Search Results for "rural"

12,000 People Contacted National Maternal Mental Health Hotline Last Year



Motherhood can be an exciting time full of new experiences and cherished moments – but it can also be mentally and physically taxing. That’s why the US Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) created the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline, which celebrated its first anniversary on Mother’s Day 2023. Let’s explore how and why the hotline was used in the last year, and why the hotline is vital for supporting Latinas and all mothers. About the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline is a free, 24/7, confidential hotline that provides support to women before, during, and after pregnancy via phone call or text. The hotline can be reached at 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262) and is well equipped to handle a variety ...

Read More

Diana Anzaldua: From Troubled Teen to Trailblazer in Latino Mental Healthcare


Diana profile

“Grab what you can,” said a frantic young mother to her four children in their small rural home in El Campo, Texas. As their mother swiftly shoved a few belongings in a bag, her four children began to grasp the seriousness of the situation and why she pulled them out of school mid-day. It was finally their chance to get out of town and leave their abusive father – who suffered from alcohol addiction – behind. Diana Anzaldua was one of those four children. She knew her parents struggled to make ends meet, especially since they were teen parents with mental health challenges of their own. “We faced day-to-day domestic violence and a chaotic household. My mom, of course, was depressed,” recalled a grown Diana, who is now a licensed clinical social worker and ...

Read More

Play Deserts Common in Southern Areas



Play deserts are common among the Deep South and Southwest areas of the United States, according to a recent study from the University of Georgia (UGA).   You may have heard of food deserts and how healthy eating options are limited or hard to access in many racial/ethnic and low-income neighborhoods.   Play deserts are defined as “areas where parks and other spots to run around and play are nonexistent, hard to access or in less safe locations that make parents second-guess taking their children to play there.”   The UGA study shows that play deserts cover about 7% of the US, but the rates are even higher in the Southern parts of the nation.   “Even if you have the park near where you live, if the environment is not safe or it’s difficult to access, then people ...

Read More

Nemours Children’s Health Goes Beyond Medicine to Cure Families’ Social Needs  


SDoH Screening for children

Nemours Children’s Health knows healthcare is more than just medicine. The conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age – known as social determinants of health (SDoH) – can greatly help or harm our health. That is why Nemours gave multiple leaders, including Kelli Thompson, director of population health management; Na-Tasha Williams, population health specialist; and Alex Koster, senior director of the value-based care data analytics and IT department; the space to begin developing a SDoH screening program in 2018. The SDoH screening program is now fully implemented or being piloted in multiple Nemours locations, including in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Florida. To screen patients for social needs, such as food and housing insecurity, Nemours uses an ...

Read More

The Commercial Determinants of Health


commercial determinants of health

In the last few years of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have come to appreciate the critical importance of public health. In honor of National Public Health Week 2023 (Monday April 3 through Sunday April 9), we’re highlighting an emerging public health concern that impacts health outcomes worldwide: the commercial determinants of health (CDoH). Let’s examine why CDoH is gaining more attention among public health professionals, and how we can address its negative health impacts. What are the Commercial Determinants of Health? In the past decade, public health practitioners have noted the growing influence of companies on federal laws and policies. As a result, companies have gained more power in shaping our social, physical, and cultural environments through business ...

Read More

Build Health Equity with AHA’s Online Lessons and Toolkits


Man on computer

The American Heart Association (AHA) is working to boost health equity through a variety of online health lessons, called EmPOWERED to Serve. EmPOWERED to Serve includes over a dozen science-based toolkits and lessons covering health education and community advocacy. Toolkits are free and open to the public and can be reached on the EmPOWERED to Serve Health Lessons website. “The EmPOWERED to Serve health lessons offer a way to engage and motivate communities to create a culture of health,” according to the AHA website. Let’s dive into why these health lessons are a useful and how they can be beneficial for all! Health Disparities Among Communities Where you live can have a big impact on your health. In fact, our health is influenced by a variety of non-medical ...

Read More

1,600+ People Want to Allow WIC Participants to Shop Online for Food!


Pregnant women ordering online.

The USDA is proposing to make online food shopping an option for families in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Up to now, WIC participants had to use vouchers or electronic benefits cards (EBT) at the store. With the proposed changes, participants could shop online for groceries – a move that aims to improve the WIC shopping experience while increasing equity and access to nutritious foods for WIC participants, thus positively impacting nutrition security. May 2023 Update: 329 Salud America! members submitted a model comment and were among over 1,600 people overall to USDA’s proposed changes to enable WIC participants to shop online for food. The model comment was created by Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio in ...

Read More

Dr. Trinidad Solis: Harvesting Infection Control Solutions for Farmworkers



In the small rural Central California town of Selma, a young Trinidad Solis watched long stretches of farmland float by through the car window. She listened to her parents in the front seat discuss their upcoming doctor’s appointment in Spanish. As Mexican immigrant farmworkers, Solis’ parents faced hardships accessing healthcare, including a language barrier. Since her parents were monolingual Spanish-speakers, Solis often served as translator during her parents’ health appointments and helped them navigate the complex healthcare system. These childhood interactions spurred Solis’ desire to become a bilingual, culturally sensitive family physician who could provide healthcare, including infection prevention and control services, to vulnerable patients like her ...

Read More

Latino Cancer Research Resources: 2022 Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos


cancer research resources ascl proceedings

This is part of the "Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos: 2022 Conference Proceedings," which summarizes findings and discussions of the 2022 Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos Conference on Feb. 23-25, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas. Using Science to Address Latino Health Disparities Research Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, M.D., is Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Health disparities and social determinants of health Dr. Pérez-Stable began his presentation by discussing the ways in which science can reduce inequities in healthcare. First, standardized surveys, tools, and measurements are needed so that data can be combined, facilitating discovery through large data sets. ...

Read More