Guided by her heritage and the “coqui,” support from her parents, and wisdom from God, Ana Hernandez always strives to help others. Healthy food is her main utensil for assistance. In fact, Hernandez has helped many people live healthier lives as a registered dietician who focuses on functional foods. Hernandez, who has a degree in human nutrition and foods from the School Family and Consumer Sciences at Texas State University, is also a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and an officer of the Nutrition and Education and Outreach student organization. Just like the “arepas de cojo” she created to benefit Puerto Ricans with metabolic syndrome, she has a keen interest in how food can prevent cancer, which needs far more attention on solutions to the ...
The soft touch of a crocheted blanket reminds Mercedes Watson of her grandmother, who taught her how to crochet and speak Spanish. Watson, who has put a lot of time and creativity into making many beautiful hand-crocheted blankets, she also is dedicating her efforts toward cancer research will bring healing and unique benefits for Latino health via community resources and patient navigation. Despite becoming pregnant as a high-school senior with her daughter, Ally, Watson overcame many struggles and was determined to continue her education. She earned a master’s degree from San Diego State University. She has gone on to become a medical social worker for Cancer Resource Center of the Desert, Aria Hospice, and Gentiva Home Health. To increase her training, she applied for ...
Grants up to $90,000 are now available for those focused on helping kids grow up at a healthy weight through state, local and tribal public policy campaigns. Applicants can apply to the Voices for Healthy Kids grant by Thursday, December 15th, 2016 and applications must be specific to an individual campaign focused on changing public policy in one state, local or tribal geographic location and must align with one of the Voices for Healthy Kids policy priorities. To learn more, visit the Voices for Healthy Kids Policy Lever site and review the policy priorities, and submit applications via email to voicesforhealthykids@heart.org. The support for this grant is through the collaboration of The American Heart Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, working in ...
Although she wasn’t allowed to speak Spanish growing up, Zandra Perez’s grandmother made sure she knew her roots by helping her become bilingual. Perez also draws on her faith and believes in the value of all lives. As such, Perez is working hard as a nurse to provide quality care for underserved Latinos. She earned her nursing degree from the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio and is currently one of two educators working to recruit rural area clinics to participate in eradicating tuberculosis by screening and treating for latent tuberculosis. Perez hopes to educate her patients on the importance of health screenings and preventative care. So she applied for the Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program, which recruits 25 master’s-level students ...
While the term “child care desert” isn’t widely known, for many Latino families, the ramifications that stem from this lack of affordable, high-quality child care are fast becoming a major concern. A child care desert refers to an area with at least 30 children under the age of 5 with either no child care centers or there were “more than three times as many children under age 5” as there were spaces in centers, the Center for American Progress (CAP) reports. For working parents, finding quality and affordable child care can already be a daunting task; however, for those families living in rural areas, the problem becomes disproportionately worse. The CAP recently released a report examining the location of child care centers across eight states, which made up 20% of the ...
Apply now for the 2017 Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program and optional $3,250 internships at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. Éxito! (English: Success!) recruits trainees annually for a culturally tailored curriculum to promote pursuit of a doctoral degree and cancer research career. This year, program leaders will select 25 master’s level students and professionals from across the country to take part in a five-day summer institute June 5-9, 2017, in San Antonio to provide resources needed to take the next step in their education and apply for doctoral programs. The summer institute also brings Latino researchers and mentors to teach participants about cancer prevention, research, and ...
Across the country, dual language schools and academies are becoming a popular choice or both students and their parents. This is especially true for the growing English-learning population. By putting a high value on bilingualism at schools, the ultimate goal is for the bilingual communities in which they reside to put a high value on them, the Syracuse Post-Standard reports. In New York (18.17% Latino population), the New York State Education Department requires districts to offer bilingual programs if they have 20 or more students in any grade who share a language other than English. At Delaware Primary School in Syracuse, New York (8.04% Latino population), two “50/50” classes of bilingual programming are offered at each level. The approach gives classes made up of half ...
A new "Lean & Green" movement is helping schools all around the nation incorporate vegetarian meals and more vegetables into school lunches. Creating an event similar to the popular television show top chef, Laredo independent school district (98.9% Latino) is holding its own top chef event through the support of The Humane Society of the United States, Wednesday, November 2nd, 2016. Daniella Monet, an actress best known for her role in Nickelodeon's Victorious as Trina Vega, will help get kids excited about healthier meat-free school meals by kicking off Laredo School District's "Lean & Green Days" Meal Program. Monet is a longtime vegetarian and supports the efforts of Lean & Green and The Humane Society of the United States. The 27-year-old actress, singer, ...
What happens in a state where half of people are Latino, but only 5% of doctors are? It means not enough doctors with the cultural competency and understanding of the Latino community to adequately serve them—like in California right now. That is why the Latino Physicians of California professional group and others are urging increased representation of Latinos in the medical field, according to California Healthline. Complicating matters is that, in California: Latinos represent only 8% of nurses;
Latino represent only 4% of pharmacists;
More than one-third of current doctors are expected to retire within 10 years; and
Latinos make up a small percentage of graduating medical students. “If we are going to properly serve our current and future patient base, we ...
