Laredo native Jennifer Garcia-Davalos grew up on the Texas-Mexico border, where the mostly Latino population suffers high rates of obesity, diabetes, and certain cancers. She has always wanted to help reduce those disparities. That’s why Garcia-Davalos, an aspiring physician and a master’s-degree student in public health at The UT School of Public Health, interned at the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. Over the past year, she helped the IHPR conduct research, mobilize community outreach, and inform, educate, and empower health in Latino communities. “My internship at the IHPR gave me tools needed to succeed in my graduate studies and my future plans in the health and medical fields,” Garcia-Davalos said. “As a ...
Find the latest advances in Latino health—studies on liver cancer rates and colorectal cancer screening, and a promotora’s heartwarming story of survival—in the IHPR Noticias E-newsletter. IHPR Noticias has lots of info on the latest local and national health disparities-related news, resources and events: Story: A Latina Cancer Survivor Makes a Career of Helping Others through Cancer (Pg. 1)
Profile: An Aspiring Doctor, Jennifer Garcia-Davalos, Works for Latino Health (Pg. 2)
Study: South Texas Latinos Have Nation’s Highest Liver Cancer Rates (Pg. 3)
Study: Local Researcher Hopes to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening (Pg. 4)
Story: How to Fix Huge Lack of Hispanics in Clinical Trials (Pg. 6)
Story: Food Trucks—Healthy or Junk Food for Latinos (Pg. ...
Latinos in South Texas have the highest rate of liver cancer in the nation—a rate that continues to rise higher, according to a study from the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. For the study, published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE, researchers compared the newest state and federal data to pinpoint current liver cancer rates and trends. They found that Texas Latino male and female incidence rates were 3.1 and 4 times higher than their non-Latino White counterparts, and South Texas Latinos had even higher rates. In addition, liver cancer incidence rates are rising across all groups. “This clearly shows that liver cancer is not only already higher among Latinos in South Texas, but it’s rising, too. We need ...
Imagine that a woman's mammogram turns up an abnormality that is classified as "probably benign." Even though the chance of breast cancer is only 2-4%, a doctor typically would ask the woman to return for another screening within six months, just to be sure. If that woman was a Latina, however, delays and anxiety occur, appointments are missed and Latinas may skip subsequent screenings altogether, potentially setting the stage for confirmatory diagnoses at more advanced stages of cancer with lower survival probability. How can that be avoided? You're invited to a webinar that explores how patient navigators—trained healthcare workers who support women and help them overcome barriers related to transportation, child care, insurance coverage, language, etc.—were able to reduce those ...
A group of breast cancer survivors gathered in San Antonio on Tuesday, June 17, 2014, to hear a lecture and cooking demonstration about how certain foods may reduce the risk of cancer recurrence — deliciously. The women are participants in the study Rx for Better Breast Health. As a part of the study, this group will attend several lectures by study co-principal investigator Dr. Michael Wargovich of the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, combined with cooking demonstrations by Chef Iverson Brownell, who creates innovative culinary recipes that taste great and promote health. Read or watch a WOAI-TV report about the event. To see if you qualify for the study, call 210-562-6579 “We want to teach survivors the importance of a dietary plan full of foods with ...
You're invited to a webinar to explore best practices for projects to reduce cancer health disparities. The webinar, set for 11 a.m. CST on Tuesday, June 10, 2014, is conducted by Redes En Acción, a national Latino cancer research network funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and led by the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday. The webinar will feature Dr. Eliseo Perez-Stable, leader of Redes' northwest region and chief of chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center. Perez-Stable will discuss the latest evidence-based methods for developing, implementing, and evaluating interventions on health ...
Arely Perez loves to step outside her comfort zone. In college, she studied and enjoyed kinesiology—the study of human movement—but wasn’t as familiar with how it translated to the health of the community. So, as a graduate student at UT San Antonio, she got jobs in the labs of Drs. Meizi He and Zenong Yin, where she learned all about public health and coordinated studies of local programs to improve nutrition and reduce obesity in child care centers. “I became passionate about improving people’s health, thanks to both Drs. He and Yin, who gave me great opportunities to expand my knowledge and skills,” Perez said. Today Perez is applying her passion for health as a researcher at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San ...
Find the latest advances in Latino health—like new studies to reduce obesity in Latino kids, develop cancer-fighting food plans, and navigate Latinos to better health—in the IHPR Noticias E-newsletter. IHPR Noticias has lots of info on the latest local and national health disparities-related news, resources and events: Story: Using Counseling, Texting to Help Latinos Fight Obesity (Pg 1)
Profile: Latina Steps Outside her Comfort Zone to Help Others...The Story of the IHPR's Arely Perez (Pg 2)
New Study: Rx for Better Breast Health (Pg 2)
New Study: Navegando Salud (Pg 3)
Story: The Power of Community Health Educators (Pg 4)
Story: Physical Activity is Essential, Not Optional (Pg 6)
Report: Bleak Picture for Latino, Other Minority Kids in Public Schools (Pg ...
A wave of shock swept over Olga Cardona as she listened to her doctor. “You have breast cancer.” Cardona knew nothing about cancer. She thought it was a death sentence. She was scared. She worried more when her insurance wouldn’t cover all chemotherapy. How could this be happening to me? A patient navigator calmed her fears. The navigator, a trained community health worker, taught Cardona what cancer is, got her in a breast cancer support group, and led her to resources to cover her treatment. Cardona, years later, now is in remission—and she became a promotora to promote health at the San Ysidro Health Center in California, where she was first diagnosed. “I wanted to pay it forward because I felt so grateful to everyone that had helped me through my battle,” Cardona ...
