Dr. Amelie Ramirez Wins AACI Cancer Health Equity Award


Amelie Ramirez of UT Health San Antonio health equity Systemic and Behavioral Change

Dr. Amelie Ramirez, leader of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio, has won the 2023 Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) Cancer Health Equity Award. The award recognizes exceptional leadership in promoting health equity, mitigating cancer disparities, and advocating for diversity and inclusion at a cancer center. Past winners are Dr. Robert A. Winn of the VCU Massey Cancer Center and Dr. Electra D. Paskett of Ohio State University. Ramirez, nominated by the award by former Mays Cancer Center Director Dr. Ruben Mesa, will be recognized at AACI's annual meeting Oct. 2, 2023. "I am honored to receive the AACI Cancer Health Equity Award. It recognizes the hard work we do at the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio to promote health equity, study new ...

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#SaludTues Tweetchat 9/5/23: Building a Healthier Future for Latinos


healthy communities for latino and diverse populations

Latinos face many challenges to good health. Equitable access to healthcare is often out of reach. Discrimination is a reality for many, along with financial toxicity, limited health food, and unstable housing, transportation, and childcare. But we have an opportunity to create healthy changes. Let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023, to share how everyone – from healthcare to schools to local decision-makers – can get involved in building healthier communities for Latinos and all people as we near Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 to Oct. 15)! WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: Building a Healthier Future for Latinos TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023 WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues HOST: @SaludAmerica CO-HOSTS: ...

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Watch Webinar: How to Systemically Address Social Needs in Healthcare Settings



Latinos face inequities in social determinants of health (SDoH), from housing to healthcare, making it harder to achieve health equity. Watch the UT Health San Antonio webinar — “How to Systemically Address Social Needs in Healthcare Settings” — which was held at 11 a.m. CST on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, to explore how healthcare settings can care for patients' medical and SDoH needs. Panelists from UT Health San Antonio, Nemours Children's Health, HOPE Clinic in Houston, the American Cancer Society, and Genentech unpacked SDoH screening, a strategy that clinics, hospitals, and healthcare systems can use to check patients for social needs and connect them to needed resources. This is a part of a webinar of a series, “Let’s Address Health Equity Together.” The ...

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Is Machismo a Healthcare Barrier for Latino Men?


latino men don't go to doctor

Research suggests that men, regardless of race/ethnicity, are generally less likely to go to the doctor than women. But some men who value masculinity, such as Latinos with the “machismo” mindset, may be even less likely to seek routine medical care compared to their peers. Let’s explore more reasons why Latino and all men are less likely to go to the doctor, the consequences of delaying healthcare, and how to help men get the care they need. Exploring the Machismo Mindset of Latino Men Latinos as a whole face many systemic barriers to healthcare, including a lack of access to affordable health insurance, discrimination and physician implicit bias, lack of access to culturally competent care, and immigration status fears. But there could be an additional barrier to ...

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SDoH Screening Is Tackling Social Needs of Patients in US Community Health Centers


A bite of HOPE SDoH screening

Since the 1960s, community health centers (also called Federally Qualified Health Centers) have made it their mission to increase people’s access to primary healthcare by reducing barriers, such as cost, lack of insurance, distance, and language. But beyond clinic walls, many people have big social needs, like unstable housing, that hurt their health. That is why the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) helped create a social determinants of health (SDoH) screening tool – PRAPARE® (Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patient’s Assets, Risks and Experiences) – to enable community health centers to identify social needs among patients and refer them to local resources for aid. Today, PRAPARE® helps hundreds of community health centers, like the ...

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The American Heart Association Is Helping Businesses Address SDoH, Health Disparities


heart health

The conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age – known as social determinants of health (SDoH) – can greatly help or harm our health. More health organizations and healthcare facilities are recognizing the impact SDoH has on overall health, especially in marginalized and medically underserved areas, such as in some Latino communities. The American Heart Association is one of these organizations. That is why they created the EmPOWERED to Serve Business Accelerator™, a program that supports local communities, small businesses, social entrepreneurs, and innovators in addressing health disparities through training, mentorship, and funding opportunities. Let’s explore the relationship between SDoH and heart health, and what the American Heart Association is ...

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Nemours Children’s Health Goes Beyond Medicine to Cure Families’ Social Needs  


SDoH Screening for children

Nemours Children’s Health knows healthcare is more than just medicine. The conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age – known as social determinants of health (SDoH) – can greatly help or harm our health. That is why Nemours gave multiple leaders, including Kelli Thompson, director of population health management; Na-Tasha Williams, population health specialist; and Alex Koster, senior director of the value-based care data analytics and IT department; the space to begin developing a SDoH screening program in 2018. The SDoH screening program is now fully implemented or being piloted in multiple Nemours locations, including in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Florida. To screen patients for social needs, such as food and housing insecurity, Nemours uses an ...

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Tech Entrepreneur Erik Cardenas Brings Affordable Healthcare to Latinos


Erik Cardenas healthcare

A young Erik Cardenas sat quietly in his chair, gently swinging his legs back and forth. He clasped his hands together and observed the clinic waiting room. He could hear some patients chattering with family members in Spanish. Others looked like they could doze off any minute. “Cardenas?” called out a nurse holding a clipboard. Erik sprung from his chair and followed his parents and the nurse into the doctor’s office. He was glad the waiting game was over. “As Mexican immigrants living in Houston, my parents didn't have the best access to healthcare,” a grown Cardenas recalled. “I have a lot of memories of waiting hours at community safety net clinics, and after a multiple hour wait, you were lucky to see the doctor for five minutes.” Cardenas also recalls ...

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The Commercial Determinants of Health


commercial determinants of health

In the last few years of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have come to appreciate the critical importance of public health. In honor of National Public Health Week 2023 (Monday April 3 through Sunday April 9), we’re highlighting an emerging public health concern that impacts health outcomes worldwide: the commercial determinants of health (CDoH). Let’s examine why CDoH is gaining more attention among public health professionals, and how we can address its negative health impacts. What are the Commercial Determinants of Health? In the past decade, public health practitioners have noted the growing influence of companies on federal laws and policies. As a result, companies have gained more power in shaping our social, physical, and cultural environments through business ...

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