By Jennifer Thomas
San Antonio, Texas, Cancer Survivor I had just turned 39 when I reached over my shoulder to turn off a lamp, and in so doing, felt a funny “spot” on my breast. Having no history of cancer in my family, I can’t say that was my first thought. But since it WAS October—Breast Cancer Awareness Month—I did call my husband into the living room to see if he felt it as well. This was late January of 2006. Despite being told by everyone the spot was “probably nothing,” I got it checked out and was diagnosed with Stage 1 IDC, fast-growing (grade 3) by the first week of February. I don’t remember getting a second opinion, doing any research, or even asking what my options were. I just know that a week after being diagnosed, I was in surgery ...
When the Obama administration passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, one of its main goals was to expand healthcare insurance access, especially to uninsured, mid- to low-income Americans — a classification in which many Latinos find themselves. Since that time, the ACA provided millions of Americans with health insurance coverage, primarily through an expansion of Medicaid eligibility and subsidies for private coverage purchased through the legislation’s marketplaces. The ACA has expanded and improved coverage options for people without access to a job-based health plan, the law mostly left the employer market alone. "All racial groups have experienced substantial increases in their health insurance coverage," Algernon Austin, with the Center for Global Policy Solutions ...
A culture of health is where everyone has a fair, just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. Is your community creating a Culture of Health? If so, apply for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Culture of Health Prize! The contest provides $25,000 to communities that unite neighborhood, school, and business partners to improve health for all residents.
Read about 2018 Winners
In 2018, two majority-Latino communities earned two of the four prize winners. RWJF chose San Antonio, Texas (63.6% Latino) and Cicero, Ill. (88.8% Latino) from about 200 applicants. Eatonville, Fla., and Klamath County, Ore., also won. Salud America!, our national network to promote Latino health equity and healthy change led by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, is excited to be stationed at UT Health ...
By Cynthia Delgado
San Antonio, Texas, Cancer Survivor At age 43, I was living a life that consisted of routine exercise, healthy eating, and at the weight I had always wanted to be. I had been seeing a breast surgeon routinely every 3 months for at least 1-and-a-half years because I had fibrocystic breast. Mammograms were a part of my life since my early 20s because I always had lumps, i.e., cysts. The older I got, the more cysts would develop. They would grow very big and would be excruciating painful for a minimum of 10 minutes. Because I started getting anywhere from 5-10 cysts on each side, my OBGYN referred me to a specialist. It became routine for the specialist to aspirate them every 3 months, and they would pop up in different places. On May 15, 2015, I went for my ...
Early experiences can influence a person’s entire life. Specifically, stress due to adversity, poor nutrition, and exposure to environmental toxins can lead to biological changes, which make people more likely to experience physical and mental health problems later in life. Although individual interventions are important for addressing immediate needs, they alone will not advance health equity, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The report provides science-driven recommendations to address the social, economic, environmental, and cultural determinants of health and early adversity. They say to advance health equity, decision-makers must address the systemic root causes of poor health and chronic ...
Latinas and black women may face increased risks of developing triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC), according to a study published in Cancer. These forms are often aggressive and do not respond to hormone therapy or targeted therapy. These latest findings solidify known cancer development disparities, which continue to grow amongst Latinos, other racial/ethnic minority groups, and young women.
Breast Cancer Inequities Dr. Lia Scott, of the Georgia State University School of Public Health, and her team studied all available diagnosed breast cancer cases from 2010 to 2014 using the U.S. Cancer Statistics database. It consists of a population-based surveillance system of cancer registries with numbers representing 99% of the U.S. population. "With the advent and ...
Lung cancer deaths are a whopping 28% lower in California than the rest of the nation. This is likely due to the state's early adoption of tobacco control programs, which are associated with a "major reduction in cigarette smoking" among people younger than 35, according to a recent study by UC San Diego. What California laws are working and why? How can you mimic them in your area? Find out in ChangeLab Solutions's new guide book, "Tobacco Laws Affecting California." The book explains existing California laws related to tobacco use, sales, and marketing, and new efforts like San Francisco's ban on e-cigs. "(The decline in smoking in California) can only be attributed to the success of tobacco control in this state which has been so effective in convincing young people not to ...
In the next 20 years, Latinos are expected to face a 142% rise in cancer rates. Cancer is the top cause of premature death among Latinos. Latinos have higher rates than their peers for many cancers. Latinos also experience cancer differently—from genetics to the environment to healthcare access. This Latino cancer crisis is especially alarming given the growing Latino population. That's why, in 2018, Dr. Amelie Ramirez of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio hosted the 1st-ever “Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos” conference. Now Ramirez is bringing back the conference on Feb. 26-28, 2020 in San Antonio! “We are excited to again bring together the brightest scientists, clinicians, advocates, policy leaders, and students to share what they're learned ...
What exactly is “health literacy”? Governmental health leaders want to provide a good definition. Healthy People 2030, a 10-year outline of health improvement goals from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, wants your input on their working definition: “Health literacy occurs when a society provides accurate health information and services that people can easily find, understand, and use to inform their decisions and actions.” This definition, while an improvement over Healthy People 2020’s, focuses too much on healthcare-related information and services and too little on the social determinants of health. So, we drafted a model comment and a revised definition to submit by Aug. 5, 2019!
Send an Email: Address Social Determinants in the Definition of ...
