Want to play memory and thinking tests and help millions of families with dementia? The Brain Health Registry can help you do that. Researchers at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) developed a registry for adults interested in conducting brain tests that can help the future creation of treatments for Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, and other brain disorders. Now, they’re partnering with the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases at UT Health San Antonio to expand brain health research in the Texas region of the United States, through a partnership called STOP-AD. Learn about the STOP-AD Brain Health Registry, how Alzheimer’s is affecting Latinos, and how clinical trials can help us tackle Alzheimer’s and other ...
Many cancer patients in South Texas and beyond experience barriers in access to health care, insurance, immigration status, affordable housing, transportation, education, as well as cultural and linguistic barriers. This can dramatically impact their cancer outcomes. To address this issue, you’re invited to join us for “Addressing Social Needs in Efforts to Prevent and Reduce Cancer” at 1 p.m. CST on Feb. 10, 2022. This is the second webinar of a new series, “Let’s Address Health Equity Together.” This Zoom webinar will show how health care leaders can participate in advocacy for policy and system changes that address these health inequities and social needs, beyond providing more sensitive care and/or research. “This webinar will help doctors, nurses, ...
The Department of Population Health Sciences at UT Health San Antonio — home to the Salud America! program in the Institute for Health Promotion Research — is seeking two applicants for open-rank faculty positions in community behavioral health and biostatistics. The two positions will also serve in the Population Science and Prevention research program at the Mays Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center at UT Health San Antonio. Go here to apply or learn more about the community behavioral health position. Go here to apply or learn more about the biostatistician position. "Our goal is to recruit two faculty members who will establish meaningful community-based and community-engaged research in our diverse and medically underserved 38-county ...
When it comes to triple negative breast cancer, Ricki Fairley is a veteran on the battlefield. “I am a 10-year survivor of triple negative breast cancer. My doctor gave me two years to live, and I'm on 10,” Fairley said. Fairley is the CEO and co-founder of TOUCH—the Black Breast Cancer Alliance. She is determined to diversify clinical trials, which can help find better therapies for Black, Latino, and other people of color. “I'm really on a path, a mission to eradicate Black breast cancer and really change the game on how we talk to Black women about clinical trials. And right now, we only have 3% participation in clinical trials. So, the drugs that are currently on the market and the ...
Over 60 members of Salud America! endorsed our public comment to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in their request for feedback on as part of its draft Strategic Plan for 2022-2026. The draft was open for comment from Oct. 7 to Nov. 7, 2021. At Salud America!, we believe that improving healthcare by making it more accessible and culturally tailored for Latinos and other people of color will help build health equity. We believe this is possible through increasing diversity among research leaders and clinical trial participants, eliminating implicit bias in the doctor’s office, and hiring healthcare workers who can provide culturally relevant patient care. That’s why we submitted a comment from our leader, Dr. Amelie Ramirez.
Dr. Amelie Ramirez’s Comment ...
Volunteering for Christmas and New Year’s helps other people. It gives the volunteer a nice emotional boost, too. So why not volunteer your "voice" or "actions"? We at Salud America! invite you to take these nine actions to promote health equity for Latino and all families this holiday season!
1. Share Stories of Latinos Who Changed Their Hearts and Got the COVID-19 Vaccine!
To help move Latinos from vaccine hesitancy to vaccine confidence, Salud America! is uplifting the stories of real Latinos who overcame misinformation, got the vaccine, reconnected with family, and are helping end the pandemic. Share these “change of heart” heroes in English or Spanish! Rosa Herrera read on Facebook that the vaccine would inject her with a microchip. She learned that was a myth. ...
Stomach cancer, also called gastric cancer, disproportionately impacts Latinos. In fact, U.S. Latino men and women are twice as likely as their White peers to develop invasive gastric cancer, according to a 2021 report. But little is known about regional differences. That is why Dr. Dorothy Long Parma of UT Health San Antonio and her colleagues conducted a study to analyze gastric cancer rates for Latinos in South Texas, Texas, and the United States. "We found that overall stomach cancer incidence rates in Texas and South Texas were higher in Latinos than in non-Latino Whites, despite lower frequencies in the state and South Texas region compared to the United States," said Long Parma, assistant professor/research at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) in the ...
The patient economic burden for cancer in the U.S. was $21.09 billion, according to the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer in JNCI: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute. “[This total is] made up of patient out-of-pocket costs of $16.22 billion and patient time costs of $4.87 billion,” according to the annual report. As technology, cancer research, and medicine advances, the effectiveness of therapy treatments only seem to proliferate. Though this is good news, the reality is that modern cancer treatments are a financial burden to people of color, who also face barriers to equitable cancer care. Latinos in particular face obstacles such as poor health literacy, concerns about test efficacy, and language and cultural beliefs related to cancer, ...
Dr. Mirella Díaz-Santos has a personal fight to end Alzheimer’s Disease. Her grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s when Díaz-Santos was in school. “I needed to know more about how this ‘disease’ can change someone who you love so much. How can it change it completely?” Díaz-Santos said. Díaz-Santos is an assistant professor in residence at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in the department of neurology and psychiatry. She’s also the director of research of the Hispanic Neuropsychiatric Center of Excellence at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and is involved with the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement to bring awareness to Alzheimer’s within the Latino community. Although she’s experienced bias and discrimination ...
