Swimming is one of the most promising physical activities to get Latino kids active in and out of school. But as many as 6 in 10 Latinos do not know how to swim. Fortunately, people are stepping up to help. A Florida program gives out coupons for free swim safety classes. Detroit is combining swimming and literacy. And recently a Holocaust survivor helped a YWCA put together the Los Pecesitos ("The Little Fishes”) program to help Latino kids learn to swim in Tulsa, Okla. "What we know is that the drowning rates for children of color are two to three times higher than that of Caucasian children,” said Lacey Thompson Caywood, director of health and wellness for the Tulsa YWCA. “So there was a need for basic swim lessons.” In addition to preventing drowning, swim ...
Oprah Winfrey is raising awareness about childhood trauma and the need for trauma-informed care. Childhood trauma—like abuse, neglect, and poverty—changes a child's brain, body and behavior. Behavior is often the first "red flag" of trauma. But too often caregivers, teachers, and law officers misinterpret that red flag as "bad behavior" that needs "fixing." They are rarely trained on the science of childhood trauma and how it affects Latino and all children. That is why Oprah Winfrey returned the city where she grew up facing poverty, sexual abuse and other negative experiences to explore the science of childhood trauma on 60 Minutes with trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry.
Science Behind Adverse Childhood Experiences
What started as inquiry into high patient drop-out rates ...
Latino cancer survivors who were satisfied with their care had higher quality of life and more confidence dealing with their doctor, emotional distress, and daily activities than those less satisfied with their care, according to a new study by UT Health San Antonio and Northwestern University. The study, published in Cancer, surveyed 288 Latino breast, prostate, and colon cancer survivors in San Antonio and Chicago about patient satisfaction with cancer care influences their quality of life and confidence managing different aspects of their cancer experience. Overall, Latino cancer survivors in the study reported lower health-related quality of life than that of non-Latino white survivors in previous studies. Latino survivors who reported more satisfaction with their cancer ...
Playing can help a kid's healthy brain development. But many communities are not kid-play-friendly. Latino neighborhoods tend to lack safe places that welcome kids and multi-generational families to play. That's why KaBOOM! created the Play Everywhere Playbook. The Playbook helps cities design healthy play spaces with kids in mind. The Playbook is has four sections built on input from city and community leaders, health experts, urban planners and affected families: Fundamentals: defining what makes a space a PLAYce—wondrous, convenient, inviting, shared, unifying, challenging and intentional
Design guides: streets and sidewalks; parks trails, and public spaces; transit; multi-family housing; commercial spaces; civic spaces; and moveable and pop-up play
Case ...
Local leaders can get $1.4 million to help their community prepare for, withstand, and recover from disasters, thanks to a new two-year grant opportunity from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The new grant aims to help community leaders and researchers create "resilient communities." Resilient communities can anticipate and adapt to unexpected challenges, like the recent devastating hurricanes in Texas and Puerto Rico. Disasters cause damage from infrastructure to the local economy. They also impact institutionalized discrimination, access to healthcare, and mental health issues and stress. For example, Texas leaders formed a task force to respond to mental health issues in schools impacted by Hurricane Harvey. How prepared is your community for an ...
Latino and other minority youth have higher rates of poverty and greater gaps in education and health opportunity than their white peers, according to a new report. The 2018 County Health Rankings found that: Poverty rates among children and youth are at least 1.5 times higher than rates among adults aged 18 and older, and the rates are even higher for Latino, Black, and American Indian/Alaskan Native children and youth. Child poverty rates for Latino and Black children are worse across all types of counties, and are even higher in suburban counties than for White children in rural counties.
More than 1 out of every 5 youth in the bottom performing counties do not graduate from high school in four years. It's worse among racial/ethnic groups. 1 out of 4 Latino youth do not ...
When fitness guru Maria Guerra designed her gym, she of course plotted space for all the usual stuff, like free weights, exercise machines and classes. Guerra also made room for something she’d never seen in any gym. She calls it a “transformation station” and it’s essentially a heart-health resource center. There are tools to measure blood pressure and body mass index, plus charts and brochures to help make sense of those readings. The information is in English and Spanish, and it’s free to everyone, client or not. The station also includes a “challenge wall.” This is where people who are ready to improve their fitness post before and after photos; challengers get to update their “after” image each month. “Why work out and have pretty muscles if the ...
Playing a band instrument. Watching TV at loud volumes. Riding off-road vehicles. These are big ways preteens can damage their hearing. That's why the National Institutes of Health has launched a new Spanish-language website to raise awareness about the causes and prevention of noise-induced hearing loss among Latino preteens. The website is part of a campaign called El mundo es ruidoso. Proteja la audición de sus hijos. (It's a Noisy Planet. Protect Their Hearing.). It encourages kids ages 8-12 to adopt healthy hearing habits. The website has information on: How we hear.
What noise can do to your hearing.
The science of hearing loss. "Research suggests that hearing loss caused by loud sounds at an early age may speed up age-related hearing loss later in life," ...
Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training has been named a "Program to Watch" in a new report by Excelencia in Education. Éxito!, led by Salud America! director Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez of UT Health San Antonio, recruits 25 Latino students and health professionals annually for a culturally tailored curriculum to promote pursuit of a doctoral degree and cancer research career. Excelencia, which promotes Latinos in higher education, created its "Programs to Watch" report to highlight innovative or up-and-coming programs. The report features Éxito! and 18 other programs from multiple states. The report lauded Éxito! for its cultural competency, service to Latino students, concrete metrics, and elements of a strong story. "Excelencia hopes that by bringing ...
