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Cancer statistics for Hispanics/Latinos, 2012 by Rebecca Siegel MPH, Deepa Naishadham MA, MS, Ahmedin Jemal DVM, PhD

Article first published online: 17 SEP 2012

Abstract

Hispanics/Latinos are the largest and fastest growing major demographic group in the United States, accounting for 16.3% (50.5 million/310 million) of the US population in 2010. In this article, the American Cancer Society updates a previous report on cancer statistics for Hispanics using incidence data from the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries and mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics. In 2012, an estimated 112,800 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed and 33,200 cancer deaths will occur among Hispanics. In 2009, the most recent year for which actual data are available, cancer surpassed heart disease as the leading cause of death among Hispanics. Among US Hispanics during the past 10 years of available data (2000-2009), cancer incidence rates declined by 1.7% per year among men and 0.3% per year among women, while cancer death rates declined by 2.3% per year in men and 1.4% per year in women. Hispanics have lower incidence and death rates than non-Hispanic whites for all cancers combined and for the 4 most common cancers (breast, prostate, lung and bronchus, and colorectum). However, Hispanics have higher incidence and mortality rates for cancers of the stomach, liver, uterine cervix, and gallbladder, reflecting greater exposure to cancer-causing infectious agents, lower rates of screening for cervical cancer, differences in lifestyle and dietary patterns, and possibly genetic factors. Strategies for reducing cancer risk among Hispanics include increasing utilization of screening and available vaccines, as well as implementing effective interventions to reduce obesity, alcohol consumption, and tobacco use. CA Cancer J Clin 2012;. © 2012 American Cancer Society.

New research out of Cornell University's College of Human Ecology found that low-income children of immigrants have much poorer health than low-income children of citizens, as reported in a special section of the journal Child Development.

 

Abstract

STUDY OBJECTIVE:

To compare interpreter errors and their potential consequences in encounters with professional versus ad hoc versus no interpreters.

METHODS:

This was a cross-sectional error analysis of audiotaped emergency department (ED) visits during 30 months in the 2 largest pediatric EDs in Massachusetts. Participants were Spanish-speaking limited-English-proficient patients, caregivers, and their interpreters. Outcome measures included interpreter error numbers, types, and potential consequences.

RESULTS:

The 57 encounters included 20 with professional interpreters, 27 with ad hoc interpreters, and 10 with no interpreters; 1,884 interpreter errors were noted, and 18% had potential clinical consequences. The proportion of errors of potential consequence was significantly lower for professional (12%) versus ad hoc (22%) versus no interpreters (20%). Among professional interpreters, previous hours of interpreter training, but not years of experience, were significantly associated with error numbers, types, and potential consequences. The median errors by professional interpreters with greater than or equal to 100 hours of training was significantly lower, at 12, versus 33 for those with fewer than 100 hours of training. Those with greater than or equal to 100 hours of training committed significantly lower proportions of errors of potential consequence overall (2% versus 12%) and in every error category.

CONCLUSION:

Professional interpreters result in a significantly lower likelihood of errors of potential consequence than ad hoc and no interpreters. Among professional interpreters, hours of previous training, but not years of experience, are associated with error numbers, types, and consequences. These findings suggest that requiring at least 100 hours of training for interpreters might have a major impact on reducing interpreter errors and their consequences in health care while improving quality and patient safety.

Copyright © 2012. Published by Mosby, Inc.

Patient-Centered, Provider-Managed, Interpreter-Facilitated Human Communication ©We prepare professional medical interpreters for the clinical setting - hospitals and clinics, where your knowledge of medical terminology and professional interpreting skills are critical.We teach three categories of professional online training programs to ensure that our students are comfortably placed in an appropriate e-learning environment with regard to their skills and experience.Our regular Professional Medical Interpreter Training Program, our Fast Track Program for Bilingual Healthcare Professionals, and our Comprehensive Language Neutral Program with Language Pack are designed to build a strong understanding of medical terminology and and of the ethical role, standards, techniques, and principles of accurate professional medical interpreting.

 OVERVIEW OF NATIONAL BOARDThe mission of the National Board is to foster improved healthcare outcomes, patient safety and patient/provider communication, by elevating the standards for and quality of medical interpreting through a nationally recognized and accredited certification for medical interpreters.The CMI certification program is governed by the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters (National Board), an independent division of the International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA). The purposes of the National Board are to:·         Develop, organize, oversee and promote a national medical interpreter certification program in all languages.·         Promote patients and providers working with credentialed medical interpreters who have met minimal national standards to provide accurate and safe interpretation.·         Ensure credibility of national certification by striving to comply with national accreditation standards including transparency, inclusion, and access. The Board of Directors of the National Board consists of 12 voting members that include medical interpreters, a health care provider, industry representatives, and a public member. Initial Board members were selected by a public process and independent selection committee. Subsequently, Board members are recruited through a Nominating Committee process and are elected by the members of the National Board. To see the National Board click here. 

http://www.farmworkercliniciansmanual.com

This comprehensive manual was developed by the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health and the Migrant Clinicians Network for the diagnosis and treatment of occupational injuries in migrant and seasonal farmworkers. The information in the manual does focus on agricultural occupations in the Northeast.

This blog post from the North Carolina Medical Board discusses issues around physician burnout. The blog states: "Burnout among physicians has reached epidemic proportions since it was first described among human services workers in the 1970s. When physicians experience overload, loss of control (autonomy) and a lack of reward (perceived or real) for their contributions, their risk for emotional exhaustion, otherwise known as the burnout syndrome, is astronomical. When physicians begin the downward spiral into burnout, they no longer contribute with their leadership and motivational energy. Instead, they become needy and unintentionally sap energy away from the group. Worse, this syndrome is highly contagious and can systematically infect a whole practice or clinic by reducing meaningful contact among its individual members."

Program pays tuition, required fees, other reasonable costs and a monthly stipend. Preference is given to qualified applicants with the greatest financial need who are enrolled full-time in an undergraduate nursing program.

To promote, foster, create, advance research in chronic illness care.

Hidden Ha­rvest is a nonprofit organization that gleans or rescues produce from Coachella Valley fields and packi­ng houses. After harvest is complete, local farmers leave millions of dollars worth of first-rate produce behind in the fields due to market fluctuations and other factors.

Hidden Harvest takes­ advantage of this bounty and delivers the healthy produce free-of-charge to agencies that serve the hungry and needy

Hidden Harvest's mission is twofold - 1) to hire low income farmworkers at $10 per hour (above prevailing wage) to 2) to"rescue" or glean fresh, healthy and locally grown food from farmers' fields and area packing houses to feed the poor and hungry.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Undergraduate Scholarship Program (UGSP) offers competitive scholarships to students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are committed to careers in biomedical, behavioral, and social science health-related research. The program offers:

  • Scholarship support
  • Paid research training at the NIH during the summer
  • Paid employment and training at the NIH after graduation

SCHOLARSHIP REQUIREMENTS
The NIH Undergraduate Scholarships are awarded on a competitive basis to students who show a commitment to pursuing careers in biomedical, behavioral, and social science health-related research. The following are the basic requirements:

  • U.S. citizen, national, or qualified non-citizen.
  • Enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a full-time student for the 2012-2013 academic year at an accredited, 4-year undergraduate institution.
  • High school seniors are not eligible to apply.
  • 3.5 GPA or higher (on a 4.0 scale) or within the top 5 percent of your class.
  • From a disadvantaged background. Disadvantaged background means that your financial aid office has certified you as having "exceptional financial need." (Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 51)

Scholarship Support

The NIH UGSP will pay up to $20,000 per academic year in tuition, educational expenses, and reasonable living expenses to scholarship recipients. Scholarships are awarded for 1 year, and can be renewed up to 4 years.

Migrant Health Issues Monograph series regarding Disaster Relief for migrant populations.

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This flyer describes oral health for the diabetic.  It is in English and Spanish. 

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This flyer explains diabetes and kidney disease.  Available in Spanish and English.

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This flyer describes depression and the steps to health living.  Available in Spanish and English. 

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The Workbook provides a process that can support state, local,and tribal planners as they advance in their efforts to reach all populations—and specifically, special populations—in day-today communication and during crisis or emergency situations.

The Workbook is divided into three primary sections, each representing a major stage in the process of communicating with special populations,and provides a baseline of research plus selected resources that should substantially reduce the work required of health departments to begin this process.

 

The Place, Migration, and Health (PMH) network, a diverse group of researchers committed to understanding the links between migration processes and the health of migrants, their families.
The PMH website aims to generate and improve knowledge on the links between migration processes and the health of (im)migrants, their families, and their sending and receiving communities using across-national lens for research and policy.
The work of the researchers in the PMH network seeks to address knowledge gaps in areas critical for understanding the determinants of immigrant health and to inform intervention and policy opportunities to promote the the health of first-generation immigrants and their offspring.

The Place, Migration, and Health (PMH) network, a diverse group of researchers committed to understanding the links between migration processes and the health of migrants, their families.

The PMH website aims to generate and improve knowledge on the links between migration processes and the health of (im)migrants, their families, and their sending and receiving communities using across-national lens for research and policy.

The work of the researchers in the PMH network seeks to address knowledge gaps in areas critical for understanding the determinants of immigrant health and to inform intervention and policy opportunities to promote the the health of first-generation immigrants and their offspring.

Use the link below to access MCN's Rapid Assessment Tool to help adolescent farmworkers identify agricultural tasks they perform in agriculture and facilitate clinician understanding about the health risks associated with it.  Youth worker images are adapted and reproduced with permission from the National Children Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety. Images copyrighted through Marshfield Clinic, Marshfield, Wisconsin.

If computers and internet access are unavailable where patient care is provided, the worker assessment sheet and clinician information grid are available in PDF.

The aim of this paper is to describe various approaches that have been taken or could be taken to avoid the linguistic incompatibility that impedes full and equal access to health care on the part of health care providers and their patients when they do not speak the same language.

To help more pregnant women and new moms get information about caring for their health and giving their babies the best possible start in life, the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB) launched text4baby, the first free health text messaging service in the U.S.Text4baby supports moms by providing accurate, text-length health information and resources in a format that is personal and timely, using a channel she knows and uses. Over 85% of Americans own a cell phone and 72% of cell users send or receive text messages.

This article, by the Center for Global Development, provides information about emigration and a comparison of emigration from poor Europe in the 19th century to emigration from other poor parts of the world to the US today.

The importance of clinical diagnostic tools and biomonitoring of exposures to pesticides as well the role of clinicians in pesticide reporting and the challenges clinicians face in accurately diagnosing patients exposed to pesticides are described in a presentation by Matthew Keifer, MD, MPH and Amy K. Liebman, MPA. Click on the link for an APHA policy resolution underscoring the need for clinical diagnostic tools and biomomitoring of exposures to pesticides. This policy supports the information outlined by in the presentation.

Matthew Keifer, MD, MPH, a board certified occupational medicine specialist and internationally renowned researcher regarding pesticides and worker health, overviews the importance of recognizing and managing pesticide exposure.  To obtain free CME* credit, please complete this evaluation at the end of the webinar http://www.migrantclinician.org/national_webinar_eval. Sponsored by AgriSafe Network, Migrant Clinicians Network and the National Farm Medicine Center.

*Application for CME credit has been filed with the American Academy of Family Physicians. Determination of credit is pending.

This EPA report contains the latest estimates of agricultural and nonagricultural pesticide use in the United States.

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The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE) is a network of nurses from around the country (and world) who are acting on the notion that our environment and health are inextricably connected. We are a group of nurses from all walks of our profession – hospital-based, public health, school-based, academics, and advanced practice, to name a few.   

We are helping to integrate environmental health into nursing education, greening our many workplaces, incorporating environmental exposure questions into our patient histories, providing anticipatory guidance to pregnant women and parents about environmental risks to children, implementing research that addresses environmental health questions, and advocating for environmental health in our workplaces and governmental institutions.

Three newsletters the NHSC has developed for each of its primary member segments -- Clinicians in Service, Scholars in School, and NHSC sites.

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Fighting cancer is difficult enough, but living with it is even tougher - and that's where the Cleaning for A Reason Foundation steps in.  This nonprofit offers free professional housecleaning, and maid services to improve the lives of women undergoing treatment for cancer - any type of cancer.

From Health Reources and Services Administration this resource is available in Spanish and english. In an accessible, easy-to-read format, the Seasonal Flu guide provides: flu facts; every day prevention steps; and ways that community leaders can contribute to the flu prevention effort. This guide is an important fight the flu resource for our Spanish-speaking community and faith-based partners.

Order printed copies of the Seasonal Flu guide (in English or in Spanish) from the HHS Partnership Center by emailing partnerships@hhs.gov. Please include # of copies requested, mailing address (or interoffice mail stop) and person of contact in the email. Please specify if you are ordering the English or the Spanish version.

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The Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU) has partnered with over 220 leading healthcare associations to form the National Healthcare Career Network (NHCN). The network gives employers a better way to immediately connect with a wide array of health professionals, including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and mental health workers.

ACU Career Center Benefits

  • Post your job to the ACU Career Center and have your posting distributed to other job boards in the NHCN.
  • Use the Network Wizard to see how your job will be distributed throughout the Network.
  • Have your job viewed not only job seekers that posted their resume to the ACU Career Center but also job seekers that posted their resume on other sites throughout the Network.
  • Get access to over 50,000 searchable Network resumes with your active job posting.