Staying Well Connecteds

Staying Well. Connected.

Play Brings Pesticide Risk Awareness to Farmworkers

EPA Region 6 has published an interactive humorous play designed to increase safety awareness for individuals who work in areas that are treated with pesticides. The play, called “El Moscas” y los Pesticidas was written by a former migrant worker, Mr. Nephtalí De León, with input from federal, state and health agencies that have a shared interest in providing and communicating information about pesticide awareness.   

The play was performed on Saturday, October 23, 2010 by migrant and seasonal farmworker students from the Children in the Fields Campaign’s Pan American Texas Youth Council before an audience of over 700 community members at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle, in San Juan, TX.

To view the script, and to get more information about “El Moscas” y los Pesticidas, please visit:  http://www.epa.gov/region6/water/beyondtranslation/2009/elmoscas.html

Posted in South Texas, Spanish Language Content, Staying Well. Connected. | Comments Off

Health disparities for minority children with frequent ear infections

A recent study that appears in the the November issue of the journal Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery indicates that Hispanic and Black children who experience frequent ear infections are less likely to have access to health care than White children.  Living below the poverty level, lack of insurance, and lack of access to specialty care are all related factors that create a health disparity for families who cannot afford timely clinical care or prescriptions and who may have to rely on the hospital emergency department.  Article co-author Dr. Nina Shapiro from UCLA stated, “Clearly, we found that children of certain ethnicities who suffer from frequent ear infections are more likely to face greater barriers to care. This information provides an opportunity for improvements in our current healthcare reform.”

Posted in Minority health, Staying Well. Connected. | Comments Off

New “Women and Diabetes” PSA Available

In recognition of American Diabetes Month, the FDA Office of Women’s Health has developed a new video public service announcement (PSA) entitled “Women and Diabetes”. The PSA provides tips to help women with diabetes safely use their diabetes medicines.

The PSA can be viewed at: www.fda.gov/womensdiabetes.

Posted in Staying Well. Connected. | Comments Off

LBJ High School Students attend PubMed Database Training at UTHSC Regional Campus

On Thursday, October 14, 2010, the UT Medical Library of the Regional Campus in Laredo hosted 48 students from LBJ high school in Laredo along with several teachers and librarians.  The students, who are taking special research classes, received hands on database training on PubMed, which includes more than 20 million citations to biomedical literature from the MEDLINE database, life science journals, and online books.   The students and teachers were thrilled with their learning experience and hands on training of PubMed.   Ms. Ramon librarian of LBJ high school commented that the Laredo library staff “was so instrumental in paving the way for our students to find what they needed to complete their research.”

Posted in Staying Well. Connected. | Comments Off

16th National Symposium on Juvenile Services

San Antonio hosted the 16th National Symposium on Juvenile Services on October 10th-12th. The 3-day event expected over 400 juvenile justice professionals to attend for  training workshops. Training topics covered the care, management and programming for youth in detention centers. The symposium is sponsored by the National Partnership for Juvenile Services (NPJS). The NPJS mission is to: advocate for youth,  families, and communities, promote best practices and standards, and provide professional development for practitioners serving at-risk and delinquent youth. UTHSCSA Libraries staff member Peg Seger exhibited at the symposium to introduce MedlinePlus and other NN/LM resources to those attending.

Posted in Conferences, Staying Well. Connected., UTHSCSA Library News | Comments Off

6th Annual San Antonio Health Literacy Conference

A record 152 people attended the 6th Annual San Antonio Health Literacy Conference held in downtown San Antonio on Friday, October 8th. Sponsored by the San Antonio Health Literacy Initiative (SAHLI), the theme of this years’ conference was Improving Health Literacy Across the Lifespan: Growing Wiser and Healthier. SAHLI is a program of the San Antonio Health Cooperative and brings together local organizations for collaboration. The annual conference is held to: provide information, tools, and techniques to healthcare professionals, educators, nonprofit healthcare organizations, and the public. Conference attendees were able to select from a wide variety of workshops given throughout the day on health literacy topics. Poster sessions offered additional information and resources. Keynote speaker Jerald Winakur, MD, FACP, CMD provided a fitting end to the day with his presentation on Ethical Caregiving in Aging America: Challenges and Opportunities.

For information on SAHLI membership contact: edela.fuentes@healthcollaborative.net or Elvira.landeros@healtcollaborative.net

Posted in Conferences, Staying Well. Connected. | Comments Off

Binational Health Week celebration in Laredo

Binational Health Week Reception

In honor of Binational Health Week, the UTHSC Laredo Library held a reception on Wednesday, October 13.  The Library’s special guest was Mr. Victor Oliveros.  Mr. Oliveros is a retired epidemiologist from the Laredo Health Department, and he is still active with committees and projects addressing border health issues.  Mr. Oliveros recently donated a collection of his public health materials and slide presentations to the Laredo Library.  The materials, dating primarily from the 1970s and 1980s, focus on environmental and public health concerns such as rabies, garbage pickup, and water/waste water treatment.  Some of his materials have been added to the Laredo Library’s collection, and many of the slides have been digitized.

Posted in Staying Well. Connected. | Comments Off

20th Annual San Fernando Health and Safety Fair

Saturday, October 2nd, proved to be a beautiful day for the 20th Annual San Fernando Health and Safety Fair. The fair was held on the grounds of the San Fernando Cathedral in downtown San Antonio. Over 400 volunteers including doctors, dentists, nurses, community workers and students make the fair possible each year. The UTHSC library staff has participated in this primarily outdoor event come rain or shine for a number of years. This year staff members Keith Cogdill and Peg Seger enjoyed the good weather while introducing MedlinePlus consumer health information to fair participants. Free screenings provided at the fair included: body mass index, cholesterol, blood pressure, vision, dental, podiatry, dermatology, mammography, prostate, and diebetes. Founded by Father Vergil Elizondo, the fair has 3 primary objectives.

(1) Provide a “safe harbor” setting for medically underserved with personalized health screenings, education, and referral services by specialized health professionals.

(2) Provide follow up services for participants with abnormal/high risk screening results.

(3) Link children, elderly, the working poor, an others with language, cultural, financial or eligibility barriers to service with a wide-range of health care and education providers.

Posted in Health Fairs, Staying Well. Connected., UTHSCSA Library News | Comments Off

Gift to Laredo Health Department to Help Combat Cancer

On September 29, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) donated $2.5 million to the Laredo Health Department to aid in the fight against cancer in the border region of Texas.  The money will be used to carry out a prevention and public education campaign, in addition to a program to help get citizens to take early detection tests that will help to avoid the development of cancer.   According to Hector Gonzalez, health director, this is the largest gift ever received to combat cancer in the community.

Posted in Staying Well. Connected. | Comments Off

Text Messaging as a Supplement to Traditional Disease Surveillance

The August issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases includes a report about how Mexico’s Ministry of Health relied on a text message-based survey to supplement traditional surveillance methods during the H1N1 outbreak in 2009. The speed of responses to the survey is highlighted, as are the limitations of the data collected: “Our study was limited by potential selection bias, recall bias, and inclusion of mostly young persons from urban areas.”

Posted in Reports, Staying Well. Connected. | Comments Off