CDC: Mistreatment During Maternity Care Contributes to Maternal Health Disparities


mistreatment maternity care

Despite the heaviest spending on healthcare, the United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed nations. Sadly, this historic trend has worsened over time and disproportionately impacts women of color. The reasons for America’s maternal health crisis is multi-faceted, but a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Vital Signs survey highlights one potential reason for this worsening health trend – mistreatment of women by healthcare workers during pregnancy and delivery care. Let’s explore the survey results and how mistreatment during maternity care affects Latinas and all women. Mistreatment During Maternity Care for Women of Color The survey, which included data from 2,402 women, found that 1 in 5 women (20%) experienced ...

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How to Show Compassion and Sensitivity While Screening for Social Needs


sensitivity screening for social needs

Many healthcare facilities require healthcare staff to complete regular sensitivity trainings on cultural competency, bedside manner, and similar topics. These trainings can help providers deliver compassionate care for diverse patients. But, as more healthcare systems go the extra mile to create a social determinants of health (SDoH) screening program to care for patients’ non-medical social needs, staff may need additional resources to guide conversations that are often deeply personal for some patients. Here’s how healthcare staff can build rapport with patients and gain confidence in discussing social needs, from housing to income. Put Yourself in the Patient’s Shoes Think about your patient’s demographics. What non-medical barriers to health do they face? What ...

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How Many Latinos Graduate College?



About half of Latinos who enroll in a four-year college do not end up graduating, according to a new analysis from ¡Excelencia in Education!  Latinos’ college graduation rate (52%) also is lower than their White peers (65%).   How can we increase Latino college graduation rates?   Let’s dive into to the numbers and explore how to close the Latino education gap, and better support Latino students.    Latino College Graduation by the Numbers  28% of Latino adults (age 25 and older) currently have an associate degree or higher, compared to 48% of non-Latino White adults.  To better understand that gap, the new analysis from ¡Excelencia in Education! highlights 4 measures that track degree completion:  1. Graduation Rate: Total percentage of students who ...

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Alberto Martin: Making the Most of Every Opportunity for Latino Health



As a child in Puerto Rico, Alberto Martin dreamed of playing professional soccer.  He knew that becoming a soccer pro meant lots of hard work, practice, and willpower to get better even when you’re tired and want to give up.  Today, Martin is using those lessons to become a different kind of pro – a doctor.  Martin is a second-year medical student at the Universidad Central del Caribe in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, and an intern at UT Health San Antonio’s Institute for Health Promotion Research.   He is motivated to share his story to demonstrate how following your dream – on the soccer field or the doctor’s office – can be reality.  “Stories and information you get, they just become such a powerful source of drive or inspiration. Because you want to see you, ...

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Lack of Men of Color in Health Professions Is a National Crisis



The low number of Latinos and other men of color graduating and entering the health care professions is a national crisis, according to a new consensus statement led by the Federation of Associations of Schools of the Health Professions (FASHP).  The statement calls on local and national educational, health care, governmental, and community leaders to address this issue.    “A continued lack of awareness, marginalization and unconscious bias has led this issue to reach crisis proportions,” according to a FASHP statement. “This crisis is reflected in absolute numbers in academic institutions, in the representation of health professionals, in the elevation to leadership positions, and in health outcomes across the health professions.”   Let’s dive deeper into this ...

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UPDATE: Health Equity Report Card Covers Child Opportunity, Location Affordability, Transit Access


UPDATE: Health Equity Report Card Covers Child Opportunity, Location Affordability, Transit Access

We have updated our Salud America! Health Equity Report Card to cover your county’s child opportunity score, environmental justice score, location affordability, and transit access. The Health Equity Report Card, first launched in 2017, auto-generates Latino-focused and local data with interactive maps and comparative gauges, which can help you visualize and explore local inequities in housing, transit, poverty, health care, food, education, and more. You will see how your county stacks up in these health equity issues — now including child opportunity, location affordability, and transit access — compared to your state and the nation. Then you can share the Report Card with your local leaders to shift from individualist thinking to advocating for systemic community change ...

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530 People Ask to Expand Health Care for DACA Recipients!



The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released its proposed rule to expand health care for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.  The goal is to reduce barriers for DACA recipients through Affordable Care Act Marketplaces, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.   “DACA recipients, like all Dreamers, are Americans, plain and simple. The United States is their home, and they should enjoy the same access to health care as their fellow Americans,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in a press release.      You can comment now on this proposed rule change.   We at Salud America! have created the following model comment you can use to speak up on the ...

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Keeping an Eye Out: 4 Ways to Promote Healthy Vision



For this year’s Healthy Vision Month, the National Eye Institute (NEI) is highlighting the theme of “Healthy Vision: A Family Focus” (“Visión saludable: ojos sanos para su familia”).  To ensure that everyone gets important eye health information, the NEI is sharing its helpful resources in Spanish – made through transcreation.   Transcreation is the process of taking a concept in one language and completely recreating it in another language, adjusting the literal translation to align with the cultural context of the intended audience.  “A successfully transcreated message (either written or visual) evokes the same emotions and carries the same implications in the target language as it does in the source language, but in a way that resonates with the target ...

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