Search Results for "coronavirus"

Jordana Barton: Helping Close the Digital Divide Amid COVID-19


Jordana Barton

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is surging across the U.S., and the American death toll has eclipsed 130,000. Worse, this crisis is widening the gap experienced by households without internet access — a long-festering problem that has made unequal educational opportunities even more unbalanced, said Jordana Barton, a senior advisor in community development at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. "The COVID-19 pandemic has brought national attention to the digital divide—the gap experienced by households without internet access," Barton wrote. "Directives for social distancing and stay-at-home orders have made access to broadband an urgent necessity for families as they struggle to stay connected with schooling, jobs, health care, government assistance, and more." The Digital ...

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Transit and Compact Development are Solutions to Health Equity, COVID-19 Recovery


compact development is important for COVID recovery

Researchers are finding that population density is not associated with higher death rates from COVID-19. Unfortunately, some people still blame compact housing and transit for pandemic spikes, and use that misinformation to promote sprawling residential development and disinvestment in transit in the name of health. These are the same poor practices that have segregated neighborhoods and contributed to drastic disparities in health and wealth for a century. As city leaders respond to concerns about COVID transmission and develop economic recovery plans, they must challenge the discriminatory status quo, consider transportation expenses, and shift toward equitable, compact (not overcrowded) housing development. “Restoring urban transit networks to full force, expanding their ...

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7 Reasons Not Everyone Can Just Hop on a Telehealth Video Call


Address Equity in the Telehealth Revolution

Delaying medical care can cause catastrophic health and financial problems. That’s why early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services temporarily expanded its telehealth coverage so physicians, nurse practitioners, clinical psychologists and licensed clinical social workers would be reimbursed for telehealth services. Other payers followed suit. Unfortunately, not everyone can just hop on a telehealth video call. Many Latinos and other vulnerable populations—older people, people experiencing domestic violence, and families with low income—face insurance, language, health literacy, digital literacy, and digital access barriers to telehealth services. Moreover, telehealth can be challenging for people with autism, intellectual and developmental ...

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Webinar 6/29/20: Why Are We Dying? Race, Ethnicity and Health Justice in the COVID-19 Pandemic



COVID-19 can affect anyone. But the coronavirus pandemic is impacting Latinos and other communities of color more severely. This is why Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio, is joining a webinar to discuss issues and solutions to COVID-19 health disparities. The webinar, "Why Are We Dying? Race, Ethnicity and Health Justice in the COVID-19 Pandemic," is set for 11 a.m. CST Monday, June 29, 2020. The event is sponsored by PanPals.com, a program at the Center for Medical Humanities and Ethics at UT Health San Antonio. Register for the webinar. The webinar features: Amelie Ramirez, DrPH, Professor and Chair, Department of Population Health Sciences and Director, Institute for Health Promotion Research, UT Health San Antonio. Dr. Ramirez ...

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Telehealth for Latinos in the Age of Covid-19


Telehealth Latinos Age Covid-19

As shelter-in-place orders swept the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare providers’ implementation of telehealth expanded rapidly. In telehealth sessions, those seeking routine check-ups, mental health care, or other services can meet with their provider virtually using computers or other smart devices. This novel way of treating patients aims to look for ways to deliver care to patients in their homes to limit the transmission of the novel coronavirus. "The current public health emergency and the resulting accelerated growth potential in telehealth services is an opportunity for providers to enhance their care practices and for insurers and policymakers to recognize the value of telemedicine," a recent report from UCLA's Center for the Study of Latino health and ...

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Does Racism Qualify as a Public Health Crisis?


racism as a public health crisis prejudice stereotype

Unlike a pandemic or emergency, there is no epidemiological definition for public health crisis. Experts at the Boston University School of Public Health tried to solve this. They explored the distinction between immediate and important and how politics, perceived risk, and affected groups shape the concept of a crisis. For example, they juxtaposed the number of deaths caused by terrorism and by gun violence with action taken by the U.S. government. Between 2001 and 2013, 3,380 Americans were killed by terrorism and 406,496 Americans were killed by firearms on U.S. soil; yet the U.S. spent trillions on the War on Terror and failed to pass gun control legislation. They conclude that people often confuse the immediate and the important, and that the important often fails to receive ...

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Mental Health, COVID-19, and Their Impacts on Latinos


Mental Health COVID-19 Impacts Latinos

The current novel coronavirus afflicts more than just the lungs. For Latinos and other people of color, COVID-19 has caused disproportionately higher rates of cases and death, job loss, and other inequitable impacts. These groups are also experiencing more mental health issues than in previous eras, according to Dr. Madeline Aviles-Hernandez, the Outpatient Services Director at the Gándara Center. “This crisis is making life much more difficult for [Latinos, African-Americans and other culturally diverse populations] we serve, including those in recovery and people who have yet to be treated for such problems as anxiety and depression,” Aviles-Hernandez said in a statement. “Minorities have been—and continue to be—less likely to receive mental health ...

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55,000 People Speak Up to Help Shape Dietary Guidelines for Americans


healthy eating salad food latina kitchen dietary guidelines for americans

55,564 people—including members of Salud America!—submitted public comments to help shape the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A federal advisory committee will consider the public comments, collected from March 2019 to June 2020, as they create a scientific report to inform the new dietary guidelines. Our members made over 250 comments to add water to the MyPlate/MiPlato graphic, reduce added sugars, and promote dietary equity. The USDA and HHS will use the scientific report and comments to draft the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. But don't worry if you missed commenting! USDA and HHS will open a new comment period for the advisory committee's scientific report around July 15, 2020. "We're excited that so many people spoke up for equitable ...

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Data: COVID-19 Unemployment Highest among Latinos, Immigrants


hispanic woman job loss unemployment amid coroanvirus covid-19

The American economy has been in freefall since the outbreak of the current novel coronavirus — and Latinos face the most widespread unemployment. Job loss is impacting Latinos and immigrant communities at higher rates than their peers during the pandemic, according to recently published data from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). The pandemic is not only forcing more Latinos out of work, but it will have long-lasting ripple effects across the nation, according to Dr. Rogelio Sáenz, a professor in the Department of Demography at the University of Texas at San Antonio. "Over the last several decades, Latinos have represented the engine propelling the U.S. economy," Sáenz writes in a National Association for Community Asset Builders blog post. "While people ...

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