As of 2023, there are 169 million women and 166 million men living in the US.
While men and women share many of the same health risks and concerns, women have their own unique challenges, such as reproductive cancers and maternal health, and are more prone to certain diseases and adverse health conditions.
Women, especially women from racial/ethnic and underserved populations, including Latinas, are exposed to barriers to healthcare resulting in worse health outcomes.
Let’s explore six disparities impacting women’s health in the US.
1. Cancer Screenings
Several cancers affect women more than men, or specifically impact women, such as cervical and ovarian cancers.
This makes cancer screening so important for women. However, women, especially women of color, face a lot of ...
As COVID-19 exposed cracks in our healthcare system and racial/ethnic health inequities, community health workers rose to the challenge to educate communities on virus prevention, dispel misinformation, and advocate for the vaccine. Community health workers – called promotoras in Latino communities – are non-medical public health workers who connect people to healthcare and social services. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) is seeking public comments on the use of community health workers to increase “cultural competency in educational campaigns on public health vaccines and prevention, including but not limited to influenza and COVID-19.” Submit this Salud America! model comment to tell HHS about the importance ...
Federal regulators recently published a final rule to expand healthcare for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and certain other noncitizens. The rule – which modifies the definition of “lawfully present” – essentially opens enrollment in the healthcare marketplace to those in the DACA program, many of whom are Latinos. The ruling will take effect on Nov. 1, 2024. Salud America! members were among 530 people who submitted a public comment last year to support this expansion of healthcare access to DACA recipients. “This overdue step is a critical victory for equitable access to health care,” according to the National Immigration Law Center. Let’s dive further into what this ruling means and how it will impact Latinos.
What is DACA? ...
This Healthy Vision Month in May, the National Eye Institute (NEI) is looking through a futuristic lens to bring awareness to eye health and share English and Spanish-language resources to protect the sight of your familia.
Eye health and mental health go hand in hand, especially for some Latinos who lack access to eye care.
“Reframe Your Future, aims to reach people with a visual impairment about steps they can take to thrive in their daily life, like seeking vision rehabilitation and mental health services,” according to an NEI news release.
Here is what you should know about taking care of eye health for you and your family. What is Low Vision?
Low vision impairs your ability to see.
It makes it difficult to do day-to-day activities such as reading, driving, or see a screen ...
How often do you think about your brain health? We can maintain our brain health with everything from exercise to quality sleep, but conditions such as brain tumors can affect the brain and disrupt our lives. For Brain Tumor Awareness Month in May, Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio is partnering with the Low Grade Glioma Registry to raise awareness of brain tumors, real people with brain tumors, quality of life, and caregiving among the Latino population. Follow along for a month of amazing content!
7 Things You Should Know About Brain Tumors
About 90,000 people are diagnosed with a primary brain tumor every year? For ourselves, our familia, and our comunidad, we should know a few important things about brain tumors so we can help all those impacted by a tumor ...
Often, Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers put the needs of the person they are caring for above their own — neglecting their physical, emotional, and mental health in the process. While seen as a selfless act, when left unchecked, it can lead to depression. That’s why researchers at Texas Tech University are giving informal caregivers caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s and dementia an opportunity to reduce their stress levels by offering free telehealth therapy. As part of the research study, eligible participants will meet once a week for 12-16 sessions with a therapist and fill out questionnaires and surveys before, during, and after therapy. These surveys are spaced out and only take 30 to 45 minutes to complete online, by mail, or over the ...
After careful consideration, the Institute for Integration of Medicine & Science (IIMS) at UT Health San Antonio and UTSA College for Health, Community, and Policy (HCaP) have announced the recipients of new Community Engagement Small Project Grants.
Five grantees were chosen to lead projects covering HIV/AIDS, faith’s impact on criminal rehabilitation, artistic influence on young brain development, and more, according to a recent university news release.
The grants, for one year and up to $5,000, aim to promote, develop, and expand community and scholarly research partnerships that benefit science and clinicians. Each project will meet local needs through community-engaged research or assessment, education, and distributing research results or policy implications.
This ...
Calling all budding young public health leaders in The Alamo City!
UT Health San Antonio is giving teens in the 11th and 12th grades the chance to expand their horizons and learn what it truly means to devote yourself to the public health field by hosting a free summer camp.
The camp, which is free to attend and runs from June 17-21, 2024 in San Antonio, opens up the world of public health to students interested in careers like epidemiology, nutrition, researcher, and occupational health and safety.
For a week, teens will dive into the 10 Essential Public Health Services, which make up public health’s core functions; assessment, policy development, and assurance.
Campers will be exposed to some of these aspects through field trips around San Antonio, giving teens an inside look at ...
The summer of 2023 was one of the hottest seasons on record for some areas across the US, bringing sweltering temperatures that caused heat stroke and heat exhaustion.
Experts see this as a prime example climate change endangering health.
While extreme weather events like heat are nothing new, the frequency of these events is cause for concern, especially when it comes to health and well-being.
To tackle some of these issues, the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a new toolkit to help healthcare professionals arm themselves with knowledge about climate change and health.
Communicating on climate change and health toolkit for health professionals discusses the ways to start difficult conversations about climate change with patients, other providers, and officials, and find ...
