Health

When Martin Memorial Medical Center administrator Carol Plato testified in Tallahassee in April about the impact of illegal immigrants on her hospital, the meeting was attended by fewer than 50 people and got scant attention in the media.

But Plato’s two-minute testimony to the House Committee on State Affairs is making big waves on YouTube. A video of her testimony has received more than 360,000 hits on YouTube as well as hundreds of comments”*

She’s the new bilingual staffer at Desert Cancer Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides financial assistance and free screenings to local residents who do not have the financial resources to afford cancer treatment.

“When you’re diagnosed with cancer, you’re already scared, fearful, all the very worst feelings,” Contreras said. “If you take away the language barrier, that takes a huge load off the people.”

Since 1994, Desert Cancer Foundation has paid more than $21 million in medical bills for thousands of uninsured or underinsured cancer patients who cannot afford the treatment they deserve.”*

A type of stroke that can strike at any age, and kills one-third of its victims, appears to be more common in women and Mexican-Americans than in non-Hispanic white men, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Stroke Program.

In a paper published online June 11 by the journal Neurology, the researchers report that women had a 74 percent greater chance of suffering a type of stroke related to a ruptured brain aneurysm. Mexican-Americans of both genders had a 67 percent greater chance.

The type of stroke measured in the study is called a subarachnoid hemorrhage, or SAH. The new research may help public health officials reach out to higher-risk groups with information on prevention and the importance of rapid treatment.

The new paper also gives a “real world” picture of the risk of dying from an SAH, which was nearly one in three in the geographic region in the study. That region, Nueces County, Texas, where the city of Corpus Christi is located, has a large Mexican-American population and does not have a major university health system.

Although African Americans and Asian Americans were included in the initial screening portion of the study, which reviewed the medical records of 6,550 stroke patients, their numbers were too small to assess any differences in risk of SAH.

“Physicians and public health officials should help Mexican Americans and women take steps that might prevent subarachnoid hemorrhage, and other types of stroke that have already been shown to be more common in these two groups,” says senior author Lewis Morgenstern, M.D. “Given that Mexican Americans are the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the United States, it’s important to understand how this condition might affect them differently, and tailor messages to them.”

Morgenstern, who directs the Stroke Program at the U-M Cardiovascular Center, is a professor of neurology and neurosurgery at the U-M Medical School, and of epidemiology at the U-M School of Public Health. The first author on the study, Sonia Eden, M.D., is a former chief resident in neurosurgery at U-M.

The study is the latest to arise from the BASIC project, whose name comes from Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi. The project involves surveillance for all strokes and mini-strokes in Nueces County, and detailed analysis of anonymous patient records.

Previously, using data from BASIC, Morgenstern and his colleagues have shown differences between ethnic groups and genders in other types of stroke – including the most common type, ischemic.

The new paper is based on data from 107 subarachoid hemorrhage patients over the age of 44 who experienced their stroke between 2000 and 2006. All of their diagnoses were validated by neurologists who reviewed their records in detail.

The reasons for the ethnic and gender differences seen in the new study are unclear, because the researchers were able to account and adjust for blood pressure, age, excessive alcohol use, smoking and health insurance status.

In all, 40 percent of the 107 SAH cases were in non-Hispanic whites, although 52 percent of the over-45 population in the study area is non-Hispanic white. Meanwhile, 60 percent of the SAH cases occurred in Mexican Americans, who make up 48 percent of the population over age 45 in the study area.

At the same time, 67.3 percent of SAH patients were women, though 53.5 percent of the population in the area is female. The researchers found that Mexican American women had the highest risk.

Subarachoid hemorrhages account for 3 percent of the 780,000 strokes that occur in the United States each year. Because these strokes arise from ruptured aneurysms, which are weak bulging spots in the brain’s blood vessels that arise for unknown reasons at any stage of life, subarachnoid hemorrhages can occur at any time of life.

An SAH is different from the other type of “bleeding stroke,” intracerebral hemorrhage or ICH, which can also result from a ruptured aneurysm or a misformed blood vessel called an arteriovenous malformation.

Both types of bleeding stroke are somewhat more dangerous than ischemic or “blockage” strokes, which result from a clot or other blockage inside a brain blood vessel. Ischemic strokes account for more than 85 percent of U.S. strokes.

The signs of an SAH usually include a sudden, extremely severe headache, often compared to a “thunderclap” inside the head. Patients may also experience neck pain, nausea and vomiting, or may lose consciousness.

No matter what the signs, a stroke or suspected stroke of any kind is a life-threatening emergency and needs immediate medical attention, says Morgenstern. Although SAH carries daunting odds, it can be treated if a patient reaches a hospital where a neurosurgeon or interventional radiologist can close off the ruptured aneurysm and stop the bleeding.

The BASIC study, including the analysis performed for the new study, is funded by the National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke.

In addition to Morgenstern and Eden, the authors include William Meurer, M.D., Melinda A. Smith, DrPH, MPH, and Devin Brown, M.D., M.S., of the U-M Medical School, and Brisa Sanchez, Ph.D., and Lynda Lisabeth, Ph.D., MPH, of the U-M School of Public Health.”*

Two hundred thirty pages of widely used heart disease and stroke information has been translated into Spanish, Vietnamese and Simplified Chinese and is now available on the American Heart Association’s Web site at www.americanheart.org . Traditional Chinese is coming soon.

The Vietnamese and Simplified Chinese content are new offerings from the association, which currently has a Spanish Web site. The new pages will enhance that content.

“This newly translated content will provide potentially lifesaving information to people who have not been reached before,” said Daniel Jones, M.D., president of the American Heart Association and dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

The translated content comes from three highly trafficked areas of the American Heart Association’s Web site:

– Diseases and Conditions - information that helps people who have heart
disease or stroke understand and better manage their disease.
– Healthy Lifestyle - information to help people reduce their risk of
heart disease and stroke.
– Heart and Stroke Encyclopedia - a quick-reference guide with brief,
authoritative information on a wide range of cardiovascular topics.

“As the cultural profile of the United States becomes more diverse, we also become more linguistically diverse,” Jones said. “That’s why it’s extremely important to increase the amount of foreign-language content that we provide, in particular via the Internet.”

To access the translated content, go to www.americanheart.org and click on the Spanish, Vietnamese or Chinese link. These links are also at the top right corner of every Web page so those who enter the Web site without going to the homepage can still get the heart-health information in their preferred language.

Founded in 1924, the American Heart Association today is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary health organization dedicated to building healthier lives, free of heart diseases and stroke. These diseases, America’s No. 1 and No. 3 killers, and all other cardiovascular diseases, claim nearly 870,000 lives a year. In fiscal year 2006-07 the association invested more than $554 million in research, professional and public education, advocacy and community service programs to help all Americans live longer, healthier lives. To learn more, call 1-800-AHA-USA1 or visit www.americanheart.org . “*

Hispanic pedestrians are run down by cars in greater numbers than members of any other ethnic group, according to new data that is prompting the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments to press municipal transportation departments to address the problem.

A resolution, scheduled for a vote Wednesday, calls for a public education campaign “with increased targeting of high-risk populations.”

In Northern Virginia, Hispanics stand an eight in 100,000 chance of getting struck by a car or truck, compared with three per 100,000 for Caucasians, two per 100,000 for Asian Americans and six per 100,000 for the black community, according to a recent report from COG, a regional planning agency.”*

As researchers ponder growing evidence that blacks have worse outcomes than whites in the treatment of chronic disease, they often theorize that members of minorities suffer disproportionately from poor access to quality care. Now a new study of diabetes patients has found stark racial disparities even among patients treated by the same doctors.

The lead author of the study said in an interview that he attributed the differences less to overt racism than to a systemic failure to tailor treatments to patients’ cultural norms. The problem, said the author, Dr. Thomas D. Sequist, an assistant professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, may be that physicians do not discriminate in the way they counsel patients.”*

Children in U.S. households where English is not the primary language experience multiple disparities in health care, a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher has found.

In a study available in June’s online issue of Pediatrics, Dr. Glenn Flores, professor of pediatrics at UT Southwestern and lead author, used statistics from the National Survey of Children’s Health to examine whether disparities exist for non-English primary language (NEPL) children in medical and dental health compared to households where English is the primary language.

“Although 55 million Americans speak a language other than English at home, there has been little research on health disparities and NEPL children,” said Dr. Flores, who holds the Judith and Charles Ginsburg Chair in Pediatrics at UT Southwestern. “To my knowledge this is the first analysis to examine the impact of NEPL on medical and dental health, access to care and use of services in a nationally representative sample of U.S. children.”

	Dr. Glenn Flores

Conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, the survey used nationwide random sampling of households with children ages 18 and under. One child from each household was selected as the survey subject with 102,353 interviews of household caregivers completed in 2003 and 2004 in both English and Spanish. The survey is the largest and most diverse containing data on the primary languages spoken at home.

The researchers found that children in households where English is not the primary language are significantly more likely than children in English-speaking households to be poor and Latino or Asian/Pacific Islander. The NEPL children are also more likely to be overweight, have only fair or poor dental health, and be uninsured or sporadically insured. These children also made no medical or preventive dental visits during the previous year and had problems attaining specialty care.

“These children are more likely to live in low-income households,” said Dr. Flores, who also serves as director of the division of general pediatrics at Children’s Medical Center Dallas. “Clinicians providing care for them should make sure caregivers are aware of programs documented to benefit poor children. Providing all children with health and dental insurance could significantly reduce barriers to health and dental care for NEPL children.”

Nonfinancial-related barriers appeared also to hamper NEPL children’s access to care. The survey showed that caregivers in NEPL households were often dissatisfied with physicians and health care providers who did not spend enough time with a child or explain things in an understandable way.

To identify, monitor and eliminate health care disparities, Dr. Flores recommends health care institutions and systems routinely collect data on the primary language spoken at home for all patients. He says improved access to medical interpreters, better cultural competency training and more family-centered health care systems could eliminate barriers to care.

In a previous study, Dr. Flores surveyed hospitals in New Jersey to assess current language services and identify policy recommendations on meeting the needs of patients with limited English proficiency.

He found that most New Jersey hospitals had no full-time interpreters, multilingual hospital signage or translation services. A substantial majority of the hospitals’ representatives surveyed stated that third-party reimbursements for interpreter services would benefit their hospitals.

“In Texas alone, 7.3 million families speak languages other than English at home,” Dr. Flores said. “It’s imperative that our health care system recognizes on a nationwide scale how language is affecting health care for NEPL children.”

Sandra Tomany-Korman of Signature Science, LLC, also contributed to the Pediatrics study.”*

Jorge’s friends at work call him the “Sixth Hero.”

Folks here figure Jorge must be the secret spy who got away. Why else would he have returned to Cuba after living in the United States for six years? The ‘’sixth hero” reference relates to the five Cuban intelligence agents the Cuban government nicknamed ”the Five Heroes” who are serving long U.S. prison sentences.

Despite the freedom Jorge enjoyed and the ability to earn a better living as a school custodian in Miami Beach, Jorge returned to Cuba in 2002 to face a government that mistrusted him, a year of probation and friends who assume he is a member of the intelligence service. He said he is one of a growing number of émigrés who after years of living abroad yearn for the sounds and familiarity of home.

So they pack a few things and return to a country where they might make in a month what they used to earn in an hour.”*

A major Mexican tomato-growers’ association says shipments to the United States have stopped as U.S. authorities investigate the origin of a salmonella outbreak.”*

Selecciones, the world’s best-selling Spanish-language magazine, joins the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Go Red For Women and Macy’s, one of the nation’s largest retailers, in a multi-platform awareness program, Go Red de Corazón, to alert Hispanic women to the threat of heart disease. Together, they will honor Silvia Gallegos, a heart-health advocate who is making a difference and working to improve heart health in her community, on June 19 in Miami, with Lili Estefan, host of Univision’s popular show, “El Gordo y la Flaca.”

Research shows that only 29 percent of Hispanic women know that heart disease is their No. 1 killer in the United States. “That’s why the program hopes to educate Hispanic women about heart disease and empower them to take action to reduce their personal risk, said Go Red For Women national spokesperson Ileana L. Piña, MD, Professor of Medicine,/Cardiology/Heart Failure-Transplantation and Veterans Administration Quality Scholar at Case Western Reserve. “In our world, we take care of everyone else because our families are the focal point. But we have to begin to care for ourselves, so we can be there for the ones we love.”

The heart-health advocate honoree, Gallegos, helps send that message to Latina women in her community. She is manager of the community health department at the Dallas Concilio of Hispanic Service Organizations. She has worked tirelessly in the Hispanic community in Dallas for more than 25 years on health issues, and now focuses on educating parents about heart health, the correlation between childhood obesity and the development of type-2 diabetes in children, and how to prevent and control both. Her grassroots health program includes exercise groups; screenings for glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure, waist circumference and Body Mass Index (BMI); and classes on healthy living. Thanks to her dedicated efforts to promote the benefits of regular activity, a key component of heart health, more than 500 participants walk together each week in more than 25 groups in the Dallas area.

Additional program elements of Go Red de Corazón include:

* Radio media tour with Selecciones editor Genevieve Marlin-Fernandez and Go Red For Women spokesperson Dr. Ileana Piña

* An awards celebration with Hispanic influencers, including Lili Estefan, María Antioneta Collins, Neida Sandoval, and Teresa Rodríguez on June 19 in Miami to honor a heart-health advocate

* Specially created t-shirts sharing the Go Red message in Spanish to support the Go Red For Women movement - available at www.shopgored.com

Go Red de Corazón kicked off in the February issue of Selecciones with a Heart Health Guide insert from AHA, sponsored by Macy’s, that featured information about risk factors for heart disease and prevention tips. Additionally, Selecciones and AHA participated jointly at Hispanic health fairs, where they distributed heart-health guides.

“It was a natural for Selecciones to partner with the American Heart Association and Macy’s on Go Red de Corazón,” said Genevieve Marlin-Fernández, editor, Selecciones, whose own father died of a massive heart attack when she was 19 years old. “Each and every month Selecciones provides need-to-know content related to health and well-being. Educating Latinas about heart disease should be a priority for the entire Hispanic community. I am proud that, through this partnership, we are doing just that.”

As part of Go Red de Corazón, Selecciones’ readers had the opportunity to submit “heart-warming” stories about their mothers or other women influencers who made a significant difference in their lives. Five winners of this essay contest will be invited to attend the Go Red de Corazón reception.

Celebrating Macy’s fifth year as the national sponsor of the Go Red For Women movement, Peter Sachse, president of Macy’s corporate marketing says, “We are as passionate about this cause today as we were when the movement launched. Together, we have made substantial strides in raising awareness of heart disease as the number one killer of American women. As we continue to elevate the awareness among all women and men, we have developed this unique program that targets education and supports populations where the message has not been heard. Raising the profile of women’s heart health is a profound commitment for our company, and we build our support each year in both dollars and visibility for the cause.”

Go Red de Corazón hopes to reach millions of Latinas with the message to take charge of their heart health. Information about risk factors for heart disease, prevention tips, a heart-health guide created just for Latinas and free recipes can be found at www.goredcorazon.org or by calling 1-888-AHA-1212.”*

The Latino Health Insurance Program, founded in 2006, has enrolled more than 1,000 Massachusetts children and families in subsidized and unsubsidized healthcare plans, said Dr. Milagros Abreu, the program’s director. The program, which is run by the Boston University School of Public Health and administered in East Boston, officially expanded to Boston’s western suburbs in December, enrolling 200 families in health insurance programs. A $100,000 grant obtained by the MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation in April will help provide the program’s services to area residents.

Part of the program’s objective is to train bilingual and bicultural members of the community to serve as case managers, offering information to potential clients and helping them enroll in eligible programs, its director said.”*

The Hispanic Latino Minority Health Coalition’s executive director, Cecilia Acosta, was recently featured in Indianapolis Woman for her move to help start an obesity prevention program in her coalition, and has also made a change in her own life and diet because of the program she implemented.

The Coalition, which works to assess, design, develop, implement and evaluate programs that are culturally and linguistically appropriate for each minority group represented, asked Acosta to come up with the obesity prevention program, and in doing so, she lost 30 pounds because she learned how to change her diet and was able to implement exercise to her daily routine.

“We have to be the examples,” said Acosta. “I decided to start with my self. I was able to organize myself, and that helped me to improve other areas in my life.”

For more information about the Hispanic Latino Minority Health Coalition of Greater Indianapolis, go to www.hlmhc.org.

About the Hispanic Latino Minority Health Coalition of Greater Indianapolis:
The HLMHC of Greater Indianapolis, Inc. is an institution created to diminish health-disparities faced by the Hispanic/Latino and Black community, through education, advocacy and leadership. The way that this program is designed will allow the coalition focus all it efforts to prevent diseases such as heart diseases, stroke, cancer (breast and prostate) and diabetes. The ultimate goal of the programs provided is to reduce health disparities experienced by racial and ethnic minorities by increasing access to needed healthcare and improving health literacy.”*

Although Latinas tend to have less education and earn less money than most women, they have the highest birthrates, according to a newly released report from the Pew Hispanic Center.
The fertility rate of Latinas is one-third higher than that of non-Latinas. Immigrant Latinas tend to have the most children, while U.S.-born Latinas have the highest rate of single motherhood.”*

The University of Texas Health Sciences Center partnered with Thomason Hospital in El Paso to implement the new Madrina-Padrino traffic safety program for Hispanics.

“A lot of people miss the traffic rules, especially in the rural areas. This may be because they don’t understand the law,” said Anna Red, injury-prevention technician at Thomason Hospital.

The project is aimed at educating Hispanics, particularly new immigrants, about traffic safety norms and laws, including matters related to drinking and impaired driving, safety belt use and child passenger safety, she said.”*

Researchers have found a potentially deadly strain of tuberculosis infection spreading through Latino communities in Southern California and suspect the disease is being imported from Mexico in unpasteurized cheese.

Health officials in Orange County, though, say they have not seen any cases of the rare strain of tuberculosis in at least five years. They credit a long-running campaign to educate people about the dangers of eating unlabeled cheese and other dairy products.”*

More Hispanics die on the job than other U.S. workers, and the rate is highest among the foreign-born, according to a federal study released Thursday.

Construction industry work accounted for a third of the Hispanic deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported after reviewing more than 11,000 Hispanic work-related deaths between 1992 and 2006. About 95 percent were men.

According to Dr. Sherry Baron, who studies health disparities for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the figures aren’t surprising.”*

Direct link it transcript

the vox collective this week launched a public service announcement campaign seeking to inform Hispanic parents about the dangers of marijuana use among teenagers and urging them to talk to their kids about the risks of drug use. The campaign was created for the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s (ONDCP) National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, in conjunction with the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. “*

Osteoporosis is a disease that can be crippling, leaving bones brittle, weak and easily broken. There are already some 8 million women in the U.S. who suffer from osteoporosis* and experts say that number could soon skyrocket.

She may not quite understand the language yet, or the technology behind the test, but Sandra Ramos knows the importance of a simple heel scan.

“I’m told with time, my bones can get weaker,” says Ramos.”*

Hispanic high school students use drugs and attempt suicide at higher rates than their black and white classmates, according to a new federal survey that shows a continuation of a troubling trend.

“It is disheartening that we aren’t seeing progress among Hispanic teens for certain risk factors,” said Howell Wechsler of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a prepared statement.

The study is the latest in a series of surveys of U.S. high school students every two years. The new report noted black and white students are reporting less sexual activity that in years past, but there was no decline among Hispanics. Experts have not been able to find a clear explanation for that.”*

link to CDC

A free educational booklet titled “Guide to Eye Diseases,” containing information on the most important eye diseases and conditions that impact Hispanics in the United States, will be distributed on June 14 and 15, to nearly 400 Wal-Mart Vision Centers in communities with a predominantly Hispanic populations. The booklet presents the reader with over 40 pages of important information to learn to detect signs of eye conditions. It also describes the process of a comprehensive eye exam and provides helpful tips on how to better communicate health concerns to an eye care professional.

“At Transitions Optical we are serious about eye health information. Placing this booklet in the hands of Hispanics is important to help them make informed decisions that impact their eye health,” said Martha Rivera, Hispanic segment market manager for Transitions Optical. “We are proud to partner with Wal-Mart to make a contribution to the healthy sight of Hispanics by distributing the “Guide to Eye Diseases” at participating Wal-Mart Vision Centers over Father’s Day weekend because we are aware that during those days Hispanics are looking for gift options for fathers across the nation; our booklet is a gift of health for fathers and families alike.”

The material included in the booklet was developed by the National Eye Institute. Additional information was provided by Transitions Optical, and it illustrates the importance of protecting the eyes from cumulative damaged caused by ultraviolet rays.

“Knowing details about the conditions that impact our vision helps patients to better communicate with eye care professionals during a comprehensive eye exam. The booklet contains a section that will greatly improve that communication,” said Dr. Madeline Romeu. “Part of the conversation that a patient should have with an eye care professional is about the damaging effects ultra violet light (UV) can have on your eyesight — and the steps you can take to counteract it. That’s especially important because the damage UV rays can cause to your eyesight builds cumulatively over time, and may contribute to short-term vision impairment and potentially serious age-related conditions or diseases of the eye, including cataracts.”

“We are proud to be able to team up with Transitions Optical to bring our customers free added value in our Wal-Mart Vision Centers,” said David Cantrell — Optical Marketing Manager. “We like to foster an interaction between our eye care professionals and customers and the “Guide to Eye Diseases” provides plenty of subjects worthy of discussion”.

The booklet “Guide to Eye Diseases” will be distributed at Wal-Mart Vision Centers across the nation including Texas, California, Arizona, Florida, Colorado, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and Georgia. For more information about UV protection and photochromic lenses, visit www.transitions.com “*

Research has shown that HIV-positive African American and Hispanic men who were sexually abused as children are particularly vulnerable to engaging in high-risk sex and experiencing depressive symptoms. Yet few HIV intervention programs exist to help them.

Now, a new study by UCLA’s Center for Culture, Trauma and Mental Health Disparities has found that interventions that address the life experiences of these men — including their early sexual experiences — in addition to risk and general health issues can contribute significantly toward preventing high-risk behavior and reducing depression rates. The success is largely due to the social support found within these programs, researchers say.

And while brief interventions may be effective in the short term, periodic “boosters,” or additional sessions, may be needed to reinforce positive changes over time, according to the study authors.”*

Dynamic Response Group, Inc. (OTCBB: DRGP), a leading innovator of strategic marketing solutions, today announced that it has started Phase I of its direct-to-consumer business plan for its new subsidiary Medico Express, Inc., which will become a licensed durable medical equipment provider.

Medico plans to be a provider of direct-to-consumer Medicare reimbursed medical products focused exclusively on chronic diseases afflicting the rapidly growing Hispanic community in the United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. It is the only company positioned to serve this growing market segment as a direct-to-consumer Medicare provider on a national level.

“DRG is uniquely equipped with the targeted marketing expertise and operational capabilities to provide a valuable service to this growing and largely underserved Hispanic population,” explained Melissa K. Rice, CEO of Dynamic Response Group. “We are working with experts in the field to ensure that we reach our goal of providing convenience and quality of service to these individuals, so that they can get back to living their lives.”

Medico is committed to identifying critical care products that improve its customers’ quality of life, and delivering these products directly to their homes in a timely manner as prescribed by their primary care physicians. The Company will make Medicare and Medicaid fully accessible to the Hispanic community by eliminating the perceived bureaucratic roadblocks, upfront payment considerations and legitimate language barriers for obtaining benefits for the elderly and disabled.

In Phase II, DRG plans to leverage its core competencies to develop and implement a multi-channel strategy for Medico Express; it will combine the establishment of relationships with affinity groups, healthcare providers and community outreach programs, and will position Medico to achieve significantly higher rates of penetration at a significantly cheaper rate than its Anglo counterparts, while simultaneously providing an important social benefit to its client base. The Company will be testing the program on Univision, Telemundo and Telefutura in key Hispanic Medicare consumer markets. “*

Perhaps a record number of Latina teenagers in Minnesota are getting pregnant today, and community leaders are working to reverse it.

Minnesota’s teen birth rate increased 7 percent between 2005 and 2006, according to the St. Paul nonprofit Minnesota Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Prevention and Parenting (MOAPPP). The organization reported that this increase is more than twice the increase at the national level.

Among Minnesota’s Latina teenagers, however, MOAPPP reported a considerable 13 percent increase in the teen birth rate from 2005 to 2006.”*