Democratizing Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Data: Examining Community Accessibility of Data for Health and the Social Drivers of Health.

Making data accessible to communities is essential for developing community-driven solutions to address health inequities. In this analytic essay, we highlight the importance of democratizing data for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NHPIs)-diverse populations that historically have had little access to their data-in the context of achieving equity in health and the social drivers of health. We provide a framework for evaluating community accessibility of data, which includes concepts of data availability, salience, cost, and report back.

Community health workers as an integral strategy in the REACH U.S. program to eliminate health inequities.

Mounting evidence indicates that community health workers (CHWs) contribute to improved behavioral and health outcomes and reductions in health disparities. We provide an overview (based on grantee reports and community action plans) that describe CHW contributions to 22 Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) programs funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2007 to 2012, offering additional evidence of their contributions to the effectiveness of community public health programs. We then highlight how CHWs helped deliver REACH U.

Using community-based participatory research to assess the asthma needs of Vietnamese American children.

Background: Very little is known about the burden of asthma in Vietnamese American children. Prior data have suggested that the burden of childhood asthma is significant for this population, although they seem to underutilize Western healthcare for unclear reasons.

Objectives: To gain insight into the perceptions of the burden, health needs, and traditional health beliefs regarding childhood asthma in the Vietnamese American community in Orange County, CA.

Cancer patient navigator tasks across the cancer care continuum.

Cancer patient navigation (PN) programs have been shown to increase access to and utilization of cancer care for poor and underserved individuals. Despite mounting evidence of its value, cancer patient navigation is not universally understood or provided. We describe five PN programs and the range of tasks their navigators provide across the cancer care continuum (education and outreach, screening, diagnosis and staging, treatment, survivorship, and end-of-life).

A qualitative assessment of community-based breast health navigation services for Southeast Asian women in Southern California: recommendations for developing a navigator training curriculum.

Objectives: We identified key elements required for a training curriculum for Southeast Asian community-based health navigators (CBHNs), who help low-income, immigrant Cambodian, Laotian, Thai, and Vietnamese women negotiate cultural and systemic barriers to breast cancer screening and care in the United States.

Methods: We gathered the perspectives of 3 groups: CBHNs, community members, and their providers. We conducted 16 focus groups with 110 women representing different stages of the cancer care continuum and in-depth interviews with 15 providers and 10 navigators to identify the essential roles, skills, and interpersonal qualities that characterize successful CBHNs.

The role of medical interpretation on breast and cervical cancer screening among Asian American and Pacific Islander women.

We examined whether the impact of medical interpretation services was associated with the receipt of a mammogram, clinical breast exam, and Pap smear. We conducted a large cross-sectional study involving four Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities with high proportions of individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP). Participants were recruited from community clinics, churches and temples, supermarkets, and other community gathering sites in Northern and Southern California.

Decreases in smoking prevalence in Asian communities served by the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) project.

Objectives: We examined trends in smoking prevalence from 2002 through 2006 in 4 Asian communities served by the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) intervention.

Methods: Annual survey data from 2002 through 2006 were gathered in 4 REACH Asian communities. Trends in the age-standardized prevalence of current smoking for men in 2 Vietnamese communities, 1 Cambodian community, and 1 Asian American/Pacific Islander (API) community were examined and compared with nationwide US and state-specific data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding breast and cervical cancer screening among Cambodian, Laotian, Thai, and Tongan women.

Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) groups have low rates of breast and cervical cancer screening. This study examined knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs (KABs) regarding breast and cervical cancer on AAPI women. A cross-sectional survey of 1,808 AAPI women was included.

Sources of information that promote breast and cervical cancer knowledge and screening among native Hawaiians in Southern California.

Breast and cervical cancers are the second and fourth leading causes of cancer death among Asian and Pacific Islander women. Despite screening exams that can detect these cancers early and increase survival, racial and ethnic populations continue to be disproportionately affected. This study examined the sources of information and their impacts on cancer screening compliance among native Hawaiians in Orange County, California.

Understanding a Pacific Islander Young Adult Perspective on Access to Higher Education.

The Pacific Islander (PI) community suffers disproportionately from illnesses and diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and cancer. While there are tremendous health needs within the PI community, there are few health care providers from the community that exist to help address these particular needs. Many efforts have focused on health care workforce diversity to reduce and eliminate health disparities, but few have examined the issues faced in the health care work force pipeline.

Hepatitis B testing and vaccination among Vietnamese- and Cambodian-Americans.

We determined hepatitis B virus (HBV) testing and vaccination levels and factors associated with testing and vaccination among Vietnamese- and Cambodian-Americans. We also examined factors associated with healthcare professional (HCP)-patient discussions about HBV. We analyzed 2006 Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) 2010 Risk Factor Survey data from four US communities.

Community capacity for cancer control collaboration: weaving an Islander Network for Cancer Awareness, Research and Training for Pacific Islanders in Southern California.

Background: Addressing cancer health disparities constitutes a national priority in this country, with funding for Pacific Islander efforts initiated 7 years ago by the National Cancer Institute. In 2005, the Weaving an Islander Network for Cancer Awareness, Research and Training (WINCART) was launched in Southern California by a collaboration of community and university organizations to build upon past efforts to decrease cancer health disparities for Chamorros, Native Hawaiians, Marshallese, Samoans and Tongans.

Methods: To assess community organizational capacity to participate in collaborative cancer control for Pacific Islanders, a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis was undertaken.

Network analysis of an organizational collaboration for Pacific Islander cancer control.

Community-based participatory research (CPBR) represents a growing research approach for addressing health disparities disfavoring members of racial/ethnic minorities and other underserved populations in the U.S. While such endeavors are often guided by explicit principles regarding the relationships between communities and universities, few studies have reported on the development or strength of such relationships.

Developing a community-based collaboration to reduce cancer health disparities among Pacific Islanders in California.

Cancer is a leading cause of death for Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States, but education and research efforts addressing the needs ofPacific Islanders in the continental U.S. is sparse.

Community health navigators for breast- and cervical-cancer screening among Cambodian and Laotian women: intervention strategies and relationship-building processes.

In recent years, there has been a growing number of programs employing health navigators to assist underserved individuals in overcoming barriers to obtaining regular and quality health care. This article describes the perspectives and experiences of community-based health navigators in the Cambodian and Laotian communities involved in a REACH 2010 project to reduce health disparities in breast and cervical cancer among Pacific Islander and Southeast Asian communities in California. These community health navigators, who have extensive training and knowledge about the cultural, historical, and structural needs and resources of their communities, are well equipped to build trusting relationships with community members traditionally ignored by the mainstream medical system.

Breast and cervical cancer control among Pacific Islander and Southeast Asian Women: participatory action research strategies for baseline data collection in California.

Background: No data exists on the breast and cervical cancer screening practices among Cambodian, Laotian, Thai, and Tongan women. In this article, we describe the efforts required to conduct a baseline survey among these non-English-speaking women using the participatory action research (PAR) approach.

Methods: We tailored small population sampling techniques to each of the populations in partnership with Community Health Outreach workers.

Exploring access to cancer control services for Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities in Southern California.

During the last 25 years, numerous studies have been conducted to promote breast cancer and cervical cancer screening. Most of these studies focused on individual-level factors predicting screening, but we are unaware of any that directly examined community and ecological influences. The goal of this project, Promoting Access to Health for Pacific Islander and Southeast Asian Women (PATH for Women), was to increase community capacity for breast and cervical cancer screening and follow up in Los Angeles and Orange counties.