Patricia Chalela has always loved working in public health and being a valuable member of a team. Chalela is an associate professor at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio. Here she is an integral part of a team that studies how texting helps people quit smoking, trains students in research methods, and is learning the ins and outs of Latino cancer. Whatever the task, she is happy to help find ways to promote health in the Latino community, which suffers high rates of several diseases and cancer types. “I love what I do and I love to work with this team to make a difference for Latinos. It has been an amazing ride, really very rewarding,” Chalela said.
A Colombian Immigrant Who Came to Texas
Chalela was born in Colombia to a Lebanese ...
Data continue to show that systemic inequities, from discrimination to unstable housing to a lack of healthcare access, lead to worse health outcomes for Latinos. How can we promote system and policy change to address inequities? Our Salud America! #SaludTues Tweetchats, a weekly hour-long discussion series on Twitter about Latino health equity issues, are an emerging way to engage people in learning and advocacy for change, according to our new study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR). "The study proves that planned, culturally relevant tweetchats like #SaludTues can be a powerful tool for public health practitioners and advocates to engage audiences on Twitter around health issues, advocacy, and policy solutions for Latino health equity," said Dr. Amelie G. ...
To reduce the impact of a disease like diabetes, public health leaders usually apply a three-part preventive approach of prevention, early detection, and early intervention. But this preventive approach hasn’t been applied to toxic stress. 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. Amid COVID-19, civil unrest, and an economic crisis, we need a public health prevention approach to address toxic stress now more than ever. A new roadmap can help. Dr. Nadine Burke Harris’ Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General’s Report on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic Stress, and Health proposes a ...
Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio, has been elected to a five-year term on the board of directors for the CDC Foundation. The CDC Foundation has facilitated over 1,700 partnerships, launched more than 1,000 programs, and raised over $900 million to help the CDC improve health around the world. Ramirez joins Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, vice president for Global Health at Emory University, as a new board member. "As the CDC Foundation continues to play an integral role in addressing domestic and global health challenges, including the current COVID-19 response, we are honored to have both Dr. Koplan and Dr. Ramirez join our board of directors," said Dr. Judith Monroe, president and chief executive officer of the CDC Foundation. "These two ...
Last week, we discussed how high levels of stress can influence the development of cancer. This week, we explore another risk factor in cancer development — genetics. A person’s family or place of origin, even dating back years and years, can influence that individual’s risk for certain types of cancers. Dr. Laura Fejerman, an Associate Professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, joins Salud Talks to discuss her research into the discovery of genetic and non-genetic factors that contribute to breast cancer risk and prognosis in Latinas. Check out this discussion on the Salud Talks Podcast, Episode 30, "Hereditary Sickness"! WHAT: A #SaludTalks discussion about genetics and their impact on cancer
GUEST: Dr. Laura Fejerman, an ...
With the rise of COVID-19, our team at Salud America! is digitally curating content about what the coronavirus pandemic means for Latino health equity. We want to ensure Latinos get an equitable share of culturally relevant information. You can do your part! Share our Latino COVID-19 Vaccine "Change of Heart" Bilingual Storytelling Campaign in English or Spanish. We hope to move Latinos from vaccine hesitancy to vaccine confidence through telling stories of real Latinos who ended up getting the vaccine! Share our "Juntos, We Can Stop COVID-19" bilingual campaign to stop the spread! Share our infographic on 8 ways coronavirus impacts Latinos (English | Spanish).
Follow our content that has increased exposure to Latino health equity amid the pandemic, according to a ...
Rural populations in the United States face unique health disparities because of their distances from health care providers and limited access to resources. There are nearly 3.2 million Latinos that live in rural areas of the country, and for them to receive assistance, programs needed to be implemented to lessen these locational barriers. Lower life expectancies and higher rates of pain and suffering are reported in rural areas by the National Advisory Committee On Rural Health and Human Services. “The Committee is deeply concerned about the gaps between rural and urban life expectancy and mortality that has largely gone unnoticed in the larger discussion about health disparities that tend to focus solely on populations and ignore the geographic aspects of this issue.”
Why ...
Organizations who offer reproductive services in areas with limited options for low-income Latinas and other women of color are dealing with a new Trump administration rule that can limit clinics' access to federal funding, making it harder to offer affordable care to women, NBC News reports. The "gag rule," named because advocates say it hinders a doctor's ability to provide the care they think is best, went into effect August 2019. The rule states that family planning services that get Title X federal funding must also be financially detached from any abortion services. Abortion and Title X services also must take place in separate facilities. However, federal law already forbids taxpayer funds to be used for abortions, excluding cases of rape, incest, or to save the woman's ...
Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America! at the the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio and a leading health disparities researcher, has been named chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, announced Dr. Robert Hromas, dean of the Long School of Medicine. The appointment is effective June 1. Dr. Hromas also announced that the department will be renamed the Department of Population Health Sciences. The new department will continue to provide services in all biological and medical analytical areas. It will also focus on efforts to use analytical tools to enhance the health of the unique populations in San Antonio and South Texas. Dr. Ramirez will continue to serve as director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research, ...
