Editor's Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2014 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply now for the 2015 Èxito! program. Maritza Pulido
San Francisco, Calif. Growing up in California, Maritza Pulido had a strong-willed father who would object to her being placed into English-as-a-second-language classes just because of her last name. Now she is an advocate for those who are mislabeled due to their last name and race. Pulido, who developed a compassion for Latinos through her studies abroad in Chile and her travel throughout Latin America, wants to see educational equity for all people. She also values empowering youth toward education and overall betterment. To that end, she earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations and a ...
Editor's Note: This is the story of a graduate of the 2014 Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program. Apply now for the 2015 Èxito! program. Christina Olson
San Diego, Calif. With a long-felt desire to study science and encouragement from her family, it was not a shock when Christina Olson earned a neuroscience degree in college. However, her interest in public health came as a surprise. When a close supervisor and mentor encouraged her to “sit at that table” and pursue public health, she did just that, moving to Washington, D.C., to work in international and border health policy and finishing a master’s degree in public health from San Diego State University. To expand her passion for public health and to consider pursuing a doctoral degree, Olson applied ...
Happy holidays from the Salud America! team at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio! We feel so blessed to be able to deliver to you the latest news and advances in Latino health. We encourage you to email us at saludamerica@uthscsa.edu and submit guest blog posts to continue spreading the word about how Latinos (and everyone!) can make their health a bigger priority in 2015 and beyond. If you need some inspiration for a healthy New Year, watch this ...
In 2004, 26 Latina breast cancer survivors from South Texas shared their stories to inspire hope, comfort, and resiliency in a bilingual booklet called Nuestras Historias. Today, many of the survivors have new, heart-warming stories to tell about how Latinas can survive cancer and thrive in the workplace, school, home, and family on the 10th anniversary of the booklet, which was produced by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez of the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio and her Redes En Acción Latino cancer research network funded by the National Cancer Institute. They vivacious survivors have been living in "technicolor," you might say. Indeed, check out a new story, "Latina Survivors Savor a Decade of Living in Technicolor," on Pages 12-15 of the UT Health Science Center's Mission ...
The blog School Bites is run by a mom who wants to provide the healthiest and most nutritious food for her children. At home she can help teach them healthy eating, but at school her children and other students are exposed to a lot junk food. Over the past couple of years she has been fighting to make the food culture a healthier place in her local school district and here is what she had to say on her blog about what she accomplished:
What finally worked was a stronger district wellness policy combined with teacher education (SEE Healthy Classrooms Initiative: Educating Teachers on Healthy School Celebrations, Non-Food Rewards & More). I managed to get a spot on a committee that was convened to update our policy according to the ...
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 ...
The number of Latino students receiving bachelor’s degrees in the physical sciences and engineering is on the rise, according to a report from the American Institute of Physics (AIP) Statistical Research Center. In 2012, for the first time ever, the number of Latinos earning physical science and engineering degrees surpassed 10,000/year. Between 2002 to 2012, the number of Latinos earning bachelor’s degrees in the physical sciences and engineering rose by 78% and 64% respectively. "While those numbers are encouraging, Hispanics are still underrepresented in many fields, including astronomy and earth sciences," said Laura Merner, the research associate who authored the report. "More Hispanic students earning physical science degrees is a good thing, but it does not mean ...
Students at Chicago Public Schools weren’t getting enough physical activity and time spent in P.E., so district officials created a new department solely to improve the health and wellness of students. The department’s new chief health officer led the enactment of three new health policies and the rollout of a plan to bring at least 30 minutes of daily P.E. to all students. Soon students in grades K-8 will be getting a minimum of 150 minutes of P.E. a week, and all high school students will be required to take P.E. every semester.
EMERGENCE
Awareness: As the third-largest school district in the nation, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) are responsible for ensuring a healthy learning environment for its diverse student body (45% Hispanic and 39% black). For many years, the district ...
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 ...
