Nearly one of every two people are Latino in Harris County, Texas, which is home to Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city. As the Latino community rises, equitable health, education, and opportunity is critical. That is why two Houston organizations, Children at Risk and Child Health Policy at the Baker Institute, published the 2024 Latino Child Health Initiative Report to examine the state of Latino child health in Precinct 2, one of four precincts in Harris County. The report identified high rates of type 2 diabetes and obesity among Latino children in Houston, as well as challenges to mental health services and kindergarten readiness. Let’s dive into the report and how it reflects the overall US Latino population.
Latino Children and Risk for Diabetes, Obesity
In ...
Brain health is important – but we often overlook it. The World Health Organization defines brain health as the “state of brain functioning across cognitive, sensory, social-emotional, behavioural and motor domains, allowing a person to realize their full potential over the life course.” While we can take action to maintain our brain health and mental health, conditions such as brain tumors and dementia can affect the brain and disrupt our lives. As part of Brain Cancer Awareness Month in May, let’s use #SaludTues on May 14, 2024, to explore how to maintain brain health and find out what we should know about brain tumors, dementia, and mental health, especially among the Latino population. WHERE: Twitter
WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat “Why Is Brain Health So ...
Nearly half of healthcare workers say they often feel burned out. That is why CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently launched the Impact Wellbeing Guide: Taking Action to Improve Healthcare Worker Wellbeing. “The role of healthcare workers in taking care of all of us is absolutely vital to our society, to our economy, and to our culture. But our healthcare workforce needs to feel supported, too,” said Dr. John Howard, NIOSH director, in press release. Let’s explore the guide, its six action steps, and how it can benefit Latino healthcare workers!
What is the Impact Wellbeing Guide?
NIOSH and the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation designed the Impact Wellbeing Guide to help hospital leaders and executives accelerate or supplement ...
Dr. Rebecca Jones of UT Health San Antonio has been approved for a 2-year, $250,000 funding award through the Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Awards (Engagement Awards) program, an initiative of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The funds will support the creation of the Creando Conexiones: Cancer Health Research Agenda, which will outline research priorities identified by South Texas cancer survivors, caregivers, and community members. The coalition is directed by a core team led by Jones and an executive committee led by Jason Massiatte, president and CEO of Ma Hila’s Heart Children's Cancer Foundation. Join the Creando Conexiones coalition! "We know that research has the most impact when guided by voices of cancer survivors and community ...
Challenges in health insurance coverage and healthcare access worsened during the pandemic, according to a new study in the journal Geospatial Health. The study found Latinos and African Americans were the most affected populations. “Our results suggest that loss of insurance coverage and reduced access to health services deepened inequities in an already uneven healthcare landscape, particularly for African American and Hispanic/Latino populations,” according to the study researchers. Let’s dive into what the data found and what this means for Latinos.
How Did COVID-19 Impact Healthcare for Latinos?
Study researchers – from CDC, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health – ...
35% of U.S. teens say they are using at least one of YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook “almost constantly,” according to Pew Research Center. How does social media impact adolescent health? There are complex benefits and harms, according to a new report that tackles the effects of social media on children and adolescents’ physical and mental health, from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). This is important for Latinos, 98% of whom own a smartphone and who are the highest-percentage users of Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and WhatsApp among racial/ethnic groups. “The use of social media—rather than having purely negative or positive impacts—is likely a constantly shifting calculus of the risky, the ...
We want all people to be as healthy as possible. How can we reach this ideal, especially as we face high rates of cancer and chronic disease and many people struggle with access to clinical trials, income, health care, food, housing, and other issues? You're invited to a webinar series, "Let’s Improve Health in South Texas and Beyond," a collaboration of the Salud America! program, the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio, and Genentech. Here are three webinars from 2026: 7/21/26: Zeroing in on Alzheimer’s, Brain Health, and Caregiving in At-Risk Populations
9/22/26: Exploring Medicaid and Medicare Access for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD)
11/5/26: How to ...
Where you live can have a big impact on your health. In fact, our health is influenced by a variety of non-medical drivers, such as the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age. These conditions are known as the non-medical drivers of health (NMDoH). Addressing NMDoH is key to improving health for Latinos and all people, said Dr. Amelie Ramirez, leader of Salud America! and the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, in a panel presentation on Dec. 5, 2023, at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. "What we’re finding is that [issues with NMDoH can] negatively impact our health," Ramirez said.
Screening for Non-Medical Drivers of Health (NMDoH)
Studies suggest that NMDoH accounts for between 30-55% of health outcomes. NMDoH ...
Individual health is influenced by a variety of non-medical factors, like where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age. These conditions are known as Non-Medical Drivers of Health (NMDoH). To help improve health and wellbeing through NMDoH, the White House and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have released new resources, including the first-ever U.S. Playbook to Address Non-Medical Drivers of Health. “It is clear that the health of our people does not exist in a vacuum, but it is affected by our access to stable housing, healthy food, and clean air to breathe,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “It is crucial for HHS to tackle health care and public health holistically by addressing patients’ social ...
