SaludToday Guest Blogger: Annette Raveneau
National Latino Press Secretary, Enroll America Obamacare’s open enrollment ends Feb. 15. But what does that mean exactly? I did not know what any lingo related to the health insurance industry meant even when I had health insurance through my previous jobs. Well, open enrollment is the window of opportunity you have to choose a health plan or switch from the one you have to another one. With the Health Insurance Marketplace – which is the market that the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) established so everybody that is uninsured or underinsured can shop for quality, affordable health insurance – the open enrollment period for this year is from Nov. 15, 2014 until Feb. 15, 2015. So, this window is closing in less than a ...
Latinas are "the heart, el corazón, of the home, acting as gatekeepers for their loved ones' well-being. "But it is their own hearts that are in danger." So says Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, chief medical officer for prevention at the American Heart Association, in a great new Huffington Post op-ed. Sanchez cites statistics that show Latinas are likely to develop heart disease 10 years earlier than white women. And it's the No. 1 killer of Latinas. Yet, he says, "80 percent of cardiac events can be prevented with education and lifestyle changes, lifestyle changes as simple as: cooking traditional foods with healthier ingredients; exercising as a family; asking for blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol checks; and even going grocery shopping together as a family for healthier ...
Martín and Alejandro are new additions to the top-10 most popular boy names chosen by Latino parents in 2014, BabyCenter en Español reports. The top girl and boy baby names remained Sofía and Santiago. For boys, Martín debuted on the top-10 most popular boys’ names, and Alejandro returned to No. 4 after falling out of the top-10. For girls, Emma climbed a few spots and Luciana dropped. Here's the top-10 (see the top-100 girls and boys): Girls: Sofía, Isabella, Valentina, Emma, Camila, Valeria, Victoria, Martina, Ximena, Luciana Boys: Santiago, Mateo, Sebastián, Alejandro, Matías, Diego, Samuel, Nicolás, Daniel, Martín What inspired Latino parents to choose these baby names? Most parents said, according to a survey, they "just liked the name," its ...
Did you know only a small percentage of U.S. Latinos are blood donors? Experts say Latinos have an extremely important blood type. But Latinos hesitate to give blood due to weight gain, age, diabetes, fear of infection. Are these worries warranted or just plain myths? For January's National Blood Donor Month, it’s time to get the facts about Latino blood donors and learn how you can be a hero for someone in need, especially during winter, a typically down time for donations due to holidays, bad weather, and illness. Join us to get the truth about donating blood as well as learn why Latinos specifically need to donate at the next #SaludTues Tweetchat. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Latinos Blood Donors: Get the Facts”
DATE: Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015
TIME: Noon CST ...
Texas is "worse" than most states in poverty, health insurance coverage, and income equality, according to a new report. The report, from the Center for American Progress Action Fund, tracked 15 poverty indicators, for which Texas ranked in the bottom half of the country for 11 indicators. For example, 17.5% of Texans had incomes below the poverty line ($23,834 annually for a family of four) in 2013, ranking the state 38th in the nation. Texas also ranked: 50th in the nation for health care coverage among low-income people.
49th in the nation for hunger and food insecurity (meaning that they experienced difficulty providing enough food due to a lack of money or resources during some point of the year).
42nd in the nation for higher education attainment rate.
43rd in the ...
Latinos need strong health care coverage, as this population struggles with high rates of obesity, diabetes, and certain cancers. But 1 of 4 of the U.S. uninsured population is Latino. How can this change? Let’s use #SaludTues to Tweet strategies and resources on how to increase health care coverage among Latinos through the Affordable Care Act (#ACA) during a Tweetchat at 1 p.m. ET Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014: WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Latinos and Health Coverage: Issues + Solutions”
DATE: Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014
TIME: Noon-1 p.m. CT (1-2 p.m. ET)
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludToday
CO-HOSTS: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (@HHSGov/@HHSLatino), Enroll America (@GetCoveredUS), and the Nation Council of La Raza ...
What is health equity? The answer to this question, which has strong implications for Latino and other minority populations, is part of a new series of infographics from the Health Equity Institute at San Francisco State University. Infographic 1 defines health equity as "efforts to ensure that all people have full and equal access to opportunities that enable them to lead healthy lives" and identifies a framework to show how social, economic, and environmental conditions affect health and health equity in a number of ways. To achieve health equity, we must treat everyone equally and eliminate avoidable health inequities and health disparities. Health inequities (Infographic 2) are health differences "that are avoidable, unfair, and unjust." Health disparities (Infographic ...
Find the latest advances in Latino health—from cancer survival to solving park access to how to improve mental health—in the IHPR Noticias E-newsletter. IHPR Noticias has lots of info on the latest local and national health disparities-related news, resources and events: Story: Latinas—10 Years after Breast Cancer Survival (Pg. 1)
Profile: Mentees Promote Healthier Lifestyles in San Antonio (Pg. 2)
Story: Latino Researchers among Recipients of $8 Million in Grants to Study Cancer (Pg. 3)
Scholarships: How to Fight Health Disparities in Your Area & Get a Scholarship for It! (Pg. 4)
Story: How to Solve San Antonio’s Low Park Access Score (Pg. 6)
Story: White Students Now a Minority in School; Hispanic Numbers Surge (Pg. 8)
Resources: Tackling Mental Health, ...
Apply now for the 2015 Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Éxito!, a program of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, will select 20 master’s-level students and health professionals from across the nation to attend a five-day summer institute June 2015, in San Antonio, offering research information, tools, tips, role models and motivation to encourage participants to pursue a doctoral degree and a career studying how cancer affects Latinos differently. Master’s-degree students or master’s-trained health professionals are encouraged to apply. Since launching in 2011, Éxito! has had 78 participants. Nearly 40% of all program graduates have applied to doctoral programs and 27% are ...
