Thomas Brittain and his immediate family gathered in the neurologist’s office, eager to hear the health status of their beloved family member, 67-year-old Sarah Cadena. “Your mother has a cognitive impairment,” the neurologist said. “We recommend that she transition to living with family for her own safety.” Without a second thought, the Brittain family began planning how to care for Sarah Cadena. That was 13 years ago. Since then, Sarah Cadena has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, a disease that can lead to progressive memory loss and ability to perform daily activities. Thomas, Sarah Cadena’s son, a retired San Antonio police officer, is now her primary caretaker. Sarah Cadena lives with Thomas and his family, and as far as caretaking goes, Thomas said he and ...
A cool breeze hits Carlos Olivas III’s face and suddenly the smells of fresh, warm coffee and donuts hits his nose. He enjoys a short, tranquil moment at a bakery as part of his daily routine alongside his father, Carlos Olivas Jr., also known as Charlie. Carlos is a full-time caregiver for Charlie, who is living with Alzheimer’s in Sacramento. Carlos saw what caregiving looked like from a young age. He watched his mother and father care for his grandmother and, later, his father care for his ailing mother. “My dad was the caregiver for my mom, who was dealing with breast cancer, diabetes, and congenital heart failure. In 2008, she passed. Reflecting back, that was the first time, the real hero,” Carlos said. “He set the stage as a male caregiver, without knowing ...
In early 2019, Gabriella “Gaby” Godines got the news that she wasn’t accepted to medical school. She was understandably disappointed, but she’s a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Looking back, Gaby can confirm that medical school wasn’t the right path for her at that time. Instead, her opportunity to pursue a career in medicine would come later – after a few more years of patience, hard work, and compassion, and an internship at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at UT Health San Antonio. “Everyone has different journeys toward their goal,” Gaby said. “I’m really grateful for where I am.”
Journey to Medicine
Growing up in Laredo, Texas, a border town, Gaby spent a lot of time in her father’s medical clinic where he ...
As a child in Puerto Rico, Alberto Martin dreamed of playing professional soccer. He knew that becoming a soccer pro meant lots of hard work, practice, and willpower to get better even when you’re tired and want to give up. Today, Martin is using those lessons to become a different kind of pro – a doctor. Martin is a second-year medical student at the Universidad Central del Caribe in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, and an intern at UT Health San Antonio’s Institute for Health Promotion Research. He is motivated to share his story to demonstrate how following your dream – on the soccer field or the doctor’s office – can be reality. “Stories and information you get, they just become such a powerful source of drive or inspiration. Because you want to see you, ...
8/22/23 Update: Tim is Salud America!'s latest intern. Read his stories here! 18-year-old Timoteo “Tim” Barrientez wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. It was impossible not to sweat in the hot, humid climate of Port Isabel, Texas – a small coastal town in the Rio Grande Valley. As Tim’s feet struck the pavement, he thought about how he would soon trade his athletic sneakers for military boots. He smiled. After today’s run and weightlifting workout, he would finish packing his bags to begin training as a United States Marine – a career that would last more than 20 years and take him to Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Japan, and other countries to defend our nation’s freedom. While serving as a Marine, Tim kept his passion for health and fitness close to his heart. ...
“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 resilient ...
Since the 1960s, community health centers (also called Federally Qualified Health Centers) have made it their mission to increase people’s access to primary healthcare by reducing challenges, such as cost, lack of insurance, distance, and language. But beyond clinic walls, many people have big needs, like unstable housing, that hurt their health. These are called the non-medical drivers of health (NMDoH) That is why the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) helped create an NMDoH screening tool – PRAPARE® (Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patient’s Assets, Risks and Experiences) – to enable community health centers to identify immediate needs among patients and refer them to local resources for aid. Today, PRAPARE® helps hundreds of community ...
Kendra Richardson worried if her neighbors in Fort Worth, Texas, would have enough food as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened nutrition security, healthcare, and housing. Richardson saw an opportunity to help – with a community fridge. Richardson launched FunkyTown Fridge in September of 2020 with the purpose of feeding the community and giving neighborhood families access to healthy food, making it the first and only community fridge in Fort Worth at the time. “We place refrigerators and pantries in food apartheid neighborhoods around Fort Worth, and then allow them to be accessible and open 24/7,” Richardson said. “So, it's free food, community-based on a give what you can, take what you need basis.” Let’s explore how has Richardson’s FunkyTown Fridge ...
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 non-medical drivers of health (NMDoH) – 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 non-medical drivers of health screening program in 2018. The NMDoH screening program is now fully implemented or being piloted in multiple Nemours locations, including in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Florida. To screen patients for immediate needs, such as food and housing ...
