Breast cancer is the No. 1 killer of Latinas in the United States. This is a fact many organizations are working to change. One such group, Living Beyond Breast Cancer, has begun accepting applications for its 2017 Hear My Voice: Metastatic Breast Cancer Outreach Volunteer Program. The Hear My Voice program offers tools and training to help volunteer advocates reach out people living with metastatic breast cancer, hoping to make a positive impact on individuals' lives in both their “physical and digital communities.” To reach out to all women, Living Beyond Breast Cancer is looking to recruit a diverse group of volunteers for the program. They are especially looking for Latino and Latina applicants. This year’s Hear My Voice training will be held April 28-30, 2017, at ...
Smoking is a tough opponent to beat. Quitxt is a free texting service in English or Spanish that turns your mobile phone into a personal coach to help you quit smoking, using interactive and entertaining texts, online support, and music and videos from UT Health San Antonio researchers. The service’s bilingual texts help with motivation to quit, setting a quit date, finding things to do instead of smoking, handling stress, and more. Join in English: Text “iquit” to 57682. Join in Spanish: Text “lodejo” to 57682. “Text-message applications have scientifically proven to roughly double one’s odds of quitting smoking, so we developed Quitxt specifically for young adult Latinos to help them quit for good,” said Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, study leader and director of ...
The national health expenditure, the amount of money Americans spend each year on healthcare, is expected to have grown by nearly 6% in 2016 and it is expected to continue this growth annually through 2025. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a report entitled “Web First” that projects this growth by using the current framework of the healthcare system. At the projected rate, national health spending will outpace the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the United States by 1.2%. The reason for this rise in expenditures is largely due to the faster growth of medical prices. In order to reduce health disparities, it is critical to address inequities in programs, practices, and policies. Join our site, connect with others, and get ...
In the Latino community, promotoras de salud are often invaluable parts of the healthcare process. Often times, they are critical in removing cultural barriers that prevent Latinos from accessing quality healthcare. A project in Sacramento, Calif. (28.08% Latino population), is looking to create even more promotoras in the area. The Sacramento Region Community Foundation recently provided a grant to Empower Yolo’s “Promotoras for Active Living” Project. The mission of Empower Yolo is “to promote safe, healthy and resilient communities.” The promotoras they hire are often past clients or lay members of the community who have been trained to “deliver culturally appropriate health education” to the friends and neighbors. In order to reduce health disparities, it is ...
Promotoras have long been acknowledged as important agents of healthy change in Latino communities. Thanks in large part with their relationships in the community and the specialized health education they receive, promotoras are often able to reach Latinos that “traditional” health care workers cannot. In Northern California’s Sonoma Valley, the La Luz Center was founded to provide a variety of social and health services to the area’s burgeoning Latino population. Now, their new initiative will begin organizing and training promotoras to go into the community and promote healthy lifestyles. According to a story in the Sonoma Index-Tribune, the first group includes seven area women who received training from La Luz, the Sonoma Valley Community Health Center, and Sonoma Valley ...
Beatrice, a Latina mom of two, quit smoking in her late 30s. Her sons were her inspiration. “When my son was 11, he wrote me a letter and in it he asked me to quit smoking,” said Beatrice, who started smoking at age 7, in a video segment on why she quit. “And when I was going through the process of quitting, that letter was very motivating for me. I want to be here for my family.” Beatrice, who tells her story in the CDC’s Tips From Former Smokers video series, is an example of how campaigns can encourage Latinos to quit smoking by focusing on cultural differences, language, and the importance of family, experts say, according to a report by American Heart Association News. Smoking rates vary among Latino ethnic groups. Although smoking rates are lower among U.S. ...
Latinos and others living in rural areas are more likely to die from heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease, stroke, and unintentional injuries than their urban counterparts. These top-five causes of death account for 62% of all U.S. deaths. Among those living in rural areas, over 70,000 of these deaths were preventable, The Washington Post reports on a CDC study, including 25,000 individuals who died from heart disease and 19,000 who died from cancer. Although just 15% of the U.S. population is considered rural, they tend to be older, in poorer health, have less income and healthcare, and weight more, smoke more, and have higher blood pressure than the urban population, the Post reports. Latinos face even higher risks of heart diseases because of the disparities in ...
On January 31, 2017, the latest period of Open Enrollment for health care coverage ended with more than 9.2 million plans selected in states that use the HealthCare.gov eligibility and enrollment platform. This marks a 25% increase from the previous year. The Open Enrollment period saw about 3 million are new consumers sign up for coverage through the Marketplace. This accounts 33% of all plan selections being from new consumers. Over 4.2 million Latinos have gained health insurance since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This has lowered the rate of Latino uninsured by 7.7%. In order to reduce health disparities, it is critical to address inequities in programs, practices, and policies. Join our site, connect with others, and get ...
After decades of educational messages and campaigns on the grave health consequences of tobacco use, fewer young people than ever smoke cigarettes. But this triumph has come with an unintended side effect. A rising number of middle and high school kids are smoking electronic cigarettes, or "E-cigarettes," according to a National Institutes of Health report. E-cigarettes are electronic devices that vaporize flavored liquids that often times contain nicotine. These alternatives to smoking tobacco come with their own set of health risks, including asthma and respiratory infections. Among Latinos, tobacco use remains a serious problem and an increasing number have begun using e-cigarettes, according to American Heart Association News. "Easy access to these products, the ...
