The South Texas Blood & Tissue Center (STBTC) is currently in need of O negative type donors. In collaboration with area blood banks supplying Ft. Hood victims, STBTC has sent out O negative blood and platelets. O negative blood is the universal blood type and can be transfused to a patient of any blood type in an emergency. Platelet donations are also being collected by appointment this weekend. STBTC has six locations in San Antonio, one in New Braunfels and one in Victoria, Texas. All locations are currently accepting O negative donors. Visit www.southtexasblood.org or call 210.731.5990 for location hours or directions. Every day in South Texas, 600 units of blood are required in hospitals and emergency treatment facilities to help save lives of patients with cancer and other diseases, organ transplant recipients and accident victims. Donors must present identification. Anyone who is 16 years old weighing 120 pounds (with parental consent form), or at least 17 years old weighing 110 pounds and in good general health may donate blood. They have movies to watch and you’re welcome to bring your own. Takes about 1.5 to 2 hours to contribute.
South Texas
Type O Negative Blood Donors Needed
U.S. Border Residents Seeking Care in Mexico
A study scheduled for publication in the November 2008 issue of AJPH examines the factors associated with Mexican-American border residents’ use of health services in Mexico. The authors, from UT-Pan Am and the UT School of Public Health in Austin, found that middle-income Mexican-Americans were more likely to seek care in Mexico:
“An interesting profile of users and nonusers of Mexican health care emerged from these findings; those at the opposite ends of the household income categories were less likely to use medical care in Mexico for entirely different reasons. Participants with household incomes below $7000 reported either Medicaid coverage or dependence on free or reduced cost medical care in the United States. Conversely, those reporting incomes higher than $30000 were more likely to have private health insurance and used US health care. Participants in the… middle-income categories were more likely to be uninsured and to use medical care in Mexico.”
A key conclusion is that, “… as the health care system in the United States becomes increasingly expensive relative to the alternative in Mexico, the incentive to cross the border for health care will remain an important option for border residents and an important dimension of the border’s social context.”
Upcoming day camp for children of fallen soldiers
Camp Operation Render Comfort is a free day-camp program offered by the Southwest Mental Health Center, for children and teens from across Texas who have lost a loved one in Afghanistan and Iraq. The October 6 program is sponsored by a $10,000 grant from the Texas Resources for Iraq-Afghanistan Deployment (TRIAD) Fund of the San Antonio Area Foundation and includes workshops for parents as well as activities for children and teens.
UT Library Staff Members Travel to Laredo
Linda teaching the MedEd participants
Library staff members recently spent several active days in Laredo. On Tuesday, July 13, and Wednesday, July 14, Linda Levy and Paula Maez worked with about 30 high school students participating in the MedEd program summer camp. Using scenarios based on the Gulf oil spill disaster, Linda and Paula introduced the students to health professionals and scientists who might be involved and the information resources that they might use. The students learned to use resources such as PubMed (physicians), ToxNet (toxicologists), MedlinePlus (volunteers), the CDC site (food scientists), and the EPA site (epidemiologists and environmental engineers).
On Tuesday afternoon, Paula, Linda, Jorge Martinez, and Keith Cogdill went to Mercy Ministries of Laredo
Teaching the promotoras
to bring two laptops and other equipment purchased through Express Outreach Award funding from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine – South Central Region. The equipment will enhance the delivery of health information that the Mercy promotoras currently provide through community talks and home visits. During this visit, Jorge trained the promotoras to use the equipment, and Linda and the promotoras also spent time practicing with MedlinePlus and MedlinePlus en español, especially focusing on the education videos.
UT-Pan American Nursing Program Receives Financial Contribution
The McAllen Medical Center Foundation has made a $52,000 contribution to The University of Texas Pan-American Foundation as part of a larger scholarship fund for students who are seeking a nursing degree. The funds will aid in faculty development and student scholarships.
UTHealth Researchers Find Diabetics at Higher Risk of Tuberculosis Infection
Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston have announced that people in US-Mexico border communities who are living with diabetes have a three to five times higher risk of contracting tuberculosis. The results of the study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, were published in the May issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization and reported on the UT Health website.
Tuberculosis is an ongoing problem for communities on both sides of the border, such as Laredo and Nuevo Laredo. The two Laredos current have 120 cases of TB, but joint efforts by the two cities’ public health organizations have helped to keep the spread of the disease under control according to a recent article in the Laredo Sun.
The most common signs and symptoms of TB, which is spread through the air, are a cough with phlegm for more than 15 days, sometimes bloody, fever, night sweats, momentary dizziness, chills and weight loss.
UTHSC pilot project funded to investigate methods for diabetes education
Dr. Adelita Cantu from the UT Health Science Center (UTHSC) School of Nursing and colleagues from UTSA, the Texas Diabetes Institute, and UTHSC recently received funding from the Institute for Integration of Medicine and Science for a one-year pilot project on diabetes education. This project forms an “innovative academic-community partnership” to investigate and better understand “how Mexican Americans with diabetes or at risk of diabetes use health information to make daily decisions about their self care management.” Investigators hope to determine whether participation in Salsa Caliente, a specially tailored curriculum, and enhanced education about accessing health information on the Internet will make a difference in diabetes awareness, management, and knowledge vs participation in Salsa Caliente alone. Half of the participants in this project will receive a laptop computer to use at home and will be trained to use MedlinePlus and other reliable Internet sites. The other half of the participants will receive general education and will not have immediate access to a computer. The project will end on April 30, 2011.
Valley Doula Program to support mother & baby health
Yesterday’s Valley Morning Star featured an article on doulas — trained childbirth educators/supporters — and a new Rio Grande Valley pilot program funded by an HHS grant that will offer free doula services to 100 women who are patients at the region’s community health centers, including Su Clinica Familiar in Harlingen and Nuestra Clinica del Valle in Pharr. The goal of the program is to measure the impact of doula involvement specifically on new mothers’ mental health and wellbeing; however, the article mentions some studies that have shown positive correlation between doula involvement (also called “continuous labor support” in the literature) and physical outcomes such as higher rates of breastfeeding intent and early introduction, reduced rates of c-sections in some first-time mothers, and reduced use of obstetric pain relief interventions. The two studies mentioned in the Valley Morning Star article are:
- Mottl-Santiago J, Walker C, Ewan J, Vragovic O, Winder S, Stubblefield P. A Hospital-Based Doula Program and Childbirth Outcomes in an Urban, Multicultural Setting. Matern Child Health J [forthcoming]. doi:10.1007/s10995-007-0245-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10995-007-0245-9
- Leeman L, Fontaine P, King V, Klein MC, Ratcliffe S. The Nature and Management of Labor Pain: Part I. Nonpharmacologic Pain Relief. Am Fam Physician 2003 Sep 15;68(6):1109-12. http://www.aafp.org/afp/20030915/1109.html [Open Access]
Two additional citations from the second article above give further insight into the research on doula intervention:
- Simkin PP, O’Hara M. Nonpharmacologic relief of pain during labor: systematic reviews of five methods. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2002;186(Suppl 5):S131-59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0002-9378(02)70188-9
- Hodnett ED, Gates S, Hofmeyr GJ, Sakala C. Continuous support for women during childbirth. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 3. Art No: CD003766. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD003766.pub2. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD003766.pub2
Veterans’ health care in South Texas: one goal, different paths
In recent weeks, there’s been considerable controversy over the VA’s ideas for expansion in South Texas. Here’s a sampling of some of the differing views that have been expressed in the papers: a September 11 article from the Rio Grande Guardian, one from September 21 in The Monitor, and one from August 21 in the San Antonio Express-News.
If you’re interested in the background, here’s the full text of the report they’re all citing: VA Health Care Study for Inpatient and Specialty Outpatient Services in the South Texas Valley-Coastal Bend Market.
The one thing everyone agrees on is that a 10-hour round-trip drive for care is much too far!
VII Semana Binacional de Salud
The Seventh Binational Health Week will take place October 13-21, 2007 in 31 states in the U.S. and 3 provinces in Canada, with the participation of the 46 Mexican consulates, 11 Guatemalan consulates, 12 Salvadoran consulates, 9 Colombian consulates and the Mexican states with high rates of migration. Major events will include the inaugural event and Binational Policy Forum on Migration and Health to be held in Los Angeles on 14-16 October, a workshop for promotores de salud in El Paso on 11 October, and the closing event in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas on 19 October. Other events including health fairs, screenings, vaccination, and preventative health promotion will take place in over 200 cities across North America through the Mexican consular network and cooperating partner institutions.
La VIIa Semana Binacional de Salud se llevará a cabo del 13 al 21 de octubre del 2007 en 31 estados de los EE UU y 3 provincias de Canadá, con la participación de los 46 consulados de México, 11 consulados de Guatemala, 12 consulados de El Salvador, 9 consulados colombianos y los estados mexicanos con tasas altas de migración. Eventos importantes incluyen la apertura y Foro Binacional de Políticas Públicas en Salud y Migración, que se presentará en Los Angeles del 14 al 16 de octubre, un taller para promotoras/promotores de salud en El Paso el 11 de octubre, y la clausura en Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas el 19 de octubre. Otros eventos tales como ferias de salud, vacunación y promoción de salud preventiva ocurrirán en más de 200 ciudades norteamericanas a través de la red consular mexicana y otras instituciones. Cobertura de Notimex aquí.
