Our collaborative bilingual video — Why Hispanic Representation Matters — was a "Silver Winner" at both the 2024 W³ Awards and the 45th Annual Telly Awards! The video, created by Genentech with help from the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, the team behind Salud America!, shows why Latino participation in clinical trials is important for the future of clinical research. Clinical trials are studies with volunteers that can help researchers learn how to slow, manage, and treat different cancer and disease. “This massive underrepresentation of Latinos in clinical trials makes it hard for researchers to develop new treatments for this group, which suffers a heavy burden of cancer,” said Dr. Amelie Ramirez, director of Salud America! and the ...
School supplies, news clothes, and annual check-ups at the doctor are just a few things on a parent’s checklist for the start of a new school year. But don’t let one major part of a child’s health slip out of sight. Vision and eye health!
Advocating for Children’s Eye Health
Uncorrected vision problems can hinder child development, interfere with learning, and even lead to permanent vision loss. That is why Prevent Blindness Texas, an eye health and safety organization, is working to prevent blindness and preserve sight among children and adults by providing support and resources related eye health at all ages. “Early detection and treatment of eye problems are critical,” according to organization. To promote early detection of eye issues among children, ...
Latinos have endured generations of systemic inequities due to racism and discrimination. Over the years, institutions, structures, and policies have given rise to gaps in housing, income, education, and more, which lead to higher risk for diseases like cancer. Even though these disparities persist, policymakers are pushing for change. On July 17, 2024, the Biden White House announced several new policies to expand opportunities for Latino communities, including increasing access to higher education. Let’s investigate some of these policies and how they endeavor to help Latinos.
Increasing Educational and Economic Gains Through Hispanic-Serving Institutions
More than 500 Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) that span across 27 states, the District of Columbia, ...
Signs of cognitive impairment and early dementia among Latinos and other people of color are often missed by healthcare providers in busy primary care settings. Now, a new test could help improve cognitive care for these patients. Recently, Dr. Joe Verghese and researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine created a culturally unbiased cognitive assessment tool called 5-Cog. The 5-Cog, which takes five minutes to complete, could help identify cognitive concerns and open avenues for diagnosis and treatment for dementia, according to a news release from the National Institute of Health (NIH). Let’s explore the new test and how it could benefit Latinos with dementia.
How Does the 5-Cog Work?
The 5-Cog test is for older adults who have concerns about their cognitive ...
Cancer continues to be a leading cause of death in Latinos. Systemic racism and discrimination have led to disproportionate exposure to risk factors for cancer, such as obesity, diabetes, and stress. These risk factors are compounded by the social and economic inequities such as access to healthy foods, transportation, and health insurance that many Latinos face, making it difficult to seek healthcare, culminating in worse health outcomes. Another big factor is driving worse health for Latinos – a lack of preventative care. 64% of Latinos skipped recommended health screenings, such as colonoscopies, pap smears, mammograms, and more, according to a news release about the second annual Wellness Matters Survey published by Aflac. Let’s unpack the survey ...
Latinos and other group that experience health disparities are frequently underrepresented in spine pain clinical trials, according to an analysis from eight randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The study, published by National Institute of Health and funded by the National Center for Complimentary and Integrative Health, found a lack of participation among racial/ethnic populations and other minority groups. Let’s look further into the data and how it impacts Latinos.
Representation in Clinical Trials on Spinal Pain
The analysis points out that, while RCTs are considered the gold standard study design for evaluating treatment effectiveness, they can suffer from generalizability issues. In other words, the findings of these studies can’t be generalized to the U.S. ...
An estimated 795,000 Americans suffer a stroke each year, amounting to one stroke every 40 seconds, according to the Stroke Awareness Foundation. Every 4 minutes, someone dies from a stroke, according to the American Stroke Association. Due to racial/ethnic disparities that affect many Latinos, stroke is the fourth-leading cause of death in Latino men and the third for Latina women. Stroke is also a top cause of serious, long-term disability. The Stroke Awareness Foundation found that within 5 years of a first stroke, 25% of survivors will face another, complicating health for more than 7 million survivors. This makes access to care critical, especially for Latinos, who often lack health insurance. However, Latinos were less likely than their peers to ...
¿Sabía que 90,000 personas son diagnosticadas cada año con un tumor cerebral de origen primario? Similarmente, más de 1.3 millones de personas en los Estados Unidos de América viven con un tumor cerebral primario o secundario/metastásico. Para nosotros mismos, nuestra familia, y nuestra comunidad, debemos saber ciertos datos importantes acerca de los tumores cerebrales para que podamos apoyar a la gente afectada por un diagnóstico de un tumor cerebral. Afortunadamente, la Asociación Estadounidense de los Tumores Cerebrales (American Brain Tumor Association o ABTA) tiene recursos extraordinarios para ayudar a la población. ¡Exploremos y aprendamos!
1. Conozca los Tipos de Tumores Cerebrales
Un tumor cerebral es un crecimiento anormal de células que se ha formado ...
Health literacy is defined by the CDC as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.” In today’s world, health literacy is crucial for community members and health professionals, alike, to make everyday decisions and achieve health equity. However, many underserved and racial/ethnic communities around the country face barriers to health equity including access to health care, financial instability, and housing/transportation insecurity endangering their health. That is why Jason Rosenfeld, DrPH, MPH, and Melanie Stone, DrPH (c), MPH, MEd are helping build Health Confianza – a partnership between UT Health San Antonio, The University of Texas San ...
