What issues affect the nation's 54 million Latinos? Several leading Latino-oriented organizations described the importance of various issues, including education, health care and immigration in a new report, Voxxi News reports. The report, called the American Latino Agenda Report and developed by the New American Alliance Institute (NAA Institute), was released this week. The report introduces several topics and offers recommendations for improvements. For example, in health, the National Hispanic Medical Association suggested focusing on these areas of needs: Educating Hispanics about the need to change lifestyles in order to increase healthy nutrition and physical activity through a variety of programs.
Increasing Hispanics representation in the federal ...
For the first time ever, U.S. public schools are projected this fall to have more minority students than white students enrolled, a shift largely fueled by growth in the number of Hispanic children, the Associated Press reports. White students are still most populous, but their numbers dipped just below 50% for the first time. Here is the racial/ethnic breakdown of students, according to National Center for Education Statistics: 49.8% White
25% Hispanic
15% Black
5% Asian
5% Other "The shift creates new academic realities, such as the need for more English language instruction, and cultural ones, meaning changes in school lunch menus in the Southwest and elsewhere to include tortillas and other offerings to reflect students’ tastes," according to the Associated ...
The graduation rate at Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) is 11% behind that of traditional institutions, and historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) lag 7% behind. These stats don't look good, but they're not the whole story. Researchers found that HBCUs and HSIs often deal with the significant challenge of limited institutional resources and having a student body that is less academically prepared than traditional schools and tend to receive less financial aid, according to a study in Research in Higher Education, which examined data from minority-serving institutions (MSIs) in Texas, Futurity reports:
These and other differences in student population skew the statistics and unfairly put MSIs in a bad light...
...At the same time, MSIs often function with limited ...
Did you know Latinos suffer more from certain diseases? For example, Latinos are 45% more likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer, 65% more likely to be diabetic, and six times as likely to have tuberculosis than Whites. These health disparities are captured in a new infographic. The infographic, from Families USA, which works to heighten health care for all Americans, urges people to "work together to improve our health care system to make it high-quality, comprehensive, affordable, and accessible for ...
Dr. Cynthia Mojica, a researcher at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, is among five new appointees to the Advisory Committee on Minority Health for the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The 10-member committee advises the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health on improving the health of racial and ethnic minority populations. Members are appointed by the secretary for their minority health expertise. Mojica, who will serve on the committee through 2018, has extensive experience conducting research in cancer prevention and control. She has made strides to increase cancer screening and diagnostic follow-up, as well as obesity prevention, with an emphasis on ...
More than 16% of Hispanic adults experienced a mental illness during the previous year, and communities of color are more likely to lack access to care to meet their behavioral health needs, according to federal data. This makes mental health awareness important in Hispanic communities. That's why the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health offer new Spanish-language resources: The website MentalHealth.gov en Español offers access to resources and information about prevention, treatment, and recovery from mental health conditions.
The Toolkit for Community Conversations About Mental Health (Diálogos comunitarios acerca de la salud mental) helps communities start vital ...
Find the latest advances in Latino health—studies on liver cancer rates and colorectal cancer screening, and a promotora’s heartwarming story of survival—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: A Latina Cancer Survivor Makes a Career of Helping Others through Cancer (Pg. 1)
Profile: An Aspiring Doctor, Jennifer Garcia-Davalos, Works for Latino Health (Pg. 2)
Study: South Texas Latinos Have Nation’s Highest Liver Cancer Rates (Pg. 3)
Study: Local Researcher Hopes to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening (Pg. 4)
Story: How to Fix Huge Lack of Hispanics in Clinical Trials (Pg. 6)
Story: Food Trucks—Healthy or Junk Food for Latinos (Pg. ...
A group of breast cancer survivors gathered in San Antonio on Tuesday, June 17, 2014, to hear a lecture and cooking demonstration about how certain foods may reduce the risk of cancer recurrence — deliciously. The women are participants in the study Rx for Better Breast Health. As a part of the study, this group will attend several lectures by study co-principal investigator Dr. Michael Wargovich of the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, combined with cooking demonstrations by Chef Iverson Brownell, who creates innovative culinary recipes that taste great and promote health. Read or watch a WOAI-TV report about the event. To see if you qualify for the study, call 210-562-6579 “We want to teach survivors the importance of a dietary plan full of foods with ...
Delinquent youth face a significantly increased risk for a violent death when they're adults, a new study finds, HealthDay reports. This finding is especially true for delinquent Hispanics, teens, and girls. The study, published online in the journal Pediatrics, found that the rate of violent death among delinquent Hispanic females and males were nine and five times higher, respectively, than in the general population. "Our findings are shocking," study author Linda Teplin, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University, said in a university news release, HealthDay reports. "Death rates in our sample of delinquent youth, ages 15 to 19, are nearly twice those of troops in combat in wartime Iraq and Afghanistan." "Early violent death is a health ...
