No money. No quality childcare. No social or legal support. These big stressors plague many parents, and can spur domestic violence and child maltreatment, hampering a child’s early and future development. Fortunately, Project DULCE is testing a unique solution. DULCE adds a “family specialist” to a child’s pediatric healthcare team. The Family Specialist builds relationships of trust and respect with enrolled families and connects families to social services if they want ─ like food stamps, housing vouchers, and legal services ─ to reduce economic stress and prevent maltreatment. Public health advocates often talk about health and quality of life in an “upstream-downstream” fashion. They want to highlight the importance of prevention and the influence of ...
A few years ago, San Antonio City Council member Rey Saldaña tried his own transportation experiment. He ditched his car and relied on public transit for one month. The good? Saldaña met great people. He read. He explored the city. Parking was no problem. The bad? When buses ran late, he missed connections and showed up late to council meetings. Rain drenched him at bus stops. He had to skip fun activities because of a lack of frequent routes. Saldaña’s eye-opening experiment led him to champion more funding for VIA Metropolitan Transit (VIA), the regional mass transit agency serving San Antonio and Bexar County, which operates with the least amount of funding among all major transit authorities in Texas. His efforts spurred the city to invest millions to improve public ...
Over 1 in 2 Latinos are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes at some point in their lifetime. The good news is that type II diabetes can often be delayed or prevented with modest (5-7%) weight loss. But how can one act if they don't know their risk? Contrary to what some might believe, the cause is not always genetic. Even individuals with prediabetes can still take important steps to prevent from seeing the disease progress into diabetes. One important step for prediabetic individuals is getting referred to a diabetes prevention program. However, of 84 million individuals with prediabetes, only 11.6% are aware they have this condition. Join us this #SaludTues on Tuesday, September 25, 2018, to find out how to take action and tweet about Latinos and the Diabetes Prevention ...
We already know that where we live plays a significant role in our health. Latinos and others living in rural areas struggle to access healthcare. They are more likely to die from heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease, stroke, and unintentional injuries than their urban counterparts. A grassroots effort aims to change that. ¡Vivir Mi Vida!, a pilot program at the University of Southern California (USC), is improving the health of rural, middle-age Latinos.
¡Vivir Mi Vida!
¡Vivir Mi Vida! is a 16-week lifestyle intervention translated as “Live My Life!” It aims to optimize health outcomes in Latino patients. Researchers worked with community partners to develop ¡Vivir Mi Vida! five years ago at USC’s Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and ...
Adult obesity rates reached 35% in at least 7 states and saw increases in 31 states across the U.S. from 2012-2017, while no significant drops in obesity rates were seen in any state, over the last year. These are the latest findings from a report from the Trust for America's Health and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The report developed using data from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) goes on to highlight how adult obesity continued to rise in at least 6 states: Iowa, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and South Carolina, between 2016-2017. In the case of Iowa and Oklahoma, this is the first time these states reach the 35% obesity threshold. The states with the highest levels of obesity by rank are: #1- West Virginia ...
For years, studies have shown that Latinos have a profound mistrust of doctors and scientists. Consequently, Latinos participate in clinical trials at far lower rates than other ethnic groups, which perpetuates the health disparities seen with many diseases like Alzheimer’s and certain cancers. This also makes it harder for researchers to find treatments that work best for Latinos. Minorities actually represent less than 30% of those enrolled in clinical trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), according to a recent report. Latinos comprised less than 7.6% of trial participants. “There hasn’t been a single [prostate] screening trial including a significant number of Latinos or blacks … yet it impacts our practice and we have no data to know if it ...
These days, ZIP code isn’t only for your mail. ZIP Code is a bigger predictor of our life expectancy than our genetic code. For the first time in our country’s history, the U.S. is raising a generation of children who may live sicker and shorter lives than their parents, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. But there’s good news. For the first time ever, a census-tract-level data on life expectancy at birth has been released to help stimulate change. The expectancy estimates—released by The United States Small-Area Life Expectancy Estimates Project (USALEEP), a joint effort of the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, and the ...
Latino youth are facing a rising diabetes crisis. Many lack support needed to manage their disease. That's why Dr. Siripoom McKay of Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital helped create the Young Adult Diabetes Clinic to provide a medical home for diabetes management and support for Latino and all young adults. The program helps young adults ages 17-26 who may have been relying on parents for practical things like picking up their medication, setting appointments, and dealing with insurance. Young adults get connected to a physician, dietician, psychologist, social worker, and diabetes educator without parents to make sure they’re ready to go off on their own. This makes a smooth transition as they go out on their own and manage the chronic illness like ...
Where we live plays a significant role in our healthcare. But many Americans don't have easy access to the healthcare they need. In the United States, 5% of rural hospitals have shut down since 2010 with maternal and obstetric care taking the hardest hit. About 16% of the mainland United States are 30 miles or more away from the nearest hospital, CNN reports. These areas with no access to a hospital are called "hospital deserts." Many regions that are hospital deserts also have higher rates of poverty and income gaps, leaving many residents with no options for emergency or regular healthcare. "There's a lot of people out in the rural community who feel like they've been forgotten," Jessica Thompson, a registered nurse who lives in a hospital desert in Tonopah, Nev., told ...
