Empowering Asian Patients Through Leadership Development and Peer Health Education
Asian Health Services (AHS) seeks to empower the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) community to speak out about the health needs of their community and take an active role in their own health care. AHS will do accomplish this through leadership development training and education around important health information.
About You
Section 1: You
Section 2: Your Organization
Organization Name
Organization Website
Organization Phone
Organization Address
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Organization Country
Your idea
Name Your Project
Empowering Asian Patients Through Leadership Development and Peer Health Education
Country and state your work focuses on
United States, CA, Alameda County
Describe Your Idea
Asian Health Services (AHS) seeks to empower the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) community to speak out about the health needs of their community and take an active role in their own health care. AHS will do accomplish this through leadership development training and education around important health information.
Website URL
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
The extremely diverse and unique API community often faces significant barriers to accessing the quality healthcare. Since many APIs are immigrants who speak little to no English, are low-income, and face a variety of cultural challenges, navigating the U.S. healthcare system is difficult and in most cases, impossible.
AHS, located in Oakland’s Chinatown in California, understands the complex barriers that Asian immigrants face. Since 1974, AHS has rooted itself in the Asian community and as such is in a prime position to provide health education and leadership development training for its patients. A key component of our vision is to provide quality medical services and education in a linguistically and culturally competent manner. As such, AHS provides medical care and education in nine Asian languages: Cantonese, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Khmer (Cambodian), Korean, Tagalog, Mien, Lao, and Mongolian. The Leadership Action for Healthy Communities program (LAHC) combines AHS’ cultural and linguistic competency with its strong community ties to provide patients and community members with empowering leadership development training and education around important health and prevention information.
LAHC works hand in hand with these communities through group meetings. Meeting participants receive leadership training, in their own native language, with the goal of empowering community members to take an active role in their health care and to advocate for health policy change which positively impacts their communities. Meeting participants also share health information learned in meetings with their communities. Meeting topics include chronic disease management, insurance eligibility options, advocacy training, among others.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
No
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
AHS has had a significantly positive impact on the API community in Oakland, California. During the first year of LAHC, 90% of patients who attended trainings showed improved leadership and advocacy skills.
In addition, LAHC groups (each comprised of a different Asian language speaking population), demonstrated their ability to engage their communities by prioritizing the top 2-3 health topics important to their communities. Additionally, as a demonstration of the relationship AHS has built with the API community, two LAHC group members have joined the AHS Board of Directors since 2005. This assures that community health needs are continually a priority for AHS.
LAHC groups also demonstrated improved leadership and advocacy skills by mobilizing over 50 community members to participate in a Health Care Town-Hall meeting in Oakland, California. Community members gave input on the latest state proposals impacting health care reform and local health care services which they depend and rely upon. This unique event was also attended by a local Councilmember.
Another example of LAHC’s leadership development component, the Vietnamese leadership group mobilized over 50 Vietnamese community members to attend a hearing focused on nail salon worker health issues related to toxic workplace exposures. Demonstrating the leadership tools learned during LAHC trainings and taking an active role in their healthcare, one of AHS’ patient leaders even provided testimony at the hearing asking to support policies that support the health of nail salon workers. Considering that the majority of nail salon workers are Vietnamese women, this event served as a landmark for self advocacy and leadership development.
Problem
As mentioned earlier, Asian and Pacific Islander communities are faced with many challenging barriers. Many health disparities of APIs are due to a variety of factors including lack of English proficiency, cultural differences, financial hardships, lack of knowledge of how to navigate the U.S. healthcare system, and lack of insurance, immigration status.
Alameda County, where AHS is located, is comprised of over 30 different ethnicities and over 50 languages and dialects. Data indicates that APIs are the fastest growing population in Alameda County, having increased by 33.2% in the past decade (U.S. Census 2006 American Community Survey). As mentioned earlier, many recent API immigrants in Alameda County face tremendous barriers to health care due to insurance, socioeconomic, and language and cultural barriers. In the City of Oakland, 50.4% of Asian language-speaking households are linguistically isolated, where no one in the household 14 years old or older speaks English "very well."
These hardships are compounded by continual state budget cuts which impact health services which patients depend upon. In addition, many patients are faced with long waits (sometimes up to a
Actions
AHS’ model for providing culturally and linguistically competent medical care to the API community is national recognized. AHS is documenting how the LAHC model is effective, and shares it with its national partners who seek to impact communities of color.
AHS is also working to sustain the relationship it has with patients by continuing to provide them opportunities to educate their peers and community about important health prevention information. This connection between LAHC and AHS patients is critical to the sustainability of the program.
Additionally, AHS works to assure that LAHC is successful and sustainable through fundraising. AHS annually applies for numerous grant opportunities to support LAHC’s culturally and linguistically competent leadership development and health education activities. AHS has also established solid relationships with several foundations that support our work.
LAHC has also established local partnerships with community based organizations, who work with AHS to host community events such as town halls and community forums. These collaborations serve to strengthen AHS’ patient leadership development work.
Results
Expected results from AHS’ LAHC program include developing leaders in the API community who can take an active role in their own healthcare, voice their concerns around health care needs of their respective communities, give input to AHS about medical service improvements, and share health information with their peers. In general, LAHC will raise health awareness of the API community, train patients to take an active role in maintaining their health, and increase community capacity to make meaningful policy change which impacts community health.
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
Year 1: In order for LAHC to be successful, patient leadership groups will need to be strengthened and expanded. LAHC will translate additional educational materials into appropriate Asian languages. Additionally, LAHC will explore expanding leadership development and health education workshops to new and emerging communities such as Mongolian and Burmese communities. Finally, LAHC will continue to foster the community relationships it has built with local community based organizations and other allies to develop leaders within the API community.
Year 2: AHS will identify new funding sources and potential funding partners who are interested in supporting our work of providing linguistically and culturally competent leadership development and health education training to API patients. In addition, AHS hopes to build upon its success by sharing its innovative care model with other organizations and health care centers around the country. As a model of care proven to be effective among the API community, AHS will share its model and best practices with other health centers seeking to impact communities of color.
YEAR 3: We will continue to expand our partnerships with other organizations and agencies that are committed to cultural and linguistically appropriate access to social services and policies. We will also evaluate our work to identify ways to improve and modify our leadership development program for our patients to reflect the evolving issues our patients and their communities face. This will serve as the foundation by which we can more strategically plan and respond to the health needs of our patients and strengthen our leadership development program. Given that each ethnic group (Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Mongolian, Burmese, etc) is diverse in its own unique way, we will ensure that the program is effectively and appropriately tailored to the language and culture of each group.
What would prevent your project from being a success?
Similar to many other non-profit organizations across the country, the U.S. economic downturn has presented a variety of challenges. Foundations have become more restrictive in their funding, narrowed their funding areas, or have stopped funding altogether. In addition, state and county budget cuts compound these difficulties.
These budget cuts and funding reductions have impeded the expansion of the LAHC program to reach other emerging API communities. Although a prolonged reduction of foundation and other funding would represent a significant obstacle to overcome, AHS is committed to providing leadership and health education workshops to patients to give them tools to take an active role in their own healthcare.
How many people will your project serve annually?
101‐1000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$100 ‐ 1000
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for 1‐5 years
In what country?
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
Asian Health Services
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government?
Yes
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
As a long standing member of the API community in Oakland Chinatown, AHS has established and nurtured many partnerships within the area. For example, AHS has partnered with the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce (OCCC) on a project to improve community economic viability and to create a pedestrian friendly environment, a project in which LAHC group members participated. In addition, AHS partners with local organizations to host events such as town halls. These events serve as a space at which LAHC group members in addition to members of the larger community speak their minds on a variety of issues which impact their health.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
Expansion is a major goal for LAHC to increase its community impact. AHS expand its reach to several emerging API communities such as the Mongolian and Burmese communities. These new immigrant communities represent a major opportunity for leadership development and health education training. A new clinic which AHS recently opened is located in an area in which a large number of these new immigrants live. This new clinic is an excellent location to expand LAHC services to reach these new communities.
In addition, AHS seeks to strengthen and expand upon current partnerships to support our work. AHS will partner with these organizations that directly work with emerging and underserved API populations to aid them in strengthening their advocacy and leadership development efforts to these communities.
Another action important to growing the LAHC project is to implement deeper leadership trainings. It is AHS’ long term goal to have patient leaders eventually become community health advocates who can educate community members around important health topics, advocate for meaningful policy change that impacts API communities, and contribute as an AHS team member.
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
Prior to the creation of the LAHC program, a medical analysis indicated that a majority of patients had chronic diseases such as heart disease, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Additionally many patients suffered from other health issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of their refugee experience, and negative workplace related health outcomes for those that worked in nail salons or computer chip manufacturing.
Despite these health issues and compounded by yearly budget cuts which impacted their health care services, AHS found that patients rarely spoke up or advocated for better conditions. As mentioned earlier, this hesitancy for civic engagement can be attributed to a variety of factors including experiences in their homeland and cultural and language barriers.
AHS leadership decided it was time to make a change. It set out to develop a way in which AHS could empower its patients to take an active role in their health care, voice their health concerns, become leaders in their communities who could impact real policy change, and could educate their peers around important health topics such as chronic disease prevention. To educate API community members around civic engagement, AHS developed Leadership Action for Healthy Communities.
This defining moment was critical to the formation of LAHC, and finally provided the opportunity for API communities, which often were isolated and segmented, to build social networks and develop a sense of community. For Cambodian and Vietnamese communities, specifically, building this sense of community was critical given their tumultuous pasts. These LAHC groups were also important to building cross cultural awareness and bringing the broader API community together. For example, all LAHC groups meet every winter for a Holiday party. These events allow LAHC groups to learn about and understand other API cultures, and greatly contribute to the sense of community.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
Asian Health Services’ CEO, Sherry Hirota, is the innovator behind this idea. Sherry, who is a past patient of AHS, has over 30 years of experience as an advocate for the API community. Sherry’s visionary guidance has been key in assuring that AHS is at the forefront of providing quality comprehensive medical services as well as remaining a leader in advocating for equal access to health care. Sherry has also been a key contributor to several legislative efforts to increase access to health care for underserved communities. Ms. Hirota has recently been selected to serve on a prestigious national health care committee and will partner with other influential leaders in health care to identify how to best provide services to medically underserved areas around the country.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Through another organization or company
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50 words or fewer
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Comments
I need to disclose that I worked at AHS as the Co-Director in the 1980's but have not been officially/formally affiliated with AHS since 1985 though has supported it through my personal contributions. AHS to me has always modeled what a community-based health clinic should be. It is solidly grounded in the community that it serves. It has always been "patient-centered" and a firm believer and doer to engage patients in advocacy for quality care/language access/universal coverage. It is not only a place where patients receive care in their own language, but are also educated about the healthcare system and supported to have a voice at the City, County and State levels. I fully support this effort and believe that AHS serves as a national model for engaging immigrant voices in defining how health care should be provided.
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