A wave of shock swept over Olga Cardona as she listened to her doctor. “You have breast cancer.” Cardona knew nothing about cancer. She thought it was a death sentence. She was scared. She worried more when her insurance wouldn’t cover all chemotherapy. How could this be happening to me? A patient navigator calmed her fears. The navigator, a trained community health worker, taught Cardona what cancer is, got her in a breast cancer support group, and led her to resources to cover her treatment. Cardona, years later, now is in remission—and she became a promotora to promote health at the San Ysidro Health Center in California, where she was first diagnosed. “I wanted to pay it forward because I felt so grateful to everyone that had helped me through my battle,” Cardona ...
About 23% of U.S. public school students are Hispanic, but only 8% of teachers are Hispanic, too, according to new studies, Fox News Latino reports via the Associated Press. Overall, 48% of public school students are minorities, but less than 20% of teachers are minorities. This is a so-called "diversity gap" and more should be done to help teachers more accurately mirror the students in their classrooms, according to the study developers, the Center for American Progress and the National Education Association. According to the article:
Teachers are always pushing their students to excel, said Kevin Gilbert, coordinator of teacher leadership and special projects for the Clinton Public School District in Clinton, Mississippi.
It becomes easier for students to believe "when ...
The driver of Latino population growth has shifted from immigration to U.S. native-born births. In fact, the number of Latino immigrants in the U.S. reached a record 18.8 million in 2010, but has since stalled, while U.S. births alone accounted for 60% of Hispanic population growth, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. The share of foreign-born Hispanic was 35.5% in 2012, down from 40% earlier in the 2000s. The reason for the decline? The Pew report says:
The slowdown in growth of the Hispanic foreign-born population coincides with a decline in Mexican migration to the U.S. Today, about as many people from Mexico are leaving the U.S. as entering, after four decades of explosive growth (Passel, Cohn and Gonzalez-Barrera, 2012). Many factors have ...
Breast cancer survivors can now join a new study to learn how certain foods may reduce the risk of cancer recurrence. The study, Rx for Better Breast Health, is funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure and led by Dr. Amelie Ramirez, professor and director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. Breast cancer survivors who participate will be randomly assigned to one of two groups. Each group will get different cancer nutrition tools, possibly six cooking demonstrations by Chef Iverson Brownell, who creates innovative culinary recipes that taste great and promote health (see his video). Call 210-562-6579 to see if you qualify. “We want to teach survivors the importance of a dietary plan full of foods with ...
The HPV vaccine can prevent certain cancer types. Watch a new video by Dr. Eduardo Azziz of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to find out why it's important for Latinos to get the ...
Minority women have low breast cancer screening rates. Even if they are screened, they delay confirmatory diagnosis and treatment because of costs, cultural and language issues, competing responsibilities, and more. That’s why Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, professor and director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, is offering the Navegando Salud patient navigator program, which trains bilingual, bicultural community health workers to offer breast cancer screenings, education and other services to women in South Texas. Navegando Salud just received a one-year, $100,000 grant from the Avon Foundation. The grant was among 10 announced at the 12th Annual Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Houston on April 13, 2014. “We’re ...
The number of U.S. cancer survivors is rising. But the post-cancer journey can be tough, especially for Latinos and other minorities, who face worry about recurring disease, hard decisions regarding follow-up care, lack of emotional support and finances. That's why the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has a national outreach network of community health educators (CHEs) are stationed at NCI-funded agencies across the country to help patients and their families receive survivorship support, according to an NCI article. The NCI article showcases several examples of CHEs in action. The report includes Sandra San Miguel de Majors, a CHE with the NCI's Reden En Acción: The National Latino Cancer Research Network, based at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the University of ...
The gap in college graduation rates between Latinos and Whites across the United States dropped from 14% to 9% over the past two years, although data varied from state to state, according to a new report by Excelencia in Education. The report collected state-level data on student populations, educational attainment of adults, multiple comparative measures of equity gaps in degree attainment, the top five institutions enrolling and graduating Latinos, and examples of promising, evidence-based practices in each state for improving Latino college completion. Nationally, the top-five institutions awarding bachelor's degrees to Latinos were: Florida International University, University of Phoenix (online), The University of Texas at El Paso, The University of Texas - Pan American, ...
Only 58% of Latinas in South Texas' Lower Rio Grande Valley start the three-dose HPV vaccine, which prevents cervical cancer, compared to 65% across the U.S., studies show. That's why researchers are testing strategies to improve HPV vaccination rates. The Immunization Partnership recently brought together several experts for a community forum to offer some of the latest solutions. For example, one study is using promotoras (trained community health workers in the Latina community) and student peer educators to engage mothers and daughters in South Texas about the HPV vaccine. This project is directed by Dr. Deborah Parra-Medina, professor at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday. Watch this video for ...
