April is National Parkinson’s Awareness Month, a great time to share helpful resources that can spread awareness about Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s affects more than 1.1 million people in the U.S. and is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease. With this in mind, let’s learn more about Parkinson’s, how it impacts patients and families, and resources to share during Parkinson’s Awareness Month.
What Is Parkinson’s Disease?
Parkinson’s disease is defined as a “type of neurologic movement disorder, affecting the brain and causing difficulty with movements, or motor symptoms.” While Parkinson’s can be characterized by its most common motor symptoms like tremors, stiffness or rigidity of the muscles, and slowness of ...
In South Texas, risk is high for liver cancer, cervical cancer, and pediatric leukemia. To pave way for responsive research, the Creando Conexiones: Creating a Patient Centered Cancer Health Research Agenda in South Texas (Creando Conexiones) project aimed to outline patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (PC-CER) priorities and topics identified by South Texas cancer survivors, caregivers, and stakeholders affected by these cancers. The result is the Creando Conexiones: Cancer-Related Health Outcomes Research Agenda. Let's explore the agenda.
Developing the Creando Conexiones Research Agenda
Dr. Rebecca Jones of the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio launched the Creando Conexiones program with a $250,000 from the ...
March is recognized as Colon Cancer Awareness Month. In Bexar County, more than half (57%) of colorectal cancers are diagnosed at a late stage, higher than many other Texas counties. Additionally, we see colorectal cancer mortality rates also surpassing Texas averages, along with significant issues in late-stage diagnosis among Latino populations. With this in mind, Salud America! and Precinct 1 Bexar County Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores joined forces to spread awareness when it comes to colon cancer and inform the South Texas community about importance of early detection and prevention. The episode is hosted by Rebecca Jones, PhD, an assistant Professor at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio. Dr. Jones is a researcher who focuses on colon ...
During a month that celebrates love, we also prioritize hearts for American Heart Month! This is a time to bring awareness to cardiovascular disease, promote educational resources, and learn more about prevention and heart health. Let’s explore some helpful bilingual resources and tools you can learn from and share with others during American Heart Month.
1. The American Heart Association
The American Heart Association (AHA) highlights that more than 23,000 children experience cardiac arrest outside of the hospital each year. With this in mind, it’s important to be trained in CPR. “By giving someone CPR you can double or even triple their chances of survival. Be ready when it matters most. Learn CPR and become part of the Nation of Lifesavers,” the AHA ...
Did you know 1 in 3 American adults has liver disease? You can watch a webinar on how to "love your liver" from Feb. 5, 2026, led by Dr. Rebecca Jones of UT Health San Antonio and supported by Blue Faery: The Adrienne Wilson Liver Cancer Association. The webinar aims to promote early detection and prevention of liver cancer among all people, especially in the African American community. "50% of Americans live with at least one of the leading risk factors for liver disease. Now is the time to educate yourself and take steps to protect your liver," said Jones, who is assistant director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research and assistant director of community outreach and engagement for the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio. watch the webinar!
About The 'Love ...
The USDA’s newest Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025–2030 focus on eating more real foods and less highly processed ones. The guidelines, released on Jan. 7, 2026, also contain a refreshed food pyramid. Let’s look at 10 recommendations in the new guidelines and how it can impact everything from and how it can impact everything from how to shop at the grocery store to how you cook at home.
1. Eat Real Food
The new dietary guidelines have a simple foundation: eat real food. That means more diets built on whole, nutrient-dense foods like protein, dairy, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats, and whole grains. Pair that with a “dramatic reduction” in highly processed foods laden with refined carbohydrates, added sugars, excess sodium, unhealthy fats, and chemical ...
Glaucoma is defined as a group of eye diseases that can cause vision loss and blindness by damaging a nerve in the back of your eye, called the optic nerve. At first, glaucoma doesn’t usually have any symptoms. “Over time, you may slowly lose vision, usually starting with your side (peripheral) vision — especially the part of your vision that’s closest to your nose. Because it happens so slowly, many people can’t tell that their vision is changing at first,” according to the National Eye Institute (NEI). With the month of January recognized as Glaucoma Awareness Month, let’s explore helpful glaucoma-related resources that can help people protect their vision!
Types of Glaucoma
There are several types of glaucoma, with some being caused by ...
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 ...
About three quarters of Latino children received medical care in the past year, according to a new report from the National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families. However, the remaining 1 of 4 Latino children had not seen a doctor, nurse, or urgent/emergency care personnel in at least one year. Let’s dig deeper into this report and how it impacts families.
What Does the Report Say about Latino Children’s Medical Care?
The National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families report found that receipt of medical care in the past year varied by child age. Younger Latino children (birth to age 5) more likely to have received medical care (85%) than older children (ages 6-12, 75%) and teens (ages 13-18, 65%). Children living in families with low incomes were ...
