National Latino Family Expo
Jul 6th
The National Council of La Raza will present a family expo Saturday, Sunday and Monday at the Henry B Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio.
It is free and open to the general public.
The expo hall will be divided into seven different pavilions, allowing participants to experience a variety of activities in theme areas including community, culture and history, technology and environment and health and fitness, which will feature cooking demonstrations, health screenings focusing on vision, lung health, and blood pressure, and group exercise classes.
Career resources will include networking opportunities and access to more than 20 national and local companies with job opportunities.
Go here for more information.
Neighborhood Has Huge Influence on Health of Latino, Black Boys and Young Men
Jun 30th
New research funded by The California Endowment finds that African-American and Latino boys and young men are much more likely to experience poor health outcomes than white boys and young men.
Most of these differences in health are directly related to the neighborhoods where they grow up.
“This research shows that the health of African-American and Latino boys stems from their neighborhoods, their schools, their environments being unhealthy,” said Robert Phillips of The California Endowment. “According to the research, place and policy clearly matter to the health of these boys and young men. If we truly want to address the health issues they face, California needs to put its support behind public policies and programs that advocate for comprehensive, community-based solutions.”
To improve health outcomes for boys and young men, researchers suggest the need for systems-based solutions that are implemented at the community level.
Read more about the study here.
Roundup: Upcoming Events
Apr 26th
Check out these upcoming events related to Latino health:
Diabetes and Minorities: A Shared Disparity
With April being National Minority Health Awareness Month, the Texas Department of State Health Services’ Office for the Elimination of Health Disparities is conducting a lunch lecture at noon Wednesday, April 28, 2010, in Austin, Texas. The lecture will focus on the prevalence of diabetes and its effect on minority populations, including Hispanics, American Indians, and African Americans. For details, e-mail OEHD@hhsc.state.tx.us.
Latino Health Equity Conference
Familias En Acción has scheduled the 2010 and Beyond: Latino Health Equity Conference for May 20, 2010, in Portland, Ore. The conference will feature Latino health researchers. For details, go here.
News Roundup: Latino Education, Alzheimer’s & Community Service
Feb 26th
Check out these news tidbits that focus on Latino health and education:
Few states have measures for success in serving Latino kids, families
Preliminary findings indicate that states are lagging woefully behind in taking advantage of opportunities to better serve diverse student populations, particularly Latinos and English language learners (ELLs), according to a report released today by the National Council of La Raza, the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S. The report outlines unprecedented developments in U.S. policies and federal funding that would help states improve their early childhood education programs.
NCLR
Latino outreach network gets grant to reduce risk for Alzheimer’s
A $71,000 Desert Healthcare District grant to the Alzheimer’s Association will fund a yearlong outreach into the local Latino community aimed reducing the risk for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. About 35 percent of the district’s population is Latino, who are at higher risk for developing these types of conditions because of the higher incidences of diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and related diseases.
The Desert Sun
Schools recognized for community service
Six colleges and universities have been named as Presidential Awardees in the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement. At one school, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, students contributed more than one million hours of service last year in projects involving more than 150 community organizations. Projects focused on issues such as providing HIV testing and health support to individuals; and outreach to the growing Latino population.
PR Newswire
How Healthy is Your County?
Feb 17th
For the first time, residents from Carolina to California can find out exactly how healthy their county is.
The health status of nearly every one of the nation’s more than 3,000 counties is ranked in the new report, County Health Rankings: Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health, released Feb. 17 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute.
The rankings can be used to mobilize communities to improve health disparities.
A USA Today story draws a few generalizations from the rankings:
Healthier counties tend to be urban and suburban, while most (84%) of the 50 least-healthy counties are rural, sparsely populated areas where care is poor and the economy is depressed. Rates of premature death are also significantly higher (2.5 times) in low-ranked counties.
Find out how healthy your county is here. Watch a video on the rankings here or below:
What U.S. Cities Have the Largest Latino Populations?
Feb 5th
Four Texas cities and three California cities are among the top-10 U.S. cities with the largest Latino populations, according to the Office of Minority Health (OMH) “Hispanic/Latino Profile.”
The full profile is here, including information on Latino:
- Demographics
- Language fluency
- Education
- Insurance coverage
- Health
“Hispanic health is often shaped by factors such as language/cultural barriers, lack of access to preventive care, and the lack of health insurance,” according to the site. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has cited some of the leading causes of illness and death among Hispanics, which include heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries (accidents), stroke, and diabetes. Some other health conditions and risk factors that significantly affect Hispanics are: asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, HIV/AIDS, obesity, suicide, and liver disease.”