Toxic stress is brought about by repeated stressful and traumatic experiences with no supportive relationships. This is causing huge mental and physical health problems for people across the nation, including Latinos and other people of color. Dr. Nadine Burke Harris even calls toxic stress a public health crisis. This is why she authored the Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General’s Report on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic Stress, and Health. “We now understand that a key mechanism by which ACEs [adverse childhood experiences, such as divorce, abuse, poverty, etc.] lead to increased health risks is through a health condition called the toxic stress response,” Burke Harris’ roadmap states. Salud America! is exploring this issue as part of its ...
In one of America’s most populated Latino cities, some people of color are disinclined to get a COVID-19 vaccine. This hesitation comes in spite of the heavy toll coronavirus has taken on Latinos in this metropolitan area — as well as across the country. Public Health experts—such as Dr. Amelie Ramirez, the director of UT Health San Antonio’s Institute for Health Promotion Research and Salud America!—believe that the best way to solve this problem is community-oriented communication. “I feel that the messenger really needs to be the individual who lives, works and worships in the community with them,” Ramirez told Laura Garcia of the San Antonio Express-News.
COVID-19 Vaccinations in San Antonio
Countless lives are saved because of vaccines, which are rigorously ...
Stress can happen for many reasons. Abuse. Discrimination. Poverty. But when the human body’s response to stressful situations is activated too frequently or intensely without supportive relationships, stress becomes more than “just stress.” It becomes “toxic stress.” And toxic stress can harm your brain, body, and behavior, and increase lifelong risk for disease, especially for Latinos and other people of color. Fortunately, we can address and even prevent toxic stress. The new Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General’s Report on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic Stress, and Health is the nation’s first guide to address toxic stress by cutting a main cause─adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)─in half in a generation. We at Salud ...
As we fight the COVID-19 pandemic, we have to make sure we’ve got all the right facts. Public health experts are seeing a lot of misinformation about COVID-19 spread on social media. Whether conspiracy theories or jokes about side effects, experts are concerned about the implications it could have. Misinformation could especially hurt Latinos, who are being disproportionately hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic and have shown hesitancy about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. “It’s the repetition [of misinformation] that worries me,” said Eveyln Pérez-Verdía, a strategist who tracks Spanish disinformation, according to NBC News. "People are seeing this constantly.” What is some of the misinformation being spread about COVID-19? Let’s check the myths and facts. UPDATE ...
By choosing to not smoke indoors, a smoker deserves a thank-you for protecting their family, friends, and neighbors from secondhand smoke. That’s why the new “Mil Gracias (A Thousands Thanks) for Not Smoking Indoors!” campaign from UT Health San Antonio is inviting people share gratitude for smokers who respect others’ air during the COVID-19 respiratory pandemic: Email a “thank you” to smokers who protect others by not smoking indoors.
Sign a letter acknowledging secondhand smoke's danger to health.
Download an Action Pack to promote smoke-free multifamily housing in your city. The Mil Gracias campaign features English and Spanish flyers with key messages to help people reduce their risk for smoking-related diseases and COVID-19. “Smokers have the power ...
Mil Gracias for Not Smoking Indoors, San Antonio! The new “Mil Gracias for Not Smoking Indoors!” campaign from UT Health San Antonio helps people share gratitude for smokers who respect others’ air by reducing exposure to secondhand smoke. You can take 3 big actions: 1. Email a "thank you" message to smokers who protect others by not smoking indoors. 2. Sign a letter to acknowledge the dangers of secondhand smoke. 3. Download an Action Pack to promote smoke-free multifamily housing in your city. The Mil Gracias campaign also features English and Spanish flyers with key messages to help people reduce their risk for smoking-related diseases and COVID-19. Through #MilGraciasForNotSmoking, we can reduce exposure to secondhand smoke, reduce risk for related ...
Despite experiencing some of COVID-19’s worst impacts, Latinos struggle to get a vaccination — especially in Austin. This comes at a time when many from communities of color are already uncertain in the first place. There are higher rates of Blacks and Latinos who report hesitancy about obtaining a COVID-19 vaccination, according to the COVID Collaborative. This kind of information is exactly why those ethnic groups need to be prioritized in the vaccine rollout, according to the Austin Latino Coalition. "Due to the historical discrimination that has often posed barriers to economic advancement, lack of access to health care, food and other systemic inequities that still exist today, Latinos, African-Americans, and low-income communities have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 ...
As 2020 comes to an end, let’s take a look at health this year. In a year defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, parents have several concerns about the health and safety of their children. Overuse of social media/screen time (72%), bullying/cyberbullying (62%), and Internet safety (62%) were parents top overall concerns, according to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health 2020. The survey asked a national sample of Latino, Black, and white parents to rate the top health concerns for U.S. children ages 0-18. “Overall, 8 of the Top 10 concerns most commonly rated by all parents as a ‘big problem’ are frequently associated with changes in lifestyle and may be related to efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to the survey ...
Multiple COVID-19 vaccines are now authorized for emergency use, but uncertainty lies ahead. Several new studies show that older Americans, especially Latino and Black adults, are skeptical of the safety and efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine. The results indicate mistrust between communities of color and public health officials, likely due to historical racism in health care and implicit bias. This mistrust concerns health care officials, as a vaccine is key to controlling the pandemic. “Effective vaccines will be crucial to getting this pandemic under control and preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19, especially among people over 50 and those with underlying health issues,” said Dr. Preeti Malani, the poll’s director and a specialist in geriatrics and ...
