Swimming is one of the most promising physical activities to get Latino kids active in and out of school. But as many as 6 in 10 Latinos do not know how to swim. Fortunately, people are stepping up to help. A Florida program gives out coupons for free swim safety classes. Detroit is combining swimming and literacy. And recently a Holocaust survivor helped a YWCA put together the Los Pecesitos ("The Little Fishes”) program to help Latino kids learn to swim in Tulsa, Okla. "What we know is that the drowning rates for children of color are two to three times higher than that of Caucasian children,” said Lacey Thompson Caywood, director of health and wellness for the Tulsa YWCA. “So there was a need for basic swim lessons.” In addition to preventing drowning, swim ...
Oprah Winfrey is raising awareness about childhood trauma and the need for trauma-informed care. Childhood trauma—like abuse, neglect, and poverty—changes a child's brain, body and behavior. Behavior is often the first "red flag" of trauma. But too often caregivers, teachers, and law officers misinterpret that red flag as "bad behavior" that needs "fixing." They are rarely trained on the science of childhood trauma and how it affects Latino and all children. That is why Oprah Winfrey returned the city where she grew up facing poverty, sexual abuse and other negative experiences to explore the science of childhood trauma on 60 Minutes with trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry.
Science Behind Adverse Childhood Experiences
What started as inquiry into high patient drop-out rates ...
Local leaders can get $1.4 million to help their community prepare for, withstand, and recover from disasters, thanks to a new two-year grant opportunity from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The new grant aims to help community leaders and researchers create "resilient communities." Resilient communities can anticipate and adapt to unexpected challenges, like the recent devastating hurricanes in Texas and Puerto Rico. Disasters cause damage from infrastructure to the local economy. They also impact institutionalized discrimination, access to healthcare, and mental health issues and stress. For example, Texas leaders formed a task force to respond to mental health issues in schools impacted by Hurricane Harvey. How prepared is your community for an ...
Did you know Latino kids are twice as likely to die from asthma than their peers? More than 1 in 10 U.S. Latino kids have been told they have asthma. These kids struggle with this incurable lung disease that causes recurring periods of wheezing, chest tightness, coughing, shortness of breath, and can result in missed days of school or emotional and physical stress. Why is this? Poverty plays a big role, but it's more than that, said Genny Carrillo of Texas A&M, who studies the disease. "Possibly due to more limited access to health insurance and health care providers and higher presence of environmental triggers such as pollution, dust and mold," Carrillo said. There is good news. A person with asthma can live and sleep without interruptions with proper ...
Latino families are often lack economic support and healthcare they need, which jeopardizes their kids' academic, social, and physical development, according to Salud America! research. But two San Antonio organizations may have the solution. Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas is giving $175,000 to HASA—the health information exchange for San Antonio and other parts of the state—to expand their services by adding socioeconomic factors like housing, access to healthy food, and more social issues to patient's medical records, according to the San Antonio Business Journal. What does that mean? It means that healthcare providers will get a better look at a patients' health history, including clinical, social and behavioral risk. This will arm doctors with ...
Can you get a Water Bottle Fountain at your school? Register now for our new webinar to get tools and support to help you get a Water Bottle Fountain for your school or district! The webinar, set for 12 p.m. CST on Feb. 27, 2018, will explore why Water Bottle Fountains are good for schools and students, and provide an example of someone who has achieved this change and tools you can use to make the change happen at your school. The webinar is the first of our new Salud America! Webinar Series on how to achieve healthy change in communities and schools.
Why Water Bottle Fountains?
Water Bottle Fountains filtered water dispensers for easily filling and refilling water bottles. They can replace or upgrade existing classic water fountains. Water Bottle Fountains can increase ...
Children don't magically "get over" trauma when they turn 18. Trauma, toxic stress, and adverse childhood experiences permanently change a child's body and brain, which can have serious, lifelong consequences, according to a recent report from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. Here are four ways trauma can overload a child's developing system: 1. Hormone level changes: Cortisol and adrenaline are the "stress hormones" that help you react to a perceived threat or danger by directing blood flow to major muscle groups and bypassing the thinking part of the brain to activate the survival part. High levels of these hormones keep your blood pressure elevated, which weakens the heart and circulatory system; keep your glucose levels elevated, which can lead ...
More kids in Philadelphia experience four or more childhood traumas (21.5%) than kids across the nation (14.3%). Multiple traumas like abuse, parental death, racism, fear of deportation, and others—known as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)—can significantly impact a child's brain development, academic achievement, and physical and mental health into adulthood. Latino kids are at high risk of multiple traumas, and acting out. That's why we are excited to see three philanthropic groups team up in Philadelphia (14.4% Latino) to create a new guide to help funders and groups focus on bringing trauma-informed care for local kids. Trauma-informed care shifts the outlook from "What's wrong with you?" to "What happened to you and how can we help?" "Understanding the ...
A controversial new law could force schools in Kentucky to start sex education in fourth grade, according to Lexington Herald Reader. What would this mean for Latinos? Teen pregnancy? Mental health?
A Big Proposal for Earlier Sex Education Kentucky (3.5% Latino) has the seventh-highest teen birth rate in the United States. Tom Burch, a state representative, introduced House Bill 80 to lower those rates by arming students with more knowledge about their body, according to Lexington Herald Reader. Sex education is not mentioned in some homes because it can be hard to talk about, or embarrassing for parents and kids. Schools thus are sometimes the main path to sex education. Most schools are required to teach sex education. But it's usually to older students starting in ...
