This book is a roadmap of the exact health disparities that burden the health of South Texas residents, especially Hispanics, compared to the rest of Texas and nation. This type of knowledge has the potential to fuel and motivate researchers and public health leaders to create and shape interventions to reverse those health disparities. Most notably, focus on obesity and diabetes prevention efforts and modifiable risk factors—such as nutrition, reproductive factors and access to health care—has significant potential to reduce the burden of disease in South Texas communities.South Texas, a 38-county region that spans 45,000 square miles along the Texas-Mexico border northward to the area around metropolitan Bexar County (home to San Antonio), is home to 18% of the state’s population. Yet South Texas residents, who are 68% Hispanic, struggle with lower educational levels, less income and less access to health care—and, as a result, suffer from a wide variety of health disparities. To study the health status and identify the exact health disparities that exist in the region, researchers from The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio teamed with researchers from the Texas Department of State Health Services to develop the South Texas Health Status Review.The Review team analyzed a variety of the latest county, state and national data to compare South Texas’ incidence, prevalence and mortality rates for more than 35 health indicators—from cancers to chronic diseases like diabetes to communicable diseases like HIV/AIDS to maternal health and even environmental health—to the rest of Texas and the nation by age, sex, race/ethnicity and rural/urban location.​

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Since 1965 the foreign-born population of the United States has swelled from 9.6 million or 5 percent of the population to 45 million or 14 percent in 2015. Today, about one-quarter of the U.S. population consists of immigrants or the children of immigrants. Given the sizable representation of immigrants in the U.S. population, their health is a major influence on the health of the population as a whole. On average, immigrants are healthier than native-born Americans. Yet, immigrants also are subject to the systematic marginalization and discrimination that often lead to the creation of health disparities. To explore the link between immigration and health disparities, the Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity held a workshop in Oakland, California, on November 28, 2017. This summary of that workshop highlights the presentations and discussions of the workshop.

There are over 281 species of woody plants and 32 species of cacti in the South Texas ecological region. The vast majority of these are found in the lower Rio Grande Valley, which is part of the subtropical Tamaulipan biotic province. Many of the plant species in this area reach their northernmost boundary here. The 44 plants described in this guide represent an estimated 75% of the overall brush biomass of the South Texas ecological region, excluding the lower Rio Grande Valley. The plants are grouped into thorned and thornless categories and alphabetized by family. Distinguishing characteristics have been italicized for easy reference. Similar species are also noted. In this guide, plants are not ranked by importance because their value to animals can differ from ranch to ranch, depending on the plant's availability and the ranch's location, soil type, and land management practices. In case a plant is not found in this guide or more information is desired, a list of additional references is included.

This open access book gives an overview of the sessions, panel discussions, and outcomes of the Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos conference, held in February 2018 in San Antonio, Texas, USA, and hosted by the Mays Cancer Center and the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio. Latinos – the largest, youngest, and fastest-growing minority group in the United States – are expected to face a 142% rise in cancer cases in coming years. Although there has been substantial advancement in cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment over the past few decades, addressing Latino cancer health disparities has not nearly kept pace with progress. The diverse and dynamic group of speakers and panelists brought together at the Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos conference provided in-depth insights as well as progress and actionable goals for Latino-focused basic science research, clinical best practices, community interventions, and what can be done by way of prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer in Latinos. These insights have been translated into the chapters included in this compendium; the chapters summarize the presentations and include current knowledge in the specific topic areas, identified gaps, and top priority areas for future cancer research in Latinos. Topics included among the chapters: Colorectal cancer disparities in Latinos: Genes vs. Environment Breast cancer risk and mortality in women of Latin American origin Differential cancer risk in Latinos: The role of diet Overcoming barriers for Latinos on cancer clinical trials Es tiempo: Engaging Latinas in cervical cancer research Emerging policies in U.S. health care Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos proves to be an indispensable resource offering key insights into actionable targets for basic science research, suggestions for clinical best practices and community interventions, and novel strategies and advocacy opportunities to reduce health disparities in Latino communities. It will find an engaged audience among researchers, academics, physicians and other healthcare professionals, patient advocates, students, and others with an interest in the broad field of Latino cancer.

In the early years of the twentieth century, newcomer farmers and migrant Mexicans forged a new world in South Texas. In just a decade, this vast region, previously considered too isolated and desolate for large-scale agriculture, became one of the United States' most lucrative farming regions and one of its worst places to work. By encouraging mass migration from Mexico, paying low wages, selectively enforcing immigration restrictions, toppling older political arrangements, and periodically immobilizing the workforce, growers created a system of labor controls unique in its levels of exploitation. Ethnic Mexican residents of South Texas fought back by organizing and by leaving, migrating to destinations around the United States where employers eagerly hired them--and continued to exploit them. In From South Texas to the Nation, John Weber reinterprets the United States' record on human and labor rights. This important book illuminates the way in which South Texas pioneered the low-wage, insecure, migration-dependent labor system on which so many industries continue to depend.