If you have been diagnosed with high cholesterol, for example, you probably know that keeping cholesterol at a healthy level can help you lower your chances of a heart attack or stroke. But how much do you know about your treatment options, including what side effects medications may cause and how to determine the best option for you? If you don’t get the best possible information about all your treatment choices, you might not make an informed decision on which treatment is most appropriate for you. All of this couldn’t be truer for Hispanics who have to navigate a complex healthcare system in another language. This is where a new campaign, “Toma las riendas” (“Take the reins”), comes in. The Toma las riendas campaign, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare ...
To address the needs of Latino cancer survivors, the LIVESTRONG organization created a cancer survivorship training curriculum to increase the number of Latino community health workers, otherwise known as promotores, and their skills, knowledge and confidence on the physical, emotional and day-to-day concerns of cancer survivors. To date, LIVESTRONG has trained more than 500 promotores across the country. What exactly is a promotora? Watch this video of Guadalupe Cornejo, a promotora at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, who explains what she does and who she helps. To see more of what a promotora does, watch a video, "A Day in the Life of a Promotora," in English subtitles or ...
Be sure to check out a new event, Nursewise: Tobacco Cessation, Nutrition and Physical Activity, at 8 a.m. Nov. 12, 2011, at Courtyard by Marriott in San Antonio, Texas. The event will initiate discussion on current recommendations and evidence-based techniques for every nurse. Register here. The registration fee is $50 for nurses and $25 for promotores, community health workers and students. The program is presented by the Nurse Oncology Education Program (find out more here) and made possible by a grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of ...
Redes En Acción:The National Latino Cancer Research Network has created a Spanish version of its new manual, A Patient Navigation Manual for Latino Audiences: The Redes En Acción Experience, to guide health organizations in developing patient navigation services for Latinos. Check out the manual in Spanish or English. The manual first defines patient navigation. Patient navigators are trained health workers who aim to help “navigate” underserved Latinos through the often-complex healthcare system and remove barriers to timely, quality care. It then offers a six-step guide to determine whether navigation is right for a health organization, and highlights important considerations for implementing navigation. The manual also features many robust tools, customizable ...
Dr. Amelie Ramirez, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind Salud America!, is among a handful of people named "Champions of Change" by the Obama White House for their contributions to ending suffering from breast cancer, the leading cancer diagnosed in women today. Each week the White House highlights "Champions" who are making an impact in their communities and helping to meet the challenges of the 21st century. “I am honored to be named a ‘Champion of Change.’ I hope it puts a spotlight on breast cancer, the No. 1 cancer killer of Latinas,” Dr. Ramirez said. “We must conduct research to discover new and efficient methods to help Latinas overcome critical barriers to breast cancer ...
On October 2, thousands of people will wear yellow to support LIVESTRONG and the fight against cancer. According to the LIVESTRONG blog: "LIVESTRONG is about people. We are about the 28 million right now fighting cancer. We are about their family members, their friends, their co-workers and classmates. If there is one thing we know for sure it is that we all have a story to share and the more we share the stronger our community." LIVESTRONG invites you to share your cancer story here and wear yellow in honor of LIVESTRONG ...
Mexicans who migrate to the U.S. often begin eating a typical “American diet,” which may put their health at risk, a new study shows, Futurity reports. Study researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found immigrants improved their diets in some aspects—more fruits and vegetables, low-fat meat and fish, high-fiber bread, and low-fat milk than they had in Mexico—but mostly in the U.S. they ate more saturated fat, sugar, salty snacks, pizza, and french fries. This could spell higher rates of obesity, diabetes and related diseases for Mexican immigrants. More from Futurity:
Traditionally, overall mortality rates and death rates from cardiovascular disease and cancer are lower among Hispanic immigrants than non-Hispanic whites, but diet changes are ...
As she wraps up her master’s degree at the University of South Florida, Mariana Arevalo already has worked on projects to improve health care access for the underserved. But that early experience is driving Arevalo to do more. So Arevalo and 16 other master’s-level students or health professionals joined the Institute for Health Promotion Research’s first-ever Summer Institute of Èxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training on June 2-6, 2011, in San Antonio. Èxito! encourages participants to pursue a doctoral degree and careers studying how disease—especially cancer—affects Latinos differently. "Èxito! gave me the resources that I needed to pursue my goal—motivation and pathways," Arevalo said. "I came in with doubts about my ability to have both. Now I’m ...
A free, easy-to-read pamphlet that compares drugs for preventing heart attacks or strokes in people with stable coronary heart disease is one of six new Spanish-language publications from the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) that help patients compare treatments for common illnesses. The publication, Guía para pacientes que están en tratamiento de una cardiopatía coronaria estable (“ACE Inhibitors” and “ARBs” to Protect Your Heart?—A Guide for Patients Being Treated for Stable Coronary Heart Disease), summarizes the benefits and risks of medications called ACE Inhibitors (angiotensin-converting enzyme) and ARBs (angiotensin II receptor blockers). These medications help reduce blood pressure in patients who often take other heart-related medications ...
