Parents of babies across the US are struggling to feed their children due to a baby-formula shortage. The pain of the shortage is particularly felt among low-income families, such as Blacks and Latinos, who already suffer inequities in maternal and child health. The shortage began during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when America seemingly ran out of everything – from toilet paper to fresh produce. In late February 2022, a baby formula recall, which caused two infant deaths, worsened the shortage. In many states, including Texas and Tennessee, where infants depend on formula for more than half of their diet, formula is sold out in stores. For parents such as Yury Navas, an immigrant Latina mother in Maryland, providing formula for her child is especially ...
Research suggests that Latinos are more likely to live near Superfund sites with contaminated drinking water, increasing risks for adverse health effects. This health inequity contributes to a larger issue of Latinos generally having less access to clean, safe drinking water in the US. Join us as Salud America! explores this health disparity through a three-part series on Latino drinking water contamination. Part 1 focused on nitrates in drinking water, how prevalent nitrate-contaminated drinking water is in Latino communities, and how the nation is promoting safer water for Latinos and all people. Today, in Part 2, we will address contaminated drinking water at Superfund sites, its impact on Latinos, and current efforts to promote safer drinking water in these ...
Volunteering for Christmas and New Year’s helps other people. It gives the volunteer a nice emotional boost, too. So why not volunteer your "voice" or "actions"? We at Salud America! invite you to take these nine actions to promote health equity for Latino and all families this holiday season!
1. Share Stories of Latinos Who Changed Their Hearts and Got the COVID-19 Vaccine!
To help move Latinos from vaccine hesitancy to vaccine confidence, Salud America! is uplifting the stories of real Latinos who overcame misinformation, got the vaccine, reconnected with family, and are helping end the pandemic. Share these “change of heart” heroes in English or Spanish! Rosa Herrera read on Facebook that the vaccine would inject her with a microchip. She learned that was a myth. ...
We know Latinos and other racial/ethnic minorities experience health, social, and environmental inequities that increase their risk for disease. But just how widespread is the problem? Very few states do not face major issues with health inequities and health disparities, according to the Commonwealth Fund’s new report, “Achieving Racial and Ethnic Equity in US Health Care: A Scorecard of State Performance.” The authors of the report list many inequities that make an impact, and they also note that the system that promotes these trends is to blame. “Decades of policy choices made by federal, state, and local leaders have led to structural economic suppression, unequal educational access, and residential segregation, all of which have contributed in their own ways to ...
The AAMC Center for Health Justice and American Medical Association (AMA) co-developed a new guide on inclusive language to advance health equity. “Designed for physicians and other health care professionals, Advancing Health Equity: AMA-AAMC Guide on Language, Narrative, and Concepts provides guidance and promotes a deeper understanding of equity-focused, first-person language and why it matters,” according to the AAMC Center for Health Justice. The guide is broken down sections on language to use to promote health equity, why these narratives matter, and a glossary that defines key terminology. Using inclusive language is important for healthcare providers to ensure that they are giving culturally comprehensive care that is absent of implicit bias or discrimination, which ...
Medicine, radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery are common ways to treat breast cancer. Researchers are also exploring new, possibly better treatments and procedures in breast cancer clinical trials, which are carefully controlled research studies. In some cases, clinical trials may be the only way to get access to newer treatments. If you have breast cancer, you can find a new option for treatment by volunteering for the Evaluation of Cryotherapy and TRPA1 Receptors in Chemotherapy Induced Neuropathy at Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio. Cryotherapy uses extreme cold to freeze and kill cancer cells and control pain. The trial, for women ages 18 and older, including Latinas, aims to better treat women who are suffering at the hands of breast cancer. “It’s ...
Climate change is an ongoing environmental dilemma that threatens the health of all people. Yet, research has shown that certain groups, such as Latinos and other people of color, immigrants, those with a lower socio-economic status, and vulnerable occupational groups are most likely to suffer longer and more severely from climate change. “The effects of climate change add to other longstanding differences among people that result in different health outcomes for communities in the United States,” reported the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
What Is Climate Change?
Climate change is defined as a long-term shift in global or regional climate patterns. Long-term alterations in temperature or the typical weather patterns of a certain location can lead to ...
In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, Alliance for a Healthier Generation is sharing a series of stories about Latino health champions. These champions—Bianca De León, Alejandro Diasgranados, Mario Reyna, and Pia Escudero—have different backgrounds and interests. But they share a passion for creating health equity and a more just, equitable, inclusive, and healthy future for children and families. Read their stories!
Bianca De León: Community-Building to Connect Kids to Positive Experiences
Bianca De León grew up speaking both English and Spanish with her single mother in their community along the U.S.-Mexico border. She had a loving network of cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and great grandparents. Now, as a mother, she continues to forge these ...
Where we live and the conditions that we live in impact our health and life outcomes. This concept is widely called the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH). Unfortunately, when people live in and experience negative conditions, it can lead to poor health outcomes and disparities, particularly among Latinos and other marginalized communities. In their new SDOH framework, the Praxis Project highlights the root systems of oppression that have led to health disparities for communities of color. “Many traditional SDOH frameworks lack the explicit naming of systems of oppression that cause disparities in health determinants. In an effort to incorporate these systems of oppression and to highlight the root causes of these determinants from a justice and community power ...
