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 ...
Did you know that our health is influenced by many non-medical factors? That’s right. 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. As a result, more healthcare facilities are screening patients for SDoH through written questionnaires or verbal questions. Screenings can cover a variety of topics, such as mental and financial health and access to healthy food, transportation, and affordable medication. SDoH screening can help medical providers better understand and address patients’ social needs, which can be beneficial for vulnerable patients who face health inequities, such as Latinos. If patients screen positive for social needs, providers can connect them to ...
As the US Latino population continues to grow, so does the representation of Latinas. Today, the Latina population has grown at a faster rate than Latino men, with 24% of Latinas making up the total population (compared to a 22% growth for Latino men). With this increase also comes more Latinas in higher education. Latinas have experienced a 52% rise in college degree attainment at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) from 2015 to 2020, according to a new report from Excelencia in Education. In 2020, Latinas earned over 300,000 degrees at HSIs (growth of 52%) compared to 188,000 degrees earned by Latino men at HSIs (growth of 44%). Let’s dive into the growth and numbers of Latinas in higher education.
Latina College Enrollment & HSIs
As of Fall 2020, almost half ...
Nutritious food is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle for children. However, a February 2023 CDC report shows that many children ages 1-5 are not eating fruits and vegetables daily and are regularly drinking sugary beverages. “In 20 states, more than one half of children did not eat a vegetable daily during the preceding week. In 40 states and the District of Columbia, more than one half of children drank a sugar-sweetened beverage at least once during the preceding week,” according to the CDC. Let’s dive deeper and find out the state of diets among Latinos and all children, the role of healthy food access, and how we can create healthier food environments for children.
The State of Children’s Fruit and Vegetable Consumption
The new CDC report paints a grim ...
A nutritious diet is essential for good health. But many vulnerable populations, such as Latinos, struggle to access and afford healthy food. To help, we need to know where to start. Fortunately, a new tool, the Food Equity Opportunity Map, highlights healthy food access issues across the country to show where improving access would make the greatest impact. “Together, we can build community health through improving Food Equity, but only if we first understand where that work is most needed. That’s why we launched the Food Equity Opportunity Map,” according to the creators of the map, Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), a national nonprofit organization focused on health equity, and the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
Mapping Food Equity and Food Access
To ...
The average adult should sleep about 7-10 hours a day. But a person may get more (or less) sleep depending on the season, according to a recent study from researchers in Berlin, Germany. “Even in an urban population experiencing disrupted sleep, humans experience longer REM sleep in winter than summer and less deep sleep in autumn,” according to a news release about the sleep study. “In general, societies need to adjust sleep habits including length and timing to season, or adjust school and working schedules to seasonal sleep needs.” This begs a few questions. What other factors impact sleep? Are Latinos affected differently? Let’s explore the topic of sleep for Latinos, why it’s important, and factors that can impact it!
Sleep Can Differ Between Races and ...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Project Firstline has expanded its Spanish translation of infection control resources. This content follows the prior Spanish release of Project Firstline’s Facilitator Toolkit with training session plans and accompanying PowerPoint slides, designed to help healthcare workers with different learning styles and busy schedules facilitate infection control trainings.
What’s Included in The New Spanish-Language Resources?
Spanish-speaking healthcare professionals can now access a variety of educational materials on infection control, including additional training toolkits on several topics: Introduction to Reservoirs: Where Microbes Live
Risk Identification Using Reservoirs Printable materials and job aids on ...
Research shows that the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age can have a big impact on our health. Health data tools, like Salud America!’s Health Equity Report Card, can help everyone from elected leaders to everyday Americans assess local health data, compare data to other places, and determine how to address the systemic inequities that are driving health issues in their communities. Now, Americans have access to another health data tool – the Congressional Health District Dashboard – thanks to the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The dashboard provides all 435 US congressional districts (and DC) access to local health data that was previously unavailable at the congressional district level, nor was ...
COVID-19 certainly hurt the health of many, including Latinos. But the pandemic is also threatening the education of children, amid three years of school shutdowns, isolation, and continuing waves of cases. Many students are falling behind in reading, especially. In 2022, the average reading score at both 4th and 8th grade decreased by 3 points compared to 2019, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The National Assessment for Education Progress (NEAP), further highlights that while average 4th grade reading scores in 2022 were higher for Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, Latino, and White students, Latino and Black students still had lower reading average scores than White students. Let’s examine the literacy issues children face, the factors that ...
