VIDEO: Community Members, Researchers Team to Tackle Minority Health Problems



Dr. Meredith Minkler, a cancer researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, spoke about the impact of "community-based participatory research (CBPR)" on May 5, 2011, at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center (CTRC) in San Antonio as part of the SALSI/CTRC Health Disparities Lecture Series. CBPR is a technique that brings community members onto academic health research teams as equal partners in a research study or intervention. Community members help design programs that best address their specific community's health problems and needs. Watch video of Dr. Minkler's talk about CBPR here. The SALSI/CTRC Health Disparities Lecture Series, sponsored by the San Antonio Life Sciences Institute (SALSI) and the CTRC, brings some of the top U.S. health disparities experts to San ...

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San Antonio Researcher, YMCA Partner to Encourage Healthy Living, Cancer Prevention



The Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) recently awarded $265,000 to a researcher from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio who is working with the YMCA of Greater San Antonio to encourage healthy living and cancer prevention. Dr. Deborah Parra-Medina, professor in the Health Science Center’s Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR), is co-directing “Y Living,” a lifestyle program for cancer prevention and risk reduction. “This collaborative project uses a community-based, family-focused approach. We’ll work with families to promote physical activity, a balanced diet and increased awareness of the impact of a healthy lifestyle on cancer risk reduction,” Dr. Parra-Medina said. “We’ll provide health education, ...

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VIDEO: Group Strives to Help Diabetics in Hispanic Town



El Paso, Texas, which is considered among the nation's least healthy cities, struggles with high rates of obesity and diabetes, Borderzine reports. More than 85,000 residents in El Paso, which is 82% Hispanic, have diabetes. That's why the El Paso Diabetes Association aims to eliminate diabetes and its complications through empowerment, promotion, detection and access. The agency organizes community events to get people more involved with the organization, raise awareness, promote their services and help people control the disease. For example, a Diabetes Walk/Run helps raise money for the organization every year. To learn more, watch this ...

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Lecture on 8/11/11: “What Every Latino Man & Woman Should Know About Cancer”



Hispanics, who make up 60 percent of Bexar County’s population and almost 40 percent of Texas’, face special cancer risks. Minimizing those risks is the subject of a free public lecture to be held at 6 p.m. CST Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011, on the fourth floor of the Grossman Building at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7979 Wurzbach Road. "In the Hispanic population, we tend to put off prevention because we don't think it's going to happen to us," said Dr. Amelie Ramirez, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center. "And cancer's one of those things we don't like to talk about." For instance, Dr. Ramirez said, about 40 percent of Hispanic women do not have yearly ...

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Profile in Health/Prevention: Dr. Amelie Ramirez


Amelie Ramirez

UT Health Science Center at San Antonio researcher Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez "has impacted the health and lives of thousands of South Texans" through her 30 years of health education, promotion and research in and with Latino communities, according to a health/prevention profile article in the San Antonio Business Journal. Dr. Ramirez currently targets Latino health issues as director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the Health Science Center. The IHPR is the research team behind national research networks on Latino cancer (Redes En Acción) and Latino child obesity (Salud America!). Dr. Ramirez, in the article, says prevention is the key to improving health: “We’re not just doing research for the purpose of doing research,” says Ramirez. “We are doing ...

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Putting a Spotlight on Cancer Health Disparities



This summer, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (CRCHD) is focusing attention on the topic of cancer health disparities. The NCI works to reduce the unequal burden of cancer incidence and mortality in our society by supporting research to identify and understand the factors that contribute to disparities. NCI also funds studies to develop and disseminate culturally appropriate interventions. Go here for details on disparities and related research, support, statistics, training opportunities and ...

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Community Health Workers: Helping Latinos Navigate the Medical Maze



A community health worker (CHW) helps patients—in San Antonio, that typically means Latino patients—navigate the complex world of cancer care, according to a San Antonio Express-News article about CHWs. The article focuses on Guadalupe Cornejo, a CHW at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday. Cornejo is partialy supported through the IHPR's Latino cancer research network, Redes En Acción, via a partnership with LIVESTRONG. Cornejo's job includes answering questions, helping patients make appointments and apply for services and, when necessary, acting as a liaison between patients and the medical system. “Research has shown that this population is more likely to fall through the cracks when it ...

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VIDEO: Welcome to San Antonio Healthy Eating, Exercise Efforts



Watch San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro's award-winning introductory video about SABalance.org, the city's new website touting healthy eating and physical activity for local families, schools, and more. The video won bronze Telly awards in the health and wellness and instructional categories. Watch the winning video here or below. Watch other SABalance videos ...

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Cancer Facts & Figures 2011 Now Available



Epidemiologists predict about 1.6 million new cancer cases and 571,950 cancer deaths in the U.S. in 2011, according to the new Cancer Facts & Figures 2011. Cancer Facts & Figures provides a concise summary of frequently used cancer statistics, including projections of new cancer cases and deaths, general information on leading cancer sites, and information on major cancer risk factors, such as tobacco use, nutrition, and physical activity. This year's special section focuses on cancer disparities, including providing the estimated numbers of premature cancer deaths that occurred in 2007 as a result of socioeconomic disparities. Other highlights from Cancer Facts & Figures 2011 include: Cancers of the lung and bronchus, prostate, and colorectum in men, and cancers of the ...

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