I felt so bad when they told me, “We don’t know what this application says, can you help us?” As I mentioned in my last report I’m reviewing Spanish language Medicaid forms with Latino community members. Last week I was with them in the Village At Gateway apartments in Montbello. See pics below. They all said they’re at a loss with most of those forms. Of course as the leader in this discussion, I can’t help them or tell them what to say. But I am taking those forms with their notes back to HCPF for transcreation. Their confusion with the forms reminded me that we need to work with our state and county health departments to provide more help to the Latino community to Stop the Drop in Medicaid enrollment. Health Departments of course depend on allied CBOs’ Health Navigators and Promotoras for the authentic community engagements necessary to effectively reach Latinos. That means CBOs engaging at the places and times within the barrios when Latinos are most available, like evenings and weekends. Alerting the Latino community to renew or lose their Medicaid is always a topic at my first Monday of the month Spanish language radio program “Prevention is Health”.
Also,
- With Vaccinate Your Family, we’ve also begun a Spanish language media vaccination campaign that starts the first week of August. This campaign is for immigrant parents with children under five. It focuses on Covid-19 and routine childhood immunizations. The reason for this campaign is because we’re not doing well in Colorado. The rates of vaccinations for children under five keep dropping. The radio promotions are being played on KBNO, La Invasora, Tigre FM and other stations. I’ve attached an example of the radio promotion. In Spanish of course. TV commercials will also begin in August on Telemundo and La Invasora stations.
- I’ve been invited to participate in several webinar/panel discussions on equity targeting health care students and providers. I’m grateful that leaders in health are asking me to speak out on health barrier issues. Besides Moderna and Brown University that recently asked me to speak, I’ve been invited to join anEarly Milestones Colorado webinar panel discussion on health care inequity amongst the Latino populations, especially children. This discussion will coincide with Milestone’s August release of new data on inequity separating white and Latino children between 0 and 8 years. These inequities that continue are troubling, as Milestones says, “… given … young children’s health and access to quality health care are important predictors of their health and well-being over the course of their lives.”
- The CU College of Nursing is sponsoring the 2023 Anschutz Alumni Virtual Summer Series on cultural considerations in Health Care. I’ll be speaking on Aug 2 at 12 noon: “Latino Health Care: Why Should I Care About Cultural Validation?”
- It’s important for health professionals to grasp the inequity in Latino health care and vaccination. It’s important they understand they have a major responsibility to help reduce the barriers. I suspect many if not most health providers are still unaware that their treatment of Latino patients is a major barrier. My own health provider who focuses on narrow areas of his specialty without concern about my whole health condition, well, is cold and diminishing for me as a Latina, given the culture of my roots. And I know this is a major reason immigrant Latinos would rather go to meat markets or cross the border for their health advice. And of course I let him know this!!!
- I’m reassured that more in health care are becoming tuned to the problem in their ranks. I appreciate the support from health leaders who know they DO have a role. Like this one who commented, “Your determination, fearlessness, advocacy, authenticity, and passion for undeserved communities is beyond admirable. Your story, your work, and your strong will for change challenge me to become more intentional with my own desires and hopes for my future in public health. Thank you for widening my lens, and providing real life perspective to the areas in public health that need to be approached authentically and genuinely.”
- Our implementation of Latinos Unidos for Vaccination coalition continues. We’re working with Vaccinate Your Family to incorporate parts of the Vaccination Community Navigator training into our national coalition.
- There’s uncertainty on how the new Covid-19 vaccination program will roll out this fall. Especially as the Feds transition out of Covid-19 Distribution in early August. Certainly uninsured children can be covered by the VFC program but what about uninsured/underinsured adults? We will be watching closely how CDPHE and county health departments implement the proposed Federal Bridge Access Programing September. Including what documentation will be required for Covid-19 vaccination in Colorado now?