According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 50% of all post-Millennial youths will be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes during their lifetime. Latinos are the group that is likely to be the most susceptible to the disease. Two nursing school students from Arizona State University (ASU), Tatianna Alvarado and Jamie Karch have taken on roles in a community-based diabetes prevention program aimed at Latino youths called “Every Little Step Counts.” “Many of my family members have diabetes and my mother is a type 2 diabetic,” Alvarado said. “The last year of high school I took care of her. I’d interact with her, told her what diabetes was … but there was only so much I could do as a daughter.” The program is funded by a $1.2 grant from the ...
Getting a breast cancer diagnosis could be a shocking experience, especially when your doctor confirms your fears and tells you, you have breast cancer. “ I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You have breast cancer. We need to set up an appointment with a surgeon as soon as possible.” I asked the doctor to proceed with whatever arrangements would be necessary. I called my husband at work. I could tell by his voice he was in shock. That evening we informed our four children,” Gloria Diaz says. The day after, Gloria, accompanied by her daughter visited her doctor and was given two options: a mastectomy or lumpectomy. “I was scared and confused. A mastectomy meant I would have my entire right breast removed along with a large number of lymph nodes, and if everything came ...
Babies who are breastfed have reduced risks of ear and respiratory infections, asthma, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), diabetes, and obesity; therefore, the WHO/UNICEF Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative established Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding as the global standard for hospital care to support breastfeeding. However, according to the CDC Vital Signs report, many hospitals do not implement the steps. For example, 80% of babies born in the US start out breastfeeding, but, unfortunately, 6 in 10 breastfeeding mothers stop breastfeeding earlier than they intend. Even more Latina mothers stop breastfeeding earlier than they intend. This is due to lack of support from hospitals, the workplace, businesses, and families. In order to reduce Latino childhood obesity, ...
Starting in May 2016, California will become the fifth state in the nation to allow children from undocumented, low-income families to obtain comprehensive healthcare. Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation in October that will allow over 170,000 children to transition from limited or restricted care to full coverage. This includes removing barriers to re-applying and re-enrolling. “When I began the effort to expand healthcare coverage for undocumented Californians, many people said it couldn’t get done,” said Sen. Ricardo Lara. “Just a year later, we are covering all undocumented children, becoming the largest state to do so.” The governor’s office allocated $40 million for healthcare coverage for undocumented children through the Health for All Kids program. This program ...
A study released by the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine found that minorities, especially Latinos, have longer wait times obtaining medical care than whites. On average, the wait time is 25% longer than whites at 105 minutes. While Latinos and whites spend the same time in face-to-face interaction with their doctors, they do have an average of 10 minutes longer to travel to their appointments. "It could be bias, conscious or unconscious, on the part of providers, or other staff that work at the site where they're receiving care," said Alexander Green, associate director of the disparities solution center at Massachusetts General Hospital. "Wait times are something very subjective, in that it could be any number of reasons it might seem justified in ...
Smoking is a tough opponent to beat. Quitxt is a new free service that turns your mobile phone into a personal coach to help you quit smoking, using interactive and entertaining text messages, online support, hip-hop music, and videos designed for South Texas young adults by researchers at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. The service’s text messages help with motivation to quit, setting a quit date, finding things to do instead of smoking, handling stress, using nicotine replacement if needed, and more. To join, text “iquit” to 57682. “Text-message applications have scientifically proven to roughly double one’s odds of quitting smoking, so we developed Quitxt specifically for young adult Latinos to capitalize on their heavy usage of texting to help them ...
Of the approximately four million babies born in the United States every year, only about 14 percent are born in Baby-Friendly hospitals, The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative established 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding in 1989, which were endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2009. However, a recent study demonstrates that many hospitals still do not implement these 10 Steps. Breastfeeding has numerous health benefits, including reduced childhood obesity, but many mothers face barriers to breastfeed. Maternal experiences during the birth hospitalization show that a hospital's policies and practices affect a mother's ability to establish and maintain breastfeeding. In the six-year study, Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care, investigators ...
All children under 19 years old will be eligible for the state’s health insurance in California (Medi-Cal), Univision Noticias reports. The law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown will potentially benefit 200,000 undocumented children who currently have access to a limited state health insurance. “In the middle of the national conversation on immigration, sometimes negative, we congratulate Governor and the legislature for recognizing the contributions of undocumented Californians and their human right to health access,” Daniel Zingale, vice president of The California Endowment told Univision. Currently, most undocumented migrants have limited access to the state’s version of Medicaid (Medi-Cal). The new law will give full health benefits to undocumented children in ...
Algunos meses después de la muerte de su madre, Mary González consulto con su doctor si era necesario hacerse un mamograma, el doctor le dijo que estaba muy joven. Dos años después se encontró un bulto por debajo de su brazo y después de insistirle a su doctor que lo revisará descubrió que tenía cáncer de seno. “Era como una pesadilla. Todas las cosas pasaban muy rápidamente y yo estaba muy aturdida. Se tenían que tomar muchas decisiones en muy poco tiempo. Me aterrorizaba acordarme de mi mamá cuando estaba recibiendo su tratamiento de quimioterapia, la pérdida de su pelo, la náusea y el vómito,” nos cuenta Mary. La lucha contra el cáncer se convirtió en una batalla familiar para la familia González. “Mi esposo y yo nos educamos sobre el cáncer del seno y su ...
