Many families are staying home more than ever due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But only about 80% of parents realize that furniture tip-overs can lead to injuries and death among children. Only about half have safety anchored a TV or furniture at home, according to a recent survey by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which created the Anchor It! safety campaign. Parents who did not anchor said they didn't think it was needed, as long as they were watching the kids. That's why Anchor It! has a new English and Spanish video, "Even When You're Watching," to help parents understand the dangers of furniture tip-overs. "[The video] contains real-life footage that vividly demonstrates just how quickly a tip-over can happen, even when parents are in the same room watching ...
As we continue the battle against COVID-19, public health authorities are urging cities to increase their contact tracing efforts. “Contact tracing is key to slowing the spread of COVID-19 and helps protect you, your family, and your community,” according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. But identifying people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and tracking their whereabouts and potential infection sources has its challenges. People may be skeptical to release information to contact tracers calling on the phone if they’re wary of scams. And because COVID-19 disproportionately affects Latino and other minority communities, there may be a language barrier or sense of fear when discussing health information with state employees. What can be done to face ...
Among the countless disparities Latinos face, the way in which people's brains age might differ based on their race. That is what researchers at University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth will study after reciving increased funding for large-scale Alzheimer's biomarker study from the National Institute of Health (NIH). Mainly, they will be looking into health gaps in brains aging between Mexican Americans compared to their white peers. "To successfully battle and ultimately prevent or treat a complex disease such as Alzheimer's, we need to understand how this disease and other forms of dementia affect our nation's diverse communities differently," Dr. Eliezer Masliah, director of the NIA Division of Neuroscience, said in a press release. This award was made ...
Children across the Lone Star State have returned to school — still, some learners are adjusting to the new way of learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic better than others. As educators rely on web-based teaching more each day, the students who lack sufficient internet access face significant hardship. In Texas, 1.8 million K-12 public school students, many of whom come from disadvantaged groups, including Latinos, find themselves among those struggling to learn. “Families that are suffering from the digital divide are dealing with a lot,” Carlotta Garcia, a Central Texas Interfaith organizer, told The Texas Observer. “These are families dealing with life and death. Right now, they’re dealing with food, medicine, sickness, and the threat of displacement.”
Lack of ...
Among the horrific forms of treatment undocumented individuals face, a new report claims that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) performs hysterectomies on immigrant women. The shocking details, obtained through a complaint filed by Project South, assert that a gynecologist at the Irwin County Detention Center (ICDC) in Georgia performed these procedures — without providing a full understanding of the operation. Sometimes, they didn't even give these details in their native language, according to the report. Dawn Wooten, a former nurse at the detention center and the whistleblower of this complaint provided insight into the alleged practice. "Everybody [that the accused gynecologist] sees has a hysterectomy — just about everybody," Wooten said in the complaint. ...
Bias. We see it in the media every day. We see how police officers disproportionately target people of color. We see how COVID-19 affects Latino and Black people more than white people, which has brought racial disparities in healthcare to light. How do we address this bias? Many states are turning to mandatory implicit bias training for state employees.
What is implicit bias?
Implicit bias is defined as preconceived notions, or stereotypes, that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions about others—at a level beyond our conscious control, according to a Salud America! research review. This kind of bias happens when stereotypes influence your brain processing. Stereotypes like these then influence your actions and judgments: A widely held, simplified, and ...
By Vivian Vasallo
Executive Director of the Delta Dental Institute As a Latina leader in health care, I am proud to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and the many contributions Latinos have made to our country, especially in healthcare. This month is a time to celebrate the progress that has been made and soberly examine where we have more work to do to improve disparities in access to care and diversity in the health – and oral health – fields. At the Delta Dental Institute, we aim to close the gap in oral health access and outcomes faced by Latinos in the U.S. through our community engagement, research, and advocacy efforts. Latinos have long been making important contributions to the nation’s health care, going back as early as the 1500s with Francisco Bravo authoring ...
Since the start of the pandemic, many health experts say smoking and vaping increase the risk of COVID-19. This happens by weakening the function of the lungs making it more susceptible to coronavirus — as well as its overall impacts. Moreover, new data from Stanford University shows that young people who vape are more susceptible to COVID-19 than those who do not. That data—collected from a May 2020 national survey of 13- to 24-year-olds—showed that vapers are five times more likely to get COVID-19. Many cities and states across the US are passing bans on flavored vaping products during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Flavored Vaping Bans Across the Country
Last month the California State Assembly passed a ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and ...
The COVID-19 death toll has nearly reached 200,000 in America — a number that, at one time, was one of the highest estimates from health professionals. Nevertheless, America still finds itself in the grips of a pandemic. Worse, Latinos and other people of color who face the toughest social and health inequities are also experiencing the hardest coronavirus impacts and outcomes across the nation. This is true in California, where the death rate among working-age Latinos has skyrocketed, according to a recent report from UCLA. “As the coronavirus works its deadly way into every nook and cranny of California’s population, its victims’ profiles become clearer and clearer: they are the unsung essential workers,” researchers from the University’s Center for the Study of ...
