The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted many of the disparities impacting communities of color. Not only has COVID-19 led to a disproportionate number of deaths and severe illness among Latinos, but it has also contributed to financial struggles, homelessness, and students falling behind in school. These disparities are linked with discrimination and impact Latinos throughout their lives, according to a Salud America! research review. But despite the evidence, many Americans don’t see systemic racism as the cause of the inequity. A survey by the RAND Corporation and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) found that only 42% of respondents think that systemic racism is one of the main reasons people of color face health inequities. The majority does not believe or feel neutral ...
Many people think they harbor no bias toward other people. Or they believe they know their biases and don’t act on them. But everyone has implicit bias. Implicit biases are stereotypes that affect our actions and decisions about others, beyond our conscious control. Fortunately, these biases also can be “rewired” toward more compassion for others. Download the free Salud America! Action Pack “Find Out If You Have Implicit Bias and What to Do Next.” This Action Pack will help you see if you have implicit bias, learn from others who have overcome their own implicit bias, and also encourage others to learn about implicit bias, too. GET THE ACTION PACK! Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio, created this Action Pack. With the ...
You might know that health inequities, such as a lack of access to health care, housing, or transportation, prevent Latinos and other people of color from getting a fair opportunity to live their healthiest. These inequities can cut deeply, and for a long time. Some experts compare these inequities to a “chronic wound” that doesn’t heal in a timely or expected way, with both little progress and many long-term health consequences. Let’s use #SaludTues on Feb. 2, 2021, to tweet about how advocates, planners, and other leaders can take action to solve the chronic wound of health inequities! WHERE: Twitter
WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat “The Chronic Wound of Health Inequities”
WHEN: 1-2 p.m. ET (12-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021
HOST: Salud America! at UT ...
There is a common health condition with serious medical consequences that has not been nationally recognized by the medical or public health community—toxic stress response. Toxic stress is the body’s response to prolonged trauma─like abuse or discrimination─with no support. It can harm lifelong mental, physical, and behavioral health, especially for Latinos and others of color. But few, if any, clinical treatment guidelines have strategies for mitigating the toxic stress response. That’s why Dr. Nadine Burke Harris’ Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General’s Report on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic Stress, and Health wants California and others to recognize and respond to toxic stress as a health condition with clinical implications. “We ...
The hope that the coronavirus pandemic could come to an end is alive and well as medical officials begin to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine. Still, there are those who are hesitant about such interventions — including Latinos and other people of color. These concerns, while in some cases valid, could hinder America’s progress in stopping the spread of this deadly disease. Let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, to tweet about the COVID-19 vaccine, why Latinos can trust it, and how it can help bring about the end of the pandemic. WHAT: #SaludTues: The COVID-19 Vaccine
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. EST (Noon-1 p.m. CST), Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
CO-HOST: @NursesWhoVax
ADDITIONAL HASHTAGS: ...
In the fight to end smoking, mass media efforts to change social norms have led to historic declines in smoking. But the tobacco industry isn't giving up. These companies aggressively market flashy, new electronic and flavored products in hopes of growing the market among youth and young adults. Still, these individuals are not so easily swayed. Young people overwhelmingly distrust the tobacco industry, especially Latinos and other youth of color, according to a recent report from The Truth Initiative. "The good news is that the public is as distrustful as ever of the tobacco and vaping industry, despite their extensive public relations and marketing strategies. For now," according to the Truth Initiative website.
Wins and Losses in Public Health Leaders' Efforts to Curb ...
Toxic stress is brought about by repeated stressful and traumatic experiences with no supportive relationships. This is causing huge mental and physical health problems for people across the nation, including Latinos and other people of color. Dr. Nadine Burke Harris even calls toxic stress a public health crisis. This is why she authored the Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General’s Report on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic Stress, and Health. “We now understand that a key mechanism by which ACEs [adverse childhood experiences, such as divorce, abuse, poverty, etc.] lead to increased health risks is through a health condition called the toxic stress response,” Burke Harris’ roadmap states. Salud America! is exploring this issue as part of its ...
Despite the swearing-in of President Joe Biden, a proposed rule from former president Donald Trump is still in the works to further deregulate harmful chemicals in products. This kind of action could lead to health consequences among the workers who use pesticides with the chemical Chlorpyrifos, as well as the communities where those products are used. California already bans the chemical. The only way to ensure protection is to stop this rule before it is approved, according to George Kimbrell, the legal director for The Center for Food Safety. “True to form, the Trump Administration has placed corporate dollars over public health,” he said in a recent statement. “If allowed to stand, its proposal to continue registering this neurotoxic insecticide would cause irreparable ...
More than 40% of Latino and Black resident physicians experience racial discrimination and bias from the patients they serve, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. The experiences range from explicit racial epithets to a patient’s refusal of care. And on top of that, most physicians (84%) do not report the incidents to their leadership. “To address the issue of biased patient behavior, interventions are needed at the institutional and interpersonal levels,” according to researchers Shalila de Bourmont, Arun Burra, Sarah Nouri, et al. Racial discrimination and implicit bias must be addressed.
What the JAMA Study Showed about Bias and Discrimination
The study conducted by de Bourmont, Burra, Nouri et al. surveyed 232 internal medicine residents from three ...
