NAWHO Blog

A Profile on Asian Community Health: The Hepatitis B Coalition of WA

Since 1997, the Hepatitis B Coalition of WA (HBCW) has worked to increase awareness of hepatitis B, with a primary focus on the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community.  Strategies include:

• The development and distribution of culturally and linguistically appropriate educational materials
• Presentations on hepatitis B to schools and local community groups
• Collaboration with national partners to raise hepatitis B awareness at the federal level
• Promotion of hepatitis B testing and immunization, including testing 749 API individuals for the hepatitis B virus since September 2006. 

HBCW has developed and strengthened its relationships not only with the API communities, but with the service providers – local, state, and national – who have, and continue to support, the Coalition’s work.

However, the world in which we live is becoming more complex and diverse, as is our state’s population.  APIs (along with Latinos) are the fastest growing racial and ethnic group in Seattle-King County (SKC), increasing from 8% in 1990 to 14% in SKC and 6% in the state (2004 Census estimate).  In addition, diverse communities such as East Africans are making Seattle their home; unfortunately many of these communities are coming from regions where the hepatitis B prevalence is 8% or higher. 

Profiles on Asian Community Health: Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York

Asian Pacific Islanders are by percentage the fastest growing group in New York City, doubling every decade since 1970, and making up nearly 12% of the population. New York City has the largest Asian Pacific American populaton of any U.S. city.  In fact, there are more Asian Pacific Americans in New York City than there are residents in San Francisco.  Of the one million Asian Pacific Americans in New York City:

 

1 out 3 Asian Pacific Americans are linguistically isolated, meaning that no one over the age of 14 in a household speaks English well.

1 out of 4 Asian Pacific Americans lives in poverty. 

1 out of 5 Asian Pacific Americans does not have health insurance.

Our Stories, Our Health: An Innovative Media Health Initiative for Southeast Asian Elders

By Ethan Nguyen, University of Pennsylvania Asian Health Initiatives

 

Elderly Southeast Asian Americans face tremendous barriers in accessing quality health care. These challenges to quality care are numerous, including limited-English-proficient status, inability to navigate the health care system, and poor health literacy.

Here in Philadelphia, Our Stories, Our Health is a collaborative media health initiative aiming to engage immigrant Laotian and Vietnamese seniors in the process of identifying and describing health needs through personal storytelling, video production, and discussion about health in the Southeast Asian community. A Southeast Asian Elders Council selected the topics of focus, which will be high blood pressure and doctor-patient communication. Through digital videos to be produced by elders trained under this project, Laotian and Vietnamese immigrants will their stories about personal experiences dealing with health. These videos will be incorporated into community workshops intended to encourage discussion on health disparities and communication barriers faced by immigrants.

Sharing Linguistic and Culturally Appropriate Health Resources and Strategies for API Communities

   With the rapid growth anticipated within the Asian and Pacific Islander population, it has become increasingly important that those in the health sector serving these populations seek opportunities to reduce duplication and increase effectiveness by partnering, sharing and exchanging strategies to reach target populations. 

   Health professionals across the country often confront similar challenges in delivering culturally competent health care to this highly diverse population, representing more than 40 distinct ethnicities with varying levels of English language proficiency, socioeconomic status, and cultural integration. Perhaps one of the greatest challenges noted for many of these health professionals (as reported in a recent survey conducted by NAWHO of partner organizations) is the dearth of linguistically and culturally appropriate health resources to meet the health needs of these unique communities.  

Overcoming the Wall of Silence Around Suicide in the Asian American Community

In 2004, Iris Chang Killed Herself
(and So Did over 29,999 Other Americans)

By Descartes Li, M.D.

With her work, Iris Chang represented a new concept of openness and honesty in the Asian American community. She deplored the denial and collective amnesia of the Japanese atrocities in Nanking during World War II. Unfortunately, mental illness remains taboo topic. But perhaps, in openly talking about suicide in general and her suicide in particular, that spirit of remembering, and of refusing to forget, will live on.

            Suicide is surprisingly common among all Americans, including Asian Americans. In the United States, more than 30,000 people commit suicide every year. Think about that number: 30,000. It’s such a large number that it’s hard to grasp. It’s greater than the total population of the town that I grew up in. It’s greater than the total student body of the college I graduated from. It’s ten times the number of people who died in terrorist attacks on September 11. In the age group of 15 to 24-year-olds, suicide is the third leading cause of death, after accidents and homicide. But 30,000 only represents the tip of the iceberg: the number of people who were successful in their attempts to commit suicide. Many more people have attempted or seriously considered suicide. In large-scale surveys, about 4 percent of the general population have made an actual suicide attempt, and about 16 percent have had thoughts about committing suicide.

Hepatitis B Activities Targeting API Pregnant Women & Households

I’m trying to find out if anyone or organization has done work or thinking around hepatitis B-related systems/identification of systems gaps impacting API pregnant women and their households (perhaps a best practice model out there?).  Many organizations have targeted the general API population via materials and community screenings but we also know that the primary mode of HBV transmission is at birth.

I am working with the Washington State dept of health’s perinatal hepatitis B program and my coalition members to do some strategic thinking around this and one of my strategies is to ask you, my more-experienced colleagues.  I’ve already had some conversations with other partners, but hope you would have ideas or thoughts to share (in addition to standing recommendations and requirements to test all pregnant women at birth).

Thanks.

Kim Nguyen
Washington State API Hepatitis B Task Force

Diabetes Prevention Education for Asian Americans

  Americans are increasingly at-risk for diabetes, with pre-diabetes affecting nearly 16 million, and diabetes affecting another 18.2 million. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a 61% increase in diabetes among Americans since 1990, projecting the number of diagnosed diabetes cases to double by the year 2050. While diabetes is receiving greater attention, the challenges in addressing the problem remain large and formidable. Social and cultural norms about food, industry marketing, time demands on working families, and the safety level of neighborhoods to allow for exercise and outdoor activities are just a few factors that have contributed to this major public health problem. It is a crisis affecting those of younger and younger ages, and a problem disproportionately impacting minority populations, including Asian Americans.

Immunization Strategies for Asian & Pacific Islander Communities

  Immunization for vaccine-preventable diseases, particularly Hepatitis B, pneumococcal disease, HPV, and influenza remains a critical preventative health care issue for the Asian American population. Particularly vulnerable are those linguistically-isolated communities where economic and social hardships have both stalled the implementation of public health intervention programs targeted to this population, and contributed to the low level of risk awareness in the Asian American community that causes them to under-utilize preventive care.   

Welcome to NAWHO's Health Forum!

NAWHO's Health Forum blog provides opportunities for those serving API communities to share ideas, challenges, strategies and resources for Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Join our online community to discuss topics important for improving the health status our families and communities.

For more information on API health issues, visit  www.nawho.org.