Wherever you live, learn, work, and grow in San Antonio, the non-medical drivers of health (NMDOH) can ultimately shape your health outcomes. NMDoH issues include access to affordable housing, healthy food, reliable transportation, education, healthcare, income level, and more. If we can identify and address NMDoH, we can create a healthier future for all. Download the Salud America! Action Pack, “Help People Solve Their NMDoH Problems in San Antonio,” to connect people with the right community resources for help with housing, food, transportation, and healthcare. The action pack, developed by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez at UT Health San Antonio, helps you identify local NMDoH issues and offers a San Antonio-focused community resource guide with Spanish-language support and ...
Starting April 1, 2026, Texas recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will have new food purchase restrictions, including no candy and sugary drinks. These changes were made to comply with Senate Bull 379, which passed in June 2025 and is one of three bills under Texas’ “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, prohibiting the use of SNAP benefits to purchase less healthy foods and encouraging the purchase of more nutritious foods like fruits and vegetables. “In August 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service approved a healthy foods waiver that was submitted by Texas and allows the state to implement the SNAP limitations,” according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. With this in mind, let’s dive ...
Commuting is a part of everyday life for many. In fact, almost 140 million people in the United States routinely commuted to work in 2022, according to the United States Census Bureau. Many Latino parents with low incomes who commute to work are commuting a long way, with 1 in 10 traveling 60 minutes or more to work, according to a new report by the National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families (NRCHCF). Let’s look deeper into data on commutes and how it impacts families and communities.
Commuting by the Numbers
According to the NRCHCF research, people who commute to work outside of the home take an average of 27.8 minutes to travel to work. For Latino parents with low incomes, the distance increases. “One in 10 (10%) Hispanic parents with low ...
One quarter (25%) of all Latino children live in doubled-up households, according to new data from the National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families (NRCHCF). Doubled-up households are “those in which children live in households with their parents(s) and with other adults, who can include other relatives (e.g., a grandparent) and those who are unrelated,” according to NRCHCF. Let’s dig deeper into what this means and how it impacts families. Latino Family Households by the Numbers According to NRCHCF research, doubling up with a grandparent is the most common among such arrangements, with 15% of Hispanic/Latino children live with a parent and a grandparent. Additionally, 7% of Latino children live with a parent and some other extended family member, ...
This content is from the "Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos: 2024 Conference Proceedings."
Adapting NCI’s Clinical Trials System to a Changed Clinical Research Environment
Dr. James H. Doroshow is Deputy Director for Clinical and Translational Research at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). This plenary session occurred at 8:30 am., Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, at the 4th biennial Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos conference. COVID’s impact on cancer clinical trials Dr. Doroshow’s presentation began by discussing the initial and continuing effects of the pandemic environment on cancer clinical trials. From the start of the pandemic, several aspects of clinical trials were altered, including informed consent and in-person study activities. One major ...
More than 2 million people in the United States are expected to be diagnosed with cancer this year. No two among them will experience cancer exactly the same way. Even so, certain groups of people will share similar cancer experiences. Latinos face higher rates of cervical, liver, and stomach cancers. Black women with ovarian cancer don’t live as long as White women with the disease. People living in rural areas are less likely to get regular cancer screenings than those who live in cities. And people who live in areas where poverty has been the norm for decades are more likely to die of cancer than those living in more affluent areas. These patterns of worse outcomes among specific groups of people are called cancer differences. Although biological differences can contribute to ...
To truly improve patient and community health, we must address the non-medical drivers of health, such as access to housing, transportation, and food that can make it harder for people to stay healthy. That’s where screening for the non-medical drivers of health (NMDoH) comes in. Screening for the non-medical drivers of health is a questionnaire given to patients in a healthcare setting to help providers identify their needs. These include issues like financial hardship, housing, and food. Patients can then be referred to helpful community resources. You can use the new Salud America! Action Pack, “How to Start Screening for the Non-Medical Drivers of Health,” to launch screening in your clinic, hospital, or healthcare system! The action pack, created by Dr. Amelie G. ...
Two million Texans lost their Medicaid health insurance coverage in part due to state errors after federal funding to Texas ended after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent article from ProPublica and The Texas Tribune. Many who feel “wrongly removed” are struggling to regain their coverage. “Texas’ zealousness in removing people from Medicaid was a choice that contradicted federal guidelines from the start,” according to the article. “That decision was devastating in Texas, which already insures a smaller percentage of its population through Medicaid than almost any other state and is one of 10 that never expanded eligibility after the passage of the Affordable Care Act.” If you’re struggling with a Medicaid application in Texas, you can share your story ...
Latinos now make up 19.5% of the US population. Counties in California, Florida, and Texas are home to some of the largest Latino communities in the nation. However, a recent Axios analysis found that poverty rates are also higher within many of these areas. US Census Bureau 2022 5-year estimates show that 10 of the largest Latino communities have a poverty rate that’s 50% higher than the national average (12.5%). Let’s break down the numbers and how they relate to the health of Latinos.
Analysis Findings on Poverty
Axios conducted an analysis of 10 census-designated places that had at least 100,000 residents with a high percentage of Latinos. Based on the collective data, the outlet determined that the average rate of poverty for Latinos in these ...
