Eric Moreno is a Content Curator with the Salud America! program at UT Health San Antonio. He specializes in covering the topics of health equity and family and social support. He holds a BA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and an MA from Gonzaga University.
How can Latinos and all people achieve good health? A good first step is getting health insurance. But 1 in 10 people still don't have coverage, especially among Latinos. Despite making significant gains in coverage since the passing of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Latinos are the largest uninsured population in the nation. In 2015, 15.1% of Latinos lacked health coverage, compared to just 6.6% of whites. Why is this? What can be done? What is being done? With Open Enrollment for health insurance now underway (Nov. 1-Dec. 15, 2017), let’s use #SaludTues on Nov. 7, 2017, to discuss the importance of health care coverage for everyone! WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Open Enrollment—What You NEED to Know”
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. EST Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017
WHERE: ...
Nearly 94% of the 18 million Latino kids living in the United States today were born here. Their moms and dads are a different story. About half of Latino kids have at least one parent who was born outside of the U.S., and about four million of these also have at least one parent who is not authorized to be in the country, according to new data from the National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families. The new data have big implications for the wellness of these children.
Immigration, Kids, and Mental Health
Living with the threat of deportation and the separation from a parent can harm a child. It may cause “fear or anxiety that can affect children's physical and mental health, as well as their development,” the new data shows. One in four Latino kids are ...
Cancer takes an undeniable physical toll on a person's body. But emerging research show cancer has a strong impact on a person's mind, too. About 40% of adult cancer patients were diagnosed with depression at the University Hospital Cancer Care Center in Newark, N.J. (36% Latino population), according to a new study by Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey at University Hospital, Healio reports. This is extremely important for Latinos, who suffer tremendous mental health issues.
Latinos, Cancer, and Depression Latino kids and adults are far more likely than their peers to have mental health issues, according to a Salud America! research review. These issues often go unaddressed, undiagnosed, and often untreated. When instances of serious physical illness are added, the ...
Salud America! Guest Blogger
Alliance for a Healthier Generation Alvord Unified School District (64% Latino) is giving students more opportunities to get active and eat healthier in Riverside, Calif. Now they're getting national recognition for their health and wellness efforts. Eight of Alvord Unified's schools earned a place on the 2017 list of America’s Healthiest Schools by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. Wells Middle School earned the highest level of recognition. How’d they do it? They got support from district leaders, parents, teachers, and the entire community. “We were able to provide parent education courses with topics that included the importance of breakfast, meal planning, understanding food labels, saving money on food and healthy ...
A dozen new research centers will tackle Latino and minority health problems thanks to $82 million for the next five years from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). Latinos suffer worse rates of obesity, diabetes, and certain cancers and diseases. Why? They face cultural and language barriers, lack of access to resources, and a drastic lack of health care coverage. With this new round of funding, the NIMHD will create 12 "Centers of Excellence" to investigate preventable diseases like heart disease and diabetes, along with exposure to substance use disorder, violence, and trauma, which disproportionately affect minorities. “We need strong collaborations and research based upon asking the right questions in specific areas,” said Dr. ...
Only 1 in 10 who enrolled for healthcare coverage via HealthCare.gov last year were Latino, a lower rate than their black and white peers, according to new federal data. In recent years, Latinos have made health coverage gains under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The percentage of Latinos with no health care coverage dropped from 26.2% to 15.1% from 2013 to 2016 under the Affordable Care Act (ACA); but it remains much higher than the percent drop among uninsured non-Latino whites from 14.1% to 6.6% in that same span, according to a Salud America! research review. The new data demonstrates ongoing disparities. Of HealthCare.gov users who provided racial/ethnic data during the last enrollment period from Nov. 1, 2016 to Jan. 1 2017, 76% were white, 12% black, 10% Asian, and 10% ...
Forty-five years after the passage of President Richard Nixon's National Cancer Act, President Barack Obama introduced the Cancer Moonshot and the All of Us Research Program as the next steps in cancer research and treatment. Both have the strong potential to forever alter the landscape of understanding cancer. However, what does the Cancer Moonshot mean for minorities? A new editorial co-authored by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio, addresses this specific question. The editorial, published in the journal Cancer Causes & Control, notes the persistence of cancer health disparities. Latinos, African Americans, and other groups differ in cancer incidence reporting, treatment, prognoses, and mortality compared to Whites. African ...
Latinos are dynamic, culturally rich, and the largest racial/ethnic minority in the United States. But they simply don't have the support they need for good health. Latinos often face big obstacles like a lack of health insurance and access to quality care. They lack good jobs and high wages. Their children have fewer opportunities for early care and education than their peers, which causes a lag in cognitive development. To address these concerns, Salud America! will unveil its new research review, "Building Support for Latino Families," to start a conversation about solutions at the #SaludTues Tweetchat on Tuesday, October 17. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Family & Social Support for Latinos”
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017
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Latino communities are getting help to tackle obesity and mental illness, thanks to $5 million in new grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH). The money is for 15 local groups from across the country. The groups will use the money to drive solutions among Latino and other minority populations that suffer higher burdens of obesity, mental illness, and opioid addiction. “We selected the opioid crisis, childhood obesity and serious mental illness as our top three clinical priorities at HHS because they are three of the country’s most pressing public health concerns,” said Dr. Tom Price, HHS leader, in a news release.
Who Will Help Latinos?
The 15 groups include several in Latino-populated areas: Mariposa ...
