Armida Flores was a professional abuela—babysitting her granddaughters, volunteering at their schools, etc.—until they moved to California a few years ago. Then Flores wasn’t sure what to do with her newfound spare time. So the Mexico native, who was 30 years removed from school, didn’t know much English and had no career training, decided to enroll in bilingual nursing classes at Palo Alto College in San Antonio and simultaneously earned her GED in Spanish in 2008. She also took beginner and advanced English to polish her language skills, and in May 2012 earned an associate’s degree in social work, psychology and Spanish. “The biggest obstacle I had to overcome was to accept that I am not too old to start a new process in my life,” said Flores. “Now that I ...
Latino patients reported significantly higher rates of pain, numbness, cognition difficulties, vomiting and severe sadness than non-Hispanics in a recent survey of 622 cancer patients awaiting appointments at three hospitals in the Bronx, New York City’s poorest borough, Internal Medicine News reports. About 45% of Hispanic patients reported moderate to severe pain, more than twice the percentage of whites (20%) and also more than African Americans (37%). On some measures, differences were seen between Latino patients who spoke English and those who did not. For example, 64 percent of Spanish-dominant Hispanics reported fatigue, compared with 49 percent of English-dominant Hispanic patients. Read more about the survey ...
What's your excuse? A new bilingual public service announcement (PSA) from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) addresses common excuses and misconceptions that lead people to delay or avoid getting screened for colorectal cancer. The PSA features men and women who voice their personal reasons for not being screened, while an off-camera announcer responds by providing facts about colorectal cancer screening and its importance. Adults ages 50-59, Hispanics, and persons with lower income, less than a high school education, and without health insurance were least likely to have been screened for colorectal cancer, according to CDC statistics. Watch in English: Watch in ...
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has launched a new mobile website, m.cancer.gov. Designed specifically for mobile phone users on any mobile platform, the site in English and Spanish offers much of the same high-quality information found on cancer.gov's desktop site. Available in English and Spanish, m.cancer.gov provides cancer patients, their loved ones, and their caregivers with credible, current information about: A wide range of cancer types
Cancer diagnosis and treatment
Dealing with treatment side effects
Questions to ask your doctor
Breaking and current cancer news
A dictionary of cancer terms that includes audio pronunciations
One-touch connection to NCI's 1-800-4-CANCER information specialist line In the future, additional content, including information about ...
Latinas, please watch this Spanish-language video about breast cancer factors and prevention featuring Dr. Jorge Gomez, director of the Office of Latin American Cancer Program Development of the National Cancer ...
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 ...
Redes En Acción:The National Latino Cancer Research Network has created a Spanish version of its new manual, A Patient Navigation Manual for Latino Audiences: The Redes En Acción Experience, to guide health organizations in developing patient navigation services for Latinos. Check out the manual in Spanish or English. The manual first defines patient navigation. Patient navigators are trained health workers who aim to help “navigate” underserved Latinos through the often-complex healthcare system and remove barriers to timely, quality care. It then offers a six-step guide to determine whether navigation is right for a health organization, and highlights important considerations for implementing navigation. The manual also features many robust tools, customizable ...
In honor of Hispanic Heritage month (Sept. 19-Oct. 15), the Colon Cancer Alliance has created a 30-second public service announcement video in English and Spanish that emphasizes talking to your family about your family health history and getting a screening test for colon cancer. Hispanics often are diagnosed with a later stage of cancer, when the disease can be harder to treat. Colon cancer is one of the few cancers you can catch before it turns into cancer through the detection of precancerous polyps. The Colon Cancer Alliance is a non-profit that works to increase colon cancer awareness and screening test rates. Visit their Spanish website at ...
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has launched a new website with increased access to resources and materials in Spanish. Free education materials in English and Spanish can be read and downloaded or ordered from the website. This includes the easy-to-read, bilingual resource called, Knowing All Your Treatment Options/Conozca todas sus opciones de tratamiento. This booklet guides patients to discuss all treatment options with their doctors and explains clinical trials and informed consent in basic language. Also on the website is information about financial programs, links to LLS’ new and archived telephone/web education programs, LLS national and chapter support services and printable question guides about treatment and clinical trials that patients can take with them to ...
