelists from UT Health San Antonio, Nemours Children's Health, HOPE Clinic in Houston, the American Cancer Society, and Genentech unpacked NMDoH screening, a strategy that clinics, hospitals, and healthcare systems can use to check patients for social needs and connect them to needed resources. This is a part of a webinar of a series, “Let’s Improve Health in South Texas ...
Research suggests that men, regardless of race/ethnicity, are generally less likely to go to the doctor than women. But some men who value masculinity, such as Latinos with the “machismo” mindset, may be even less likely to seek routine medical care compared to their peers. Let’s explore more reasons why Latino and all men are less likely to go to the doctor, the consequences of delaying healthcare, and how to help men get the care they need.
Exploring the Machismo Mindset of Latino Men
Latinos as a whole face many systemic barriers to healthcare, including a lack of access to affordable health insurance, discrimination and physician implicit bias, lack of access to culturally competent care, and immigration status fears. But there could be an additional barrier to ...
Since the 1960s, community health centers (also called Federally Qualified Health Centers) have made it their mission to increase people’s access to primary healthcare by reducing challenges, such as cost, lack of insurance, distance, and language. But beyond clinic walls, many people have big needs, like unstable housing, that hurt their health. These are called the non-medical drivers of health (NMDoH) That is why the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) helped create an NMDoH screening tool – PRAPARE® (Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patient’s Assets, Risks and Experiences) – to enable community health centers to identify immediate needs among patients and refer them to local resources for aid. Today, PRAPARE® helps hundreds of community ...
The conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age – known as non-medical drivers of health – can greatly help or harm our health. More health organizations and healthcare facilities are recognizing the impact non-medical drivers of health have on overall health, especially in marginalized and medically overlooked areas, such as in some Latino communities. The American Heart Association is one of these organizations. That is why they created the EmPOWERED to Serve Business Accelerator™, a program that supports local communities, small businesses, social entrepreneurs, and innovators in addressing health differences through training, mentorship, and funding opportunities. Let’s explore the relationship between non-medical drivers of health and heart health, ...
A young Erik Cardenas sat quietly in his chair, gently swinging his legs back and forth. He clasped his hands together and observed the clinic waiting room. He could hear some patients chattering with family members in Spanish. Others looked like they could doze off any minute. “Cardenas?” called out a nurse holding a clipboard. Erik sprung from his chair and followed his parents and the nurse into the doctor’s office. He was glad the waiting game was over. “As Mexican immigrants living in Houston, my parents didn't have the best access to healthcare,” a grown Cardenas recalled. “I have a lot of memories of waiting hours at community safety net clinics, and after a multiple hour wait, you were lucky to see the doctor for five minutes.” Cardenas also recalls ...
In the last few years of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have come to appreciate the critical importance of public health. In honor of National Public Health Week 2023 (Monday April 3 through Sunday April 9), we’re highlighting an emerging public health concern that impacts health outcomes worldwide: the commercial drivers of health (CDoH). Let’s examine why CDoH is gaining more attention among public health professionals, and how we can address its negative health impacts.
What are the Commercial Drivers of Health?
In the past decade, public health practitioners have noted the growing influence of companies on federal laws and policies. As a result, companies have gained more power in shaping our social, physical, and background environments through business actions that ...
The American Heart Association (AHA) is working to boost health improvement through a variety of online health lessons, called EmPOWERED to Serve. EmPOWERED to Serve includes over a dozen science-based toolkits and lessons covering health education and community support. Toolkits are free and open to the public and can be reached on the EmPOWERED to Serve Health Lessons website. “The EmPOWERED to Serve health lessons offer a way to engage and motivate communities to create a [positive] health [environment],” according to the AHA website. Let’s dive into why these health lessons are a useful and how they can be beneficial for all!
Health Differences Among Communities
Where you live can have a big impact on your health. In fact, our health is influenced by a variety of ...
The USDA is proposing stronger nutrition standards for school meals to give kids the right balance of nutrients for healthy and appealing meals. The new plan for stronger nutrition standards for school meals includes incrementally reducing sodium, a limit on added sugars (for the first time), and emphasizing whole grain products, while continuing to serve fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. USDA wants your feedback on its proposed changes. May 2023 Update: 438 Salud America! members submitted a model comment and were among over 74,000 people overall to comment on USDA’s proposed school meal nutrition changes. The model comment was created by Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio in partnership with UnidosUS! After a one-month time extension, the USDA closed the public ...
Did you know that our health is influenced by many non-medical factors? That’s right. The conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age – known as non-medical drivers of health – can greatly help or harm our health. As a result, more healthcare facilities are screening patients for non-medical drivers of health through written questionnaires or verbal questions. Screenings can cover a variety of topics, such as mental and financial health and access to healthy food, transportation, and affordable medication. Non-medical drivers of health screenings can help medical providers better understand and address patients’ social needs, which can be beneficial for overlooked patients who face health differences, such as Latinos. If patients screen positive for ...
