Data can drive action for healthy change. But what if we don’t have enough data? Or the right data? Or equitable data? Unfortunately, even with more health reports and more health dashboards than ever before, we still face inconsistent and incomplete data. We are lacking sufficient data – especially data disaggregated by race/ethnicity – on social determinants of health, firearm violence, traffic crashes, and adverse childhood experiences. Insufficient data happens for many reasons. Limited funding, limited staff, uncertain methods, logistical challenges, entrenched practices, inadequate analysis, and inadequate or non-uniform reporting after data collection are occurring at the local, state, and federal levels. Let’s explore the most critical missing data and how ...
A young Erik Cardenas sat quietly in his chair, gently swinging his legs back and forth. He clasped his hands together and observed the clinic waiting room. He could hear some patients chattering with family members in Spanish. Others looked like they could doze off any minute. “Cardenas?” called out a nurse holding a clipboard. Erik sprung from his chair and followed his parents and the nurse into the doctor’s office. He was glad the waiting game was over. “As Mexican immigrants living in Houston, my parents didn't have the best access to healthcare,” a grown Cardenas recalled. “I have a lot of memories of waiting hours at community safety net clinics, and after a multiple hour wait, you were lucky to see the doctor for five minutes.” Cardenas also recalls ...
On April 22, let’s celebrate Earth Day! Earth Day honors the achievements of the environmental movement and urges for protection of our planet’s natural resources for future generations. The observance began on April 22, 1970, thanks to Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson and Harvard University graduate student Denis Hayes. Since then, it has promoted advocacy, education, and conservation around environmental issues like climate change and pollution. As this year’s celebration approaches, Salud America! is sharing five ways you can get involved to preserve and improve the environment.
1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
What is the most effective way to reduce waste? Don’t create it in the first place. “Making a new product emits greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change ...
For too long, the blame for our nation’s high traffic fatality rate has fallen on individual drivers and factors, rather than on environmental and systemic traffic safety factors. One of the contributors to and consequences of this approach is insufficient crash data. Insufficient crash data hinders efforts to define and monitor the problem and identify risk and protective factors, and thwarts strategies to prevent these unnatural and gruesome deaths. Now is your opportunity to urge federal leaders to collect better crash data to guide traffic safety. Public comments are wanted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on revisions to the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC), a voluntary guideline of standardized crash data variables for state and ...
Obesity can stem from genetics, food and activity, and social and environmental inequities. We also know from past research that brain structure and mental function are linked to being overweight or obese. Now a new study has identified differences in the brain’s neural pathways that help explain differences in obesity among men and women. “In women with obesity, changes in the brain tended to be centered on regions related to emotions, while in men with obesity, the changes tended to be found in regions that play a role in gut sensations, such as how hungry or full a person feels,” according to NBC News. For this study, researchers from the Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center at UCLA studied brain scans – along with participants’ reports of their behavioral and mental ...
Despite the heaviest spending on healthcare, the US has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed nations. Unfortunately, this historic trend has worsened over time. To help mitigate the maternal mortality crisis, leaders should strengthen the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), according to Dr. Jamila Taylor, president and CEO of the National WIC Association (NWA). “WIC’s targeted support can and should be leveraged to reduce the prevalence of risk factors that contribute to adverse maternal health outcomes,” Dr. Taylor said in an NWA press release. Let’s explore the extent of pregnancy-related deaths in the US, the role of WIC in women’s health, and how you can support the WIC program and health equity in your ...
Many Latino families struggle to get enough food to feed their families. They often face hunger. Even if they do get enough food, what they have is often nutritionally vacant. This contributes to a variety of disparities in diabetes, heart disease, and other health conditions. We need an environment of food equity. Let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, to discuss emerging strategies to change environments, systems, and policies to encourage equitable access to affordable, healthy food in our schools and communities across the nation for Latinos and all people! WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: How to Create Food Equity
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, May 2, 2023
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
CO-HOSTS: Healthy ...
In the last few years of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have come to appreciate the critical importance of public health. In honor of National Public Health Week 2023 (Monday April 3 through Sunday April 9), we’re highlighting an emerging public health concern that impacts health outcomes worldwide: the commercial determinants of health (CDoH). Let’s examine why CDoH is gaining more attention among public health professionals, and how we can address its negative health impacts.
What are the Commercial Determinants of Health?
In the past decade, public health practitioners have noted the growing influence of companies on federal laws and policies. As a result, companies have gained more power in shaping our social, physical, and cultural environments through business ...
The American Heart Association (AHA) is working to boost health equity through a variety of online health lessons, called EmPOWERED to Serve. EmPOWERED to Serve includes over a dozen science-based toolkits and lessons covering health education and community advocacy. Toolkits are free and open to the public and can be reached on the EmPOWERED to Serve Health Lessons website. “The EmPOWERED to Serve health lessons offer a way to engage and motivate communities to create a culture of health,” according to the AHA website. Let’s dive into why these health lessons are a useful and how they can be beneficial for all!
Health Disparities Among Communities
Where you live can have a big impact on your health. In fact, our health is influenced by a variety of non-medical ...
