VIDEO: A Day in the Life of a Promotora



To address the needs of Latino cancer survivors, the LIVESTRONG organization created a cancer survivorship training curriculum to increase the number of Latino community health workers, otherwise known as promotores, and their skills, knowledge and confidence on the physical, emotional and day-to-day concerns of cancer survivors. To date, LIVESTRONG has trained more than 500 promotores across the country. What exactly is a promotora? Watch this video of Guadalupe Cornejo, a promotora at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, who explains what she does and who she helps. To see more of what a promotora does, watch a video, "A Day in the Life of a Promotora," in English subtitles or ...

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Community Health Workers: Helping Latinos Navigate the Medical Maze



A community health worker (CHW) helps patients—in San Antonio, that typically means Latino patients—navigate the complex world of cancer care, according to a San Antonio Express-News article about CHWs. The article focuses on Guadalupe Cornejo, a CHW at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday. Cornejo is partialy supported through the IHPR's Latino cancer research network, Redes En Acción, via a partnership with LIVESTRONG. Cornejo's job includes answering questions, helping patients make appointments and apply for services and, when necessary, acting as a liaison between patients and the medical system. “Research has shown that this population is more likely to fall through the cracks when it ...

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LIVESTRONG Opens Unique ‘Cancer Navigation Center’



The LIVESTRONG Cancer Navigation Center recently opened in Austin, Texas, to help cancer survivors navigate an often complex health system and organize their paperwork, records, and even their emotions. The new center, located at 2201 E. Sixth Street and open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST, provides a range of free services for anyone affected by cancer. This includes people diagnosed with cancer, their families, friends, loved ones and the health care professionals who work with them. The center helps people with any cancer type and at any stage of treatment. Assistance is available in both English and Spanish. Watch a clip here or below of the center's senior manager of navigation, Melissa Sileo, about why patient navigation is important and how it can help people with cancer focus on ...

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Number of U.S. Cancer Survivors Grows to Nearly 12 Million



The number of U.S. cancer survivors increased from 3 million in 1971 to 11.7 million in 2007, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Cancer Institute. There were 3 million cancer survivors in 1971 and 9.8 million in 2001. A cancer survivor is defined as anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer, from the time of diagnosis through the balance of his or her life. Many people with cancer live a long time after diagnosis; more than a million people were alive in 2007 after being diagnosed with cancer 25 years or more earlier. Of the 11.7 million people living with cancer in 2007: 7 million were 65 years of age or older. 6.3 million were women. 4.7 million were diagnosed 10 years earlier or more. The largest groups of cancer ...

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LIVESTRONG Spanish-Language Survey to Gauge Latino Cancer Survivors’ Needs



Anyone who has been affected by cancer is invited to take LIVESTRONG's first-of-its-kind Spanish-language survey to further understand how cancer impacts Latinos and gather data that will inform evidence-based programs, resources and tools to improve their lives and close gaps in health disparities. Survey results, expected to be released laster this year, are expected to provide a comprehensive understanding of how Latinos are living with cancer and help LIVESTRONG and the cancer community improve programs and resources to serve them. Community-specific data will also be available for researchers, program planners and others. Please take the Spanish survey ...

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IHPR Reaches into Community to Raise Cancer Awareness



Reaching into the community to raise cancer awareness is a big priority of the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday. That's why IHPR researcher Sandra San Miguel and promotora Guadalupe Cornejo worked hard to bring vital health information to more than 350 Latinos on Oct. 1 at the Consulate General of Mexico in San Antonio during Binational Health Week, a series of free health events across the nation to improve Latino health. The pair, representing the IHPR and the Lance Armstrong Foundation's LIVESTRONG campaign, passed out 100 brochres for the LIVESTRONG Survivorcare program, several “What’s Next” booklets and hundreds of yellow LIVESTRONG wristbands. Overall, San Miguel and Cornejo had ...

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Free iTunes App: LIVESTRONG English/Spanish Dictionary of Cancer Terms



The LIVESTRONG English-Spanish Dictionary of Cancer Terms by Springbox, Ltd., is available online as a free app from iTunes. By downloading the dictionary app, individuals can find definitions for cancer-related terms in both English and Spanish, searching more than 6,000 definitions provided by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Users can switch views between languages to facilitate translation. No Internet access is required for use of the app, a joint project of the Lance Armstrong Foundation and ...

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SaludToday/IHPR Researcher Helps LIVESTRONG Expand Outreach to Latino Cancer Survivors



The Lance Armstrong Foundation’s LIVESTRONG campaign is expanding its bilingual outreach to Latino cancer survivors through enhanced multi-media resources, developed with the help of Sandra San Miguel de Majors, a research instructor at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday. LIVESTRONG’s effort aims to help more Latinos affected by cancer by increasing visibility and access to bilingual resources on the Internet, cell devices and media. The campaign Web site, LIVESTRONG.org/espanol, for example, underwent major enhancements, adding new videos, audio features and links to Facebook and Twitter messages, thanks to content developed in part by San Miguel de Majors. San Miguel de Majors ...

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