November 18th, 2009 by Keith
In today’s Express-News Dr. Fernando Guerra, director of health for the Metropolitan Health District, calls for expanding health insurance coverage in the state:
“While I believe there are many areas where Texas needs to improve, it all has to start with health insurance. Having 30 percent of adults without health insurance is a terrible stressor on our health-care system in the best of times, let alone in a crisis. To that end, Texans should support any health reform that will ensure that we all have affordable access to essential health care services. Without it, we’ll always be behind, struggling under the weight of a population that is sicker than it needs to be.”
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November 18th, 2009 by Keith
The fall issue of the bilingual NIH MedlinePlus Salud magazine is now available. One of the articles in this issue is a profile of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at the age of 8.
Posted in Articles, Hispanic health, Spanish Language Content | No Comments »
November 9th, 2009 by Linda
On November 6, Linda Levy taught two CNE classes for nurses attending a conference at the Gateway Community Health Center in Laredo. Each one-hour class provided an hour of CNE credit for the nurses who attended.
Several UTHSC librarians are certified to teach CNE classes, and there are three different classes: PubMed, Medical Websites for Nurses, and Patient Education Resources from the National Library of Medicine. If you are looking for an opportunity for CNE in the South Texas area, contact the library at (210) 567-2400.
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November 6th, 2009 by Camille
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.
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November 5th, 2009 by Keith
The Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio has developed a new website and blog devoted to Latino health, SaludToday.
Posted in Hispanic health, Websites | No Comments »
October 30th, 2009 by Julie
PHPartners.org, a collaboration of U.S. government agencies, public health organizations and health sciences libraries, has a new topic page on Dental Public Health. The page was created by UT Health Science Center librarians, Julie K. Gaines and Linda S. Levy as part of the dental public health information project, SMILE . The page includes different topics within the dental public health field such as Associations and Organizations, Education and Training, Health Promotion and Education, and Statistics and Data.
Posted in Oral Health, Public Health, Resources, Websites | No Comments »
October 30th, 2009 by Camille
Writers and readers of health blogs now have one way to identify a site as a source of authentic health-related information. The Healthcare Blogger Code of Ethics (HBCE) reviews health blog sites to see if they maintain standards of 1) Clear presentation of perspective 2) Confidentiality 3) Commercial disclosure 4) Reliability of information and 5) Courtesy. Approved sites are listed on their website, and in turn bloggers can download an HBCE button to place on their blog’s homepage to identify themselves. The approved blogs come from a wide range of health interests, written by patients, medical health professionals, and students in both undergraduate and graduate professional health programs. An array of health-related topics are covered from personal accounts of coping with cancer, to the challenges of training to work as a paramedic, to support for independent practice for nurse practitioners. You can review the continuously updated list of medical blogs and patient blogs on their site. To have your blog reviewed so that it can be added, please visit their site here for instructions: http://medbloggercode.com/get-the-code/.
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October 30th, 2009 by Patti
Patti Gutierrez with Dr. Leo Cigarroa
On Tuesday, October 27th from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., Texas A &M International University(TAMIU) hosted a Wicked Wellness Health Fair for students. faculty, staff and the Laredo Community. Participants were able to view over 25 booths set up by various agencies, receive free health information, and also free health screenings. We were also treated to yoga, sumba and spinning class demonstrations by the TAMIU students.
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October 30th, 2009 by Ron
November is American Diabetes Month, and the best way to make people aware of diabetes is to bring the knowledge of what diabetes is, how it can be prevented, and how to live with it. Both the American Diabetes Association and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease have a wealth of information to enlighten and inform. The ADA website has an online diabetes risk calculator to help visitors to the site determine if they may be at more of a risk to develop diabetes, and the NIDDK website has a publication order area where pre-printed information can be ordered free of charge. Both sites provide information English and Spanish.
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October 22nd, 2009 by Patti
25th Annual Update In Medicine Conference
UT Health Science Center at San Antonio – Laredo Campus Extension hosted AHEC’s (the Area Health Education Center of Mid Rio Grande Border Area of Texas, Inc.), 25TH annual update in medicine conference on October 16-17.
The two day event offered continuing education credits to physicians, nurses, social workers and nurse practitioners. The featured topics consisted of topics on abuse, autism, cancer, dementia, depression, COPD, MRSA, STD’s and TB outbreaks.
Keith Cogdill, from UT HSC Briscoe Library presented a PubMed Review training session for our local doctors. The PubMed participants received a special hands-on training about the PubMed database.
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