Schools are welcoming back students for another year of education. It’s also the time of year for parents to think about getting children covered with health insurance. Latinos are currently the largest ethnic and racial minority in the United States. They are also the largest uninsured population in the country. As their population continues to grow, it is going to be crucial for all Latinos to have access to quality healthcare. This starts with Latino children. The Connecting Kids to Coverage campaign was created for purposes such as these. With the goal of helping parents and families find the resources they are eligible for, such as Medicaid and CHIP, the campaign has launched a series of online, bilingual resources. “The Campaign lets families know who is ...
Although research has shown the many health, social and emotional, and cognitive benefits of quality early child care and education, Latinos have the lowest participation in these programs. Why? Child care deserts may be the answer. Although affordability, work schedules, and waiting lists are also factors, location is often the first major consideration for families. Center for American Progress looked into the location of child care centers across eight states, which accounts for 20% of the population under age five. The authors define child care desert as a ZIP code with at least 30 children under the age of five and either no child care centers so few centers that there are more than three times as many children under age 5 as there are spaces in centers. See ...
“Equity” is a term that means many things to many different people. For many Latinos, equity has been difficult to attain in many different areas. Healthcare, housing, education, and income are just some of the areas in which many Latinos face disparities and/or inequities. However, the City of San Antonio, Texas (63.34% Latino population), has recently made the topic of equity an issue to be tackled by the city government. San Antonio City Manager, Sheryl Sculley, presented the 2018 city budget recently and it will be the first to use an “equity lens,” according to a story by The Rivard Report. With the new equity lens, more city resources will be committed to areas and populations where the need is greater – often low-income and heavily Latino-populated areas that have ...
Peter Kim is a sort of accidental convert to the world of telehealth. Kim was about to start his labor-intensive medical residency—but he also wanted to continue his work as a community health coordinator with Harbor Health Home in Houston. How could he do both? Telehealth. Kim began to further explore how to use telehealth to better support low-income Latino families in accessing healthcare to treat and prevent illnesses across Houston and beyond. Peter Kim already knew that a lack of access is one of the main inequities that keep many Latinos from obtaining the best quality healthcare possible.
Technology as a healthcare tool
In Houston, Texas (43.86% Latino population), the nation’s fourth-largest city, many Latino, Asian, and low-income families struggle to manage ...
Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez of UT Health San Antonio today received a new $1.3 million grant to expand Quitxt, her bilingual service that sends texts with culturally and regionally tailored support to help South Texan young adults quit smoking. The new grant is from the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas. The new funding will enhance the Quitxt service—currently designed to turns a user’s phone into a personal quit coach by providing texts and links to online support, educational content, music, and videos—with a new social media support component. Quitxt also will extend beyond South Texas to include English and Spanish speakers in rural counties, and Spanish speakers in urban areas of South, West and Central Texas. To quit smoking now, join Quitxt in English or ...
Two critical parts of every bus trip are the walk there and the walk back. Sadly, many streets are designed for cars, not families, making for some very sorry bus stops. Safe routes and safe bus stops are critical for people to access basic necessities, like schools, work, grocery stores, parks, healthcare, and other cultural and historical community resources. Streetsblog USA is calling attention to sorry bus stops during their 2017 Sorriest Bus Stop in America tournament. The goal is to motivate action from the streets and transit agencies who are responsible for designing and constructing the bus stops. You can enter the competition by submitting a photo of the sorriest bus stop with the exact location (preferably tagged in Google Maps) and a short description of what ...
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! Dr. Amelie Ramirez, leader of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio, is spearheading the Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos conference Feb. 21-23, 2018, in San Antonio. Latinos are expected to face a 142% rise in cancer in coming years. There is consistent evidence that higher amounts of body fat are associated with increased risks of a number of cancers, especially among Latinos. The inaugural Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos conference will unite health researchers, professionals, and leaders to tackle Latino cancer on many fronts. Register for the conference today! Submit an abstract for a poster presentation by Nov. 30, 2017. "We have seen substantial advancement in cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment over ...
It’s a fact. Where you live greatly affects your health. Live near a major road? A power plant? Or a densely populated neighborhood? Are you close to a supermarket? All of these factors – and more – impact your health on a day-to-day basis. For many low-income and Latino families, live in areas that have been classified as food deserts, with little to no access to healthy food options, safe places for physical activity, or access to quality health care. Many of these highly segregated areas are high in crime and poverty. The data analyzation web site, Niche, has compiled a ranking of the “Safest Places to Live” for 2017. How does this list impact Latinos?
Most and Least Safe Cities in the U.S.
By studying FBI reports on numerous crime factors in cities (9,932 of them) ...
As temperatures blaze this summer, don't forget the water and the sunscreen! Latinos, who face a shockingly high risk of skin cancer, should wear head covering, sunglasses, and sunscreen to protect against the sun. What if you can't afford find or afford sunscreen, though? A cool new initiative in New York City (28.9% Latino population) offers free sunscreen dispensers in all five city boroughs, CityLab reports. “The mix of raising awareness about the problem of melanoma and providing a free preventive measure [sunscreen] is an easy step towards reducing skin cancer,” said Bright Guard CEO and Co-Founder Ryan Warren told CityLab. The Myth of Latinos and No Skin Cancer It is true that skin damage from the sun, which can lead to skin cancer, affects those with lighter ...
