Category: News

Dr. Aisenberg participates in WA DOH Spanish panel on COVID-19 & mental health

The Washington State Department of Health, Univisión Seattle, and the Latino Center for Health (LCH) co-hosted a Spanish-speaking virtual panel on February 25, 2021 about mental health & wellbeing in times of COVID. Among the panelists was Dr. Gino Aisenberg, associate professor of the School of Social Work and co-director of LCH.

When asked about what we can do to improve our mental health and wellbeing during this pandemic, Dr. Aisenberg gave some fun and easy examples: “Listening to music, cooking our favorite foods like a delicious mole, or doing exercise, like playing volleyball in your home with the family, but with a balloon instead of a ball.”

You can watch the full recording of the Spanish-speaking panel here:

And here is the English voiceover of the recording:

GO-MAP BIPOC Peer-to-Peer Mentoring Program: Applications Now Open!

Are you a BIPOC student interested in being a mentor or a mentee? Then the GO-MAP BIPOC Peer-to-Peer Mentoring Program is for you! 

What is the GO-MAP BIPOC Peer-to-Peer Mentoring Program? 

The GO-MAP BIPOC Peer-to-Peer Mentoring Program is a program designed for graduate students to gain and utilize their mentorship skills to support undergraduate students in their academic and non-academic successes.  

GO-MAP helps create an inclusive and equitable campus environment through its focused efforts. The GO-MAP Graduate Student Advisory Board (GSAB) leads the BIPOC Peer-to-Peer Mentoring Program.  

Because we know and understand that it can be difficult for BIPOC students to navigate a predominately white institution, our hope is for this mentoring program to help aid in the difficulties and inequalities that come with being a BIPOC student at the UW.  

Application Deadline: March 19, 2021  

Application Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSehIQ24nspnKTBeEO_DGW-hq6B_-5gg0DNGxBGidW5pshigHw/viewform 

Please reach out to Brittany Ulloa (bulloa@uw.edu) or Jessica Ramirez with any questions (jr72@uw.edu)  

FAQs: 

How does it work?  

Graduate student mentors and mentees will be asked to fill out a short application form for the program staff to 1) get to know you more and 2) to choose and match mentors to mentees. Once selected, program staff will connect mentors and mentees via email. More information will be detailed in your email introduction to the program.  

What is the commitment? 

  • 1 academic year (Spring 2021 until the end of Spring 2022 for our pilot program)  
  • Very flexible to work around your schedule (arranged between mentor/mentee)  
  • Quarterly check in’s with program staff (members of GO-MAP and GSAB)  
  • Welcome Orientation via Zoom in April 2021 

Who should be a mentor?  

  • BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color) Graduate Student–Masters and/or PhD  
  • BIPOC graduate students who are passionate about and value 
  • BIPOC graduate students who want to share their experiences with undergraduate students  

What benefits could you gain as a mentor? 

  • Enhancing your mentorship skills, especially for those who see themselves as future faculty members or leaders in other sectors  
  • Formal workshop on how to be an effective mentor with inclusive, diverse, and equitable 
  • Genuine connections with fellow graduate student mentors and undergraduate

Who should be a mentee?  

  • BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color) Undergraduate Students  
  • BIPOC undergraduate students wanting support within an educational experience  

What benefits might you gain as a mentee?  

  • One-on-one academic and career advice from mentors  
  • Resume and CV building support from mentors  
  • Resources/Networking (i.e. support on an application, an internship opportunity) from mentors  

LCH Research Director shares her experience: Getting the COVID-19 vaccine

Ventanilla de Salud Seattle (‘Health Window’ in Spanish), a health promotion program developed by the Mexican government via the Mexican Consulate in Seattle and operated by Sea Mar Community Health Centers, interviewed the Center’s Research Director Dr. Nathalia Jimenez in Spanish last week to learn about her experience receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

Dr. Jimenez is an anesthesiologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital–a front-line healthcare worker and therefore eligible to get vaccinated during this first phase.

[Translated from Spanish] “I feel very fortunate for having the privilege of receiving the vaccine. I also feel much more at ease personally, because my risk of contracting COVID-19 is practically minimal. And I feel a responsibility to talk with others and share my experience, and particularly as a person who is part of the Latino community, I think it’s important that we all realize that our community has been disproportionately affected by this pandemic […] and therefore I want to encourage my community to get vaccinated.”

You can watch the whole interview here:

LCH announces 2nd Annual Student Scholars Fellowship Program recipients

An outstanding cohort of eight students in health sciences programs across the campuses of the University of Washington and Heritage University have been selected as the recipients of the Latino Center for Health 2nd Annual Student Scholars Fellowship Program.

The purpose of this program is to support the next generation of leaders and scholars who are committed to promoting the health and well-being of Latinx communities in Washington State. “This fellowship program provides crucial funding to students,” says Dr. Gino Aisenberg, associate professor in the UW School of Social Work and co-director of the Latino Center for Health. “It’s also a great opportunity for them to connect with students from other disciplines and with faculty and staff of the Center,” adds Dr. Aisenberg.

The eight students selected for this year’s fellowship program are:

  • Janella Bermudez, DDS student, UW School of Dentistry
  • Noahloni Garcia, MSW student, UW School of Social Work
  • Paola Herrera, BSW student, Heritage University
  • Natasha Ludwig-Barron, PhD student in Epidemiology, UW School of Public Health
  • Veronica Ramirez Ramsay, BA student in Healthcare Leadership, UW Tacoma
  • Roberto Rodriguez, PharmD student, UW School of Pharmacy
  • Maria Itzel Soto, MSW student, UW School of Social Work
  • Maria Wood-Rodriguez, DNP student, UW School of Nursing

“The recipients of the Latino Center for Health Student Scholars Fellowship Program are the future leaders of Latino communities in our state and region,” says Dr. Leo Morales, professor and assistant dean at the UW School of Medicine and co-director of the Latino Center for Health. “They are the most important aspect of the Latino Center for Health’s aspirations and vision.”

The fellowship program spans both winter and spring quarters, which began last Monday, January 4, 2021 and will conclude on June 11, 2021.

Spanish Language Panel on COVID-19 Vaccines Informs Latinx Community in WA

Medical experts, including from the UW, provided critical information to the Spanish-speaking population in our state to address frequently asked questions, concerns, fears and myths regarding the vaccinations against the raging COVID-19 disease.  The Latino Center for Health (LCH) and the Washington State Department of Health sponsored this webinar held on December 16, 2020.

Dr. Leo Morales, co-director of LCH and Assistant Dean in the UW School of Medicine; Dr. Santiago Neme, Medical Director of UWMC – NW Campus and infectious disease specialist; Dr. Julián Pérez, a physician from Sea Mar Community Health Centers; and Dr. Matías Valenzuela, Equity Director of Public Health Seattle & King County served as panelists.  Pablo Gaviria, a reporter from Univision Seattle, moderated this discussion.  This well-attended webinar serves as an important and necessary resource to inform our Latinx communities throughout the state as vaccinations are made available and to hopefully promote health and health equity.  In Washington, Latinos are 4.2 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than whites, and they account for 35% of COVID-19 cases in our state while constituting only 13% of the state’s population. 

“As a city and state, we need to ensure the equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, which means prioritizing communities that have been disproportionately impacted by SARS-CoV-2 infections and associated deaths including Latino and Spanish-speaking communities,” says Dr. Leo Morales. “This webinar is a first step in that direction.”

Here is a link to the video recording of the webinar from KOMO’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/KOMONews/videos/158088332724444

LCH-affiliated faculty & student publish articles on Latinx COVID disparities

Latino Center for Health-affiliated faculty Drs. Barbara Baquero, Carmen Gonzalez, Maggie Ramirez, and India Ornelas, along with a member of LCH’s student advisory committee doctoral student Erica Chavez, published an article in the peer-reviewed journal Health Education & Behavior last month. The article, titled Understanding and Addressing Latinx
COVID-19 Disparities in Washington State, describes key factors contributing to COVID-19-related health inequities faced by Latinx communities in WA and provides recommendations for how to address them.

Download article

Based on this peer-reviewed article, Dr. Baquero et al. also published an op-ed in the Seattle Times last month, highlighting the importance of focusing on the health needs of those most in need, including Latinx communities. You can read the article here.