RECENT ARTICLES

Communities Work Together Towards Colorectal Cancer Prevention

Non Profit helps Clients find Insurance Options Amid Layoffs

“El Cancer Nos Afecta a Todos” and we need your help!

AYUDA: Helping Victims of Human Trafficking

Recruiting Hispanic-Serving Providers

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Communities Work Together Towards Colorectal Cancer Prevention

Denver, Colorado. (ConCienciaNews) – For Luis Barrera, communications director at Avanza supermarkets in Denver, to offer good products to Hispanic families is as important as providing them with tools that contribute to their well-being and that of their communities.

That’s why, this month, Barrera is lending space at the Denver supermarket for three volunteers to set up a table with computers and internet access. The goal? To inform and educate Avanza’s consumers in Denver about colorectal cancer risks and how to prevent them.

This initiative is part of El Cancer nos Afecta a Todos, a campaign funded by the CDC, which has the goal to prevent colorectal cancer, the third most commonly diagnosed type of cancer among Hispanics.

From teaching them how to use the internet to accessing cancer-related information and where to go to obtain health resources and get a colonoscopy, health Promotoras are working directly with adults 50 and older throughout Denver Latino communities.

“People have been excited about this because the information is first-hand,” Barrera said. “The response has been great because people are always worried about their health.”

This is a concern that, according to Barrera, businesses should neither ignore, nor underestimate. As a Mexican immigrant committed to social causes, Barrera understands that making business should also go hand-to-hand with social responsibility.

“It’s not just about setting up a store and that’s it,” he said. “It’s also about interacting with the consumers and being part of their community.”

Barrera has been part of such initiatives even before his arrival in the United States seven years ago. In his native Mexico, he helped create projects that contributed to higher accessibility of cancer medications, the construction of a hospital and general assistance for kids with leukemia.

Once in the United States, Latino immigrants develop risk factors that make them more vulnerable to certain diseases, such as cancer. According to the CDC, 41 percent of Mexican American adults between 50 and 83 years old admitted in a 2003 study to never having any sort of colorectal cancer detection test; just a few of them admitted having some sort of accurate knowledge of the disease; and 41 percent said they had had discussed detection with their doctors at some point.

Although general barriers that lead to the abovementioned situation include lack of information, lack of health insurance and language barriers, Latinos are also underrepresented among the medical communities through clinical trials; regardless of being the fastest-growing segment of the US population.

The medical community suggests over and over that a change in eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle may play a detrimental role in Hispanics’ propensity to cancer.  For this reason, besides adopting a healthy diet and exercising regularly, the CDC urges adults 50 and older –or those with a family medical history of colorectal cancer—to get tested for colorectal cancer.

Doing so can save many lives.

For information and resources regarding the El Cancer nos Afecta a Todos campaign, call our helpline at 1-800-473-3003

Non Profit helps Clients find Insurance Options Amid Layoffs

With the state’s unemployment rate topping 10 percent, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner highlighted a Web site Thursday that’s designed to help people who may have lost their health insurance along with their jobs.

The Web site, coverageforall.org, is run operatedby a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization in San Jose called the Foundation for Health Coverage Education in San Jose.  The organization also runs a help line at 800-234-1317.  The Web site and hotline are designed to provide access to hundreds of state and federal health insurance programs that meet a wide variety of individual needs.

“A lot of people don’t know these programs exist,” founder Phil Lebherz said in a press release. “What we are doing is making it easier for people in need to access all of their local and statewide options.”

Even before the recession, the federal government estimated that almost one in five Californians lacked health insurance at some point during the last 12 months, Poizner said in a press release. In January alone, nearly 80,000 Californians lost their jobs and their likely source of health insurance, Poizner said.

“There are resources out there, both public andprivate, that can help people who don’t have health insurance and want to know what their options are.”

Source: Sacramento Business Journal

Author: Kathy Robertson

“El Cancer Nos Afecta a Todos” and we need your help!

Did you know that research has shown that physician recommendation is one of the most important factors that influence cancer screening rates? Health care providers play a vital role in increasing the use of preventive services, and thereby decreasing cancer mortality rates. Cancer is the second leading cause of death among Latinos, but many of the cases could easily be prevented through routine screening and other preventive services.

Acceso Hispano (an initiative of the Self Reliance Foundation) will soon be launching “El Cancer Nos Afecta a Todos” (Cancer Affects All of Us)—a national Spanish-language communications campaign financed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—and we need your help. The campaign will reach Spanish-speaking Latinos through both mass media channels and grassroots outreach activities, and strengthen links between community-based service providers and Latino communities. Ultimately the campaign’s objective is to increase cancer screening among Latinos and thereby decrease cancer mortality rates.

In preparation for the campaign we are actively seeking to expand partnerships with community health service providers and cancer screening centers. The campaign’s print, radio, Internet and text messages will build awareness of the importance of cancer screening, and encourage the public to contact our Linea de Ayuda (helpline) by phone or by email to find the location of their local cancer screening centers that provide bilingual or Latino-friendly services. In order to better serve the Latino community, Acceso Hispano is therefore building our database of relevant community health and cancer-related service providers.

If you or your organization provides health care services to Latinos or cancer-related services to the general public, please contact us! We can refer new clients to you, or help you identify the appropriate providers in your region so that you can refer your clients to cancer screening services. We will also be providing educational materials in Spanish related to various cancers and the importance of prevention that you can share with your community.

Why Focus on Cancer?
According to the research conducted by the American Cancer Society and the Intercultural Cancer Council, cancer is the second leading cause of death among Hispanic adults after heart disease. Hispanic women have two to three times the cervical cancer rates of non-Hispanic white women. Hispanic men and women have between 30-90% higher rates of stomach cancer than non-Hispanic populations. Lung cancer and breast cancer are the deadliest cancers among Hispanic men and Hispanic women, respectively.

Despite these alarming statistics, only 38% of Hispanic women age 40 and older regularly receive mammograms, and Hispanic women are less likely to receive regular pap smears than non-Hispanic white women. Deaths from breast and cervical cancers could easily be avoided if cancer screening rates increased among women at risk. Unfortunately, rates of preventive cancer screenings are proportionally linked to insurance coverage– the less insured an ethnic group is, the less likely they are to be screened. Latinos are the most likely of any ethnic in the United States to be under-insured due to a disproportionate lack of job-related insurance.

Furthermore, due to a lack of preventative screenings, Latinos have a disproportionately difficult time with cancer. According to the Volume 4 edition of the NCI Cancer Bulletin published in April 17, 2007, Hispanic women have significantly different experiences with breast cancer than non-Hispanic women do. The Hispanic women studied were diagnosed at a younger age; at a later stage of disease; with larger, higher grade tumors; and with less treatable estrogen- and progesterone-negative tumors, reported the investigators led by Dr. A. Tyler Watlington at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

AYUDA: Helping Victims of Human Trafficking

AYUDA is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the rights of low-income foreign-born persons through accessible and affordable legal and social services. Based in Washington D.C., AYUDA serves the greater Washington metropolitan area and provides assistance to an estimated 300 clients per month in the areas of immigration, human trafficking, domestic violence, and family law.

Staffed with lawyers, social workers, case managers and paralegals, AYUDA advances social justice and client empowerment through legal and social services, public policy advocacy, collaboration and referrals to other nonprofits, community education, and training institutions that serve immigrants. The organization’s overarching goal is to improve the ability of their clients to live safe, violence-free lives and become fully participating members of our community.

In partnership with the Ricky Martin Foundation, the Inter-American Development Bank and the D.C. Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs, AYUDA recently launched the Llama y Vive (Call & Live) campaign to combat human trafficking in the D.C. region. Llama y Vive is a free, confidential 24-hour spanish-language Trafficking Hotline that connects trafficked persons directly to AYUDA’s services. The campaign includes print media and TV PSAs featuring Ricky Martin. Acceso Hispano’s team is currently managing the trafficking hotline, connecting potential cases of trafficking to AYUDA for assistance. The Llama y Vive campaign exists throughout Latin America and the Caribbean and AYUDA is proud to implement the first Llama y Vive campaign in the United States. Visit www.llamayvive.org for more information on the campaign.

What is Human Trafficking?
AYUDA defines human trafficking as:
1) Anyone under 18 involved in commercial sex;
2) Anyone 18 or over involved in commercial sex through force, fraud, or coercion;
3) Anyone forced to perform labor through force, fraud, or coercion.

According to Renee Huffman, Social Services Director of AYUDA, about 85 % of their current cases are labor trafficking and around 15% are sex trafficking. AYUDA provides services to both adults and minors from all over the world. AYUDA works with clients who have been trafficked into different industries, including cases of domestic servitude. A recent example of an AYUDA case involves a domestic worker who was brought to the United States and upon arrival her traffickers confiscated her passport, forced her to work long hours with little pay and she was unable to leave. She was connected to AYUDA by contacting the Llama y Vive hotline. Resources like Llama y Vive exist to inform trafficked persons that help is available.

What Help is Available to Victims?
In the United States human trafficking is a crime and trafficked persons have rights. Under U.S. law, trafficked persons may be eligible for immigration relief, a work permit and federal refugee benefits. Trafficked persons are also eligible for social services, including food, clothing, housing and access to medical care, counseling and English classes.

How You Can Help
Trafficking cases are not always easy to spot at first glance, and many victims are too afraid to seek help. They may fear retribution by their captors, deportation, or mistreatment by U.S. law-enforcement agents. As a service provider there are “red flags” to look for that can help you to identify trafficked persons.

Do you know someone who:

• Can’t leave his/her job?
• Can’t come and go as he/she pleases?
• Has been hurt or threatened by his/her employer?
• Is in debt to his/her employer?
• Is not allowed to talk to people outside of work?
• Has had his or her passport or other documents taken away?
• Is under 18 and in prostitution?
• Is under 18 and not in school?
• Is not paid or paid very little?

If you know someone who is experiencing these circumstances and thus may have been trafficked, please call Acceso Hispano’s hotline at 1-800-473-3003. If the person is in the greater Washington metropolitan area, please call the Llama y Vive Hotline at 1-888-NO-TRATA or call AYUDA directly at 202-387-4848.

Recruiting Hispanic-Serving Providers

With the launch of our new Acceso Hispano website in December of 2008, we are hoping to attract new local and national service providers who serve Hispanic communities throughout the United States.

Acceso Hispano manages a toll-free bilingual helpline for Latinos across the country, linking callers with the information and referrals they need to address a wide variety of issues.  Over 100,000 people have been helped since the hotline was created in 1996.

People usually learn about our hotline through Spanish-language educational radio programs produced by Hispanic Communications Network, a close partner of the Self Reliance Foundation.  Many callers also hear about the hotline through word of mouth however, with approximately 20% of calls currently received based on referrals.

The more providers join the national network of Hispanic-serving providers, the better we will be able to serve our many callers.  In addition, we are rolling out a plan to make our database of service providers available via our website to both community members and other service providers, so that people with Internet access can find the resources they need 24 hours a day.

If you provide services to Hispanics in your community, please consider joining the network!  You can read more about the benefits of becoming a member in this section of the site.