Tag: latino health

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.

KNKX reports on Latinxs & COVID-19 in WA featuring LCH

Following the Center’s webinar last month titled, “The Burden of COVID-19 on Latinx Communities in WA State”, KNKX published an article reporting on the various reasons that might explain why Latinxs are so disproportionately affected by COVID-19 in our state.

You can read more by clicking here!

Or by copying and pasting the following link to your internet browser: https://www.knkx.org/post/farmworkers-can-t-pick-apples-through-zoom-experts-explore-why-latinos-hit-hard-covid

LCH Co-Directors featured in King 5 series “Facing Race”

On an episode that aired on November 15, King 5’s “Facing Race” series highlighted the experience of immigrants living in Washington, including negative stereotypes they face, the impact of racism on their health, and much more.

The Center’s co-directors Dr. Leo Morales and Dr. Gino Aisenberg were featured in this episode, where they discuss the disproportionate rate of COVID-19 among Latinx communities in the state of Washington.

Dr. Morales comes on at 10:40 and Dr. Aisenberg comes on at 13:13.

South Seattle Emerald reports on Latinx physician shortage in WA

South Seattle Emerald recently published an article reporting on the shortage of Latinx physicians in the state of Washington and the systemic factors underlying the issue. The Center’s Co-Director Dr. Leo Morales was featured in the piece.

“This is not a case of saying let’s admit more Latinx people to medical school,” he said. “It’s a systemic problem, because we have unequal educational opportunities in society.”

You can check out the article and read more by clicking here!

Or by copying and pasting the following link on your internet browser: https://southseattleemerald.com/2020/11/07/washington-state-faces-a-shortage-of-latinx-doctors-unless-systemic-changes-are-made/

LCH Co-Director featured in KIRO 7 News: Latinx physician shortage in WA

The Center’s Co-Director Dr. Leo Morales was recently featured in a KIRO 7 news piece, where he speaks about the shortage of Latinx physicians in the state of Washington, including some of the reasons driving this shortage. The piece, titled Western Washington Gets Real: A Critical Lack of Latina Doctors, also features Dr. Lorena Alarcon-Casas Wright, a bilingual-bicultural endocrinologist at UW Medicine.

You can check out the video and read more by clicking here!

Or by copying and pasting the following link on your internet browser: https://www.kiro7.com/home/western-washington-gets-real-critical-lack-latina-doctors/KY7S6FAC2JFADMCDQ3OOS52S4M/#continue_below

Dr. Maggie Ramirez interviewed by Alzheimer’s Association

“Early on in my undergraduate career, I made it a goal to pursue an academic career focused on making a positive impact on the health and well-being of patients and their families. While in graduate school, I learned about racial/ethnic disparities in health and healthcare delivery. Given my background and upbringing, I was particularly drawn to inequities experienced by Latinos due to ethnicity and socioeconomic status, and I began focusing my work on this population.”

Read more here: https://www.alz.org/blog/alz/october-2020/alzheimers-association-funded-researcher-focuses-o

Webinar: The Burden of COVID-19 on Latinx Communities in WA State

On September 23rd, 2020, the Latino Center for Health (LCH) hosted a webinar to raise awareness of the largely hidden disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on Latinx communities across Washington State and to amplify community- and state-led response efforts happening in our rural and urban communities.

https://youtu.be/24mEl29h22E
https://youtu.be/Nqd7pjAqfF4

“The fact that 42% all COVID cases in WA are among Latinos, who are only 13% of the population, is shocking and demands more attention and action,” says Dr. Leo Morales, professor and assistant dean for Health Equity Research in the UW School of Medicine and co-director of the Latino Center for Health. “We hope this webinar will spur decision-makers at the highest levels to respond with targeted policies and resources.”

See Dr. Leo Morales’ slides on inequities of COVID-19 in WA State here:Download

In preparation for this webinar, LCH convened representatives from different community organizations working with Latinxs to learn about their experiences during the pandemic. We invited a few of these representatives to share their perspectives at a panel discussion during the webinar.

At this panel discussion, we got to hear from different community leaders about the diverse needs of Latinx communities in the state of Washington.

“Since early March of this year, community leaders across the state have come together to identify and help mitigate impacts they knew were going to negatively affect our community, a few examples being emergency financial aid for undocumented individuals, worker safety rules for our farmworkers and other essential workers, and access to culturally and linguistically relevant information. We are lucky to live in a state with accessible and attentive leaders that have done their best to mitigate impacts but we have a long way to erasing inequities in our system, magnified by the pandemic, which have caused so much pain and hardship for our community,” says María Sigüenza, Executive Director of the Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs.