Communication is a critical aspect of the human experience, and, for Dr. Jason Rosenfeld, it is the key to making any societal shift. From working with small communities in Africa to helping rural towns in the Rio Grande Valley, he has devoted his career to crafting the right phrase or infographic that can effect change. This work in healthcare communications has led to numerous victories over countless threats. With the spread of the current novel coronavirus, COVID-19, Rosenfeld, his colleagues, and a team of medical students at UT Health San Antonio are addressing this new danger by creating health messaging to help people understand what this illness is, how it spreads, how to stay safe, and other critical pandemic information. Rosenfeld, DrPH, MPH—an Assistant Professor of ...
Without childcare, going back to work after the coronavirus lockdown is not an option for many families. But many city and state leaders are overlooking this childcare dilemma as they push to reopen businesses, even while schools remain closed amid the pandemic. That’s why Melinda Lopez is speaking up. Rhode Island, where Lopez lives, began reopening businesses on May 9. But childcare sites have to remain closed through May 30. Beyond this three-week-lag, when childcare centers do reopen, they will take fewer kids. Many moms will still be left without a spot for their child. “I’m concerned about what our women in our communities are going to do,” said Lopez, an Education Strategies Specialist with Highlander Institute, Early Childhood Adjunct Instructor at Rhode ...
Eric Cooper knows what it's like to depend on public assistance programs. He grew up in a low-income family, relying on free school meals and food assistance to get enough food to eat. Today, as CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank, Cooper helps families like his. And with rising amounts of food insecurity amid the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, he led the Food Bank to orchestrate a whole new way of operating. An army of volunteers has stepped up to meet the needs of so many, by working in back-to-back shifts and implementing new strategies, such as drive-through pickup lines or COVID-19 preparation kits. Their efforts have garnered national acclaim and have turned a crisis into a rallying point for those who need it most. "I think all of us, as human beings find ourselves in ...
Health equity is where everyone has a fair and just opportunity to live their healthiest life possible. But health inequity remains. Now the COVID-19 pandemic is worsening historical inequities, and disproportionately affecting and killing Latinos and other people of color. So what can we do? We need both immediate focus to ease the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on Latinos and people of color, as well as long-term strides to address underlying inequities that are aggravated during this time. It won't be easy, or fast. But here's few ways to push for health equity.
1. Understand the Need for Heath Equity During COVID-19 and After
Where you live matters for your health. Even before COVID-19, inequitable city planning, historic discriminatory practices like ...
Recent data suggests that older adults are the most vulnerable to the worst effects of the coronavirus outbreak. Older people and people with severe chronic conditions—such as dementia—should take special precautions because they are at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 illness, according to the CDC. Worse, it is not just how many years one has lived that determines risk. "It is not chronological age alone that determines how one does in the face of a life-threatening infection such as COVID-19," George Kuchel, a geriatrician and gerontologist at the University of Connecticut, told STAT. "Having multiple chronic diseases and frailty is in many ways as or more important than chronological age. An 80-year-old who is otherwise healthy and not frail might be more ...
Systemic, health inequities impacting disadvantaged groups are rampant in America and they're causing those individuals to suffer worse, even fatal, COVID-19 outcomes. Early reports suggested that those disparities would play a role in the current coronavirus spread, making minority groups, including Latinos, more likely to suffer severe harm. Now, weeks into the American pandemic, early reports from hotbed areas—such as Oregon and New York City—are proving that prediction true. "There are clear inequalities, clear disparities in how this disease is affecting the people of our city," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told the New York Times. "So many people struggle to get the healthcare they need, who didn't have the money to afford the healthcare they deserved. So many ...
Experts say people who have underlying health conditions should guard against COVID-19. In fact, CDC now says that U.S. adults with diabetes, chronic lung disease, and heart disease are at higher risk for severe COVID-19-associated disease than people without these conditions. Latinos face a heavier burden for several of these conditions. The American Heart Association even warned elderly people with heart disease or hypertension. "Based on current information, it appears elderly people with coronary heart disease or hypertension are more likely to be infected and to develop more severe symptoms," according to AHA. "Stroke survivors may also face increased risk for complications if they get COVID-19" According to the latest report from State Department of Health, out of the ...
COVID-19 doesn't discriminate. But U.S. Latinos are more likely than all Americans to say the coronavirus pandemic changed their daily lives, and disrupts their mental health, finances, and jobs, according to new Pew Research Center surveys. "Latinos make up significant portions of the hospitality, construction, leisure and agricultural sectors of our labor market, and are the largest uninsured population in America," wrote Kristian Ramos, ex-spokesman for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, for The Hill. "These workers and uninsured families are unable to telecommute, will not be paid if their jobs are lost, and likely do not have immediate access to health care."
Latino Daily Life During COVID-19
Early on in the outbreak, Pew Research Center reported that a higher percentage of ...
Coronavirus can affect anyone. But experts warn that COVID-19 will cause more suffering among U.S. Black and Latino workers, due to societal inequities shaped by structural racism and low-paying jobs with no chance of telework. "When the COVID-19 pandemic has ended in this country, we will see an unequal distribution of infections and deaths along the intersecting lines of race and class," wrote labor historian Christopher Hayes in the New Jersey Star-Ledger. UPDATE 4/23/20: 26 million people have filed jobless claims in the past five weeks, NBC News reports. Why is this?
Coronavirus Compounded: Income Inequities among Latino Workers
These statistics show a glimpse of how much Latino workers earn: 1 in 3 Latinos live in poverty.
1 in 2 Latino families are ...
