Street roots., April 12, 2013, Page 11, Image 11

Street roots
A p ril 12, 2013
Health care equity long overdue for Asians, Pacific Islanders
BY JOSEPH SANTOS-LYONS
AND VICTORIA DEMCHAK
C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T S
I
le a rn e d early th a t th e q u estio n , “How
Joseph Santos-Lyons
is the Executive
Director and Victoria
Demchak the Policy
Coordinator with the
Asian Pacific
American Network o f
Oregon
a re you?” could b e co m e profound.
E ld e rs w ould look into m y eyes and ask
m e in su ch a w ay th a t I felt n o t only a d eep
c o n n ec tio n , b u t had to a n sw e r in th e m o st
holistic w ay possible.
We b rin g th is -spirit of holistic a cc ep tan c e
into o u r c o m m u n ity organizing a t APANO,
th e A sian Pacific A m erican N etw ork of
O regon. In o u r sto ry
collection, fo ru m s and
w o rkshops, w e’ve
u n co v ered a u th e n tic
and u n co m fo rtab le
feelings ab o u t
™ accessin g h e a lth care.
O ur c o m m u n ities
have difficulty receiving quality care: W hen
o u r m o th e r sits a t h o m e, su ffers and
p ro c ra s tin a te s se ein g h e r d o c to r b e c a u se it
feels awful to b e tre a te d like a child, w hen
o u r g ra n d fa th e r stra in s to u n d e rs ta n d his
g ra n d s o n ’s stru g g le to tra n s la te com plex
m edical jarg o n , w h en o u r a u n tie w h im p ers
in pain b e c a u se h e r c a n c e r w as cau g h t too
late, w e sta n d up and tak e notice.
D u rin g th is tim e of “O b a m ac are ” and
h e a lth refo rm , th e s to rie s of o u r
c o m m u n ities g ro u n d o u r effo rts for h e a lth
equity. C ultural c o m p e te n cy for h e a lth
p ro fessio n als and u n iform rac e, e th n ic and
language d a ta collection a re two core
s tra te g ie s th a t w ould im prove h e a lth care in
o u r c o m m u n ities: for o u r m o th e rs,
g ra n d fa th e rs an d a u n ties. C ultural
c o m p e te n cy rec o g n ize s th a t a holistic
a c c e p ta n c e ab o u t cu ltu re can im prove how
we provide h e a lth care. T h a t rec o g n itio n
inform s e v ery a s p e c t of h e a lth care from
diagnosis, d o cto r-p atien t co m m u n icatio n and
tre a tm e n t. P aired w ith b e tte r d ata
collection, w e could im prove o u r h e a lth
o u tc o m e s and b e tte r ta rg e t c are to th e
d iv erse g ro u p s th a t m ake up O regon. A nd in
th is tim e of lim ited re s o u rc e s, b o th
s tra te g ie s will save m o n ey lo n g term .
B u t rig h t now, any p ro g re s s w e m ake is
lim ited w h e n w e d o n ’t know w ho o u r h e a lth
sy ste m se rv e s.
I s a t dow n a t th e tab le w ith officials from
th e big h e a lth in stitu tio n s in o u r reg io n —
OH SU, P ro v id en ce, K aiser, etc. — to give
in p u t into th e ir re q u ire d c o m m u n ity h e a lth
a s s e s s m e n t. T h e s e ex ecu tiv es saw th a t
th e r e w as a big ju m p in th e n u m b e r of
A sians and Pacific Isla n d e rs in on e area, and
w e re c u rio u s a b o u t how b e s t to se rv e th is
com m unity. We a g re e d th a t you c a n ’t ju s t
h ire so m e o n e w ho sp e a k s Asian, o r Pacific
Islan d er, so to sp eak . We n e e d e d to' know
th e language n e e d s and c u ltu ral
b ack g ro u n d s of th e co m m u n ity in o rd e r to
b e s t se rv e th e com m unity.
Like m any of o u r h e a lth p rofessionals,
Dr. C onnie K. Y. N guyen-T ruong reco g n izes
C o a litio n o f
C o m m u n itie s o f
C o lo r
Formed in 2001, the
Coalition of
Communities o f
Color (CCC) is an
alliance o f culturally
specific community-
based organizations
with representatives
from six communities
o f color: African,
African American,
Asian and Pacific
Islander, Latino,
Native American and
Slavic.
Representation on the
CCC is determined by
individual
communities, and all
decisions are based
on consensus.
APANO
$• •?
AiiEs#?
The Asian Pacific
American Network o f
Oregon is a
community
organization with
over 2,000
constituents that
works to advance
racial equity in
public policy.
S is te rs 01 The Rond
c r e a t in g c o m m u n ity ,
c r e a tin g c h a n g e , to g e th e r
. . .. . . « . » » . « A » » « A » !! »*««»**»»»♦«»»*«♦»*»«»»**»»♦ * « * * * ’
th a t cu ltu re and language affect o u r h ealth .
As a n u rse and scien tist, C onnie se e k s to
u n d e rs ta n d th e co n d itio n s facing th e
V ietn am ese c o m m u n ities sh e se rv es. Yet
too often, for th e co m m u n ities of co lo r sh e
se rv es, th e re is little re se a rc h th a t sh e can
review in o rd e r to m ake th e b e s t d ecisio n s
to care for adults, o ld er ad u lts and fam ilies
sh e se es. T h is m ak es it ex trao rd in arily
difficult to a d d re ss th e real h e alth
d isp a ritie s sh e s e e s ev ery day.
B u t it’s n o t ju s t A sian and Pacific Isla n d er
co m m u n ities. O ur A frican and African-
A m erican c o m m u n ities su ffer from th e s e as
well, and in so m e of th e sam e ways.
D ahabolul K hadija Fai of th e African
W om en’s C oalitioh know s th a t one of th e
b ig g est h e a lth issu e s facing A fricans is
in stitu tio n al ig n o ran ce: “W hen you d o n ’t
reco g n ize A frican s’ eth n icity o r c o u n try of
origin, you p re tty m uch deny e v ery th in g
th e s e p eo p le a re .” And K hadija know s th a t
th e r e ’s a sim ilar re s u lt in th e African
co m m u n ity as in th e A sian com m unity,
b e c a u se “we d o n ’t know w h a t a re th e
A frican issu e s in th e h e a lth field b e ca u se
th e re is no d ata th a t says th is is w hat
A fricans e x p e rie n c e .”
We know th a t all c o m m u n ities are h u r t by
p o o r d ata collection p ra c tic e s th a t fail to
co llect uniform d e m o g rap h ic inform ation.
T h is m ak es o u r co m m u n ities, particu larly
c o m m u n ities of color, im m ig ran ts and
refu g ees, invisible. T h is inform ation m asks
m any d isp a ritie s in h e alth , ed u catio n and
em p lo y m en t and is a b a rrie r to developing
solutions.
B e cau se of o u r diversity, A sians and
Pacific Isla n d e rs (API) are p articu larly h u rt
by p ra c tic e s th a t g ro u p us in to a single
c a te g o ry in public h e a lth re p o rtin g and d ata
tracking: T h e reality is, th e 215,000 A PI in
O reg o n co m e from 60 u n iq u e e th n ic o rig in s
and sp e a k over 100 d ifferen t languages.
A P Is e x p e rie n c e huge b a rrie rs in achieving
good h e a lth w ith h ig h e r ra te s of h e a r t
d ise ase, d iab e te s and c e rta in ty p es of c a n c e r
th a t differ from w h ite and o th e r
co m m u n ities of color.
O ver a d ecad e ago, th e O regon
G o v e rn o r’s 2 0 0 0 R acial and E th n ic H ealth
T ask F orce b eg an to realize th e s e h u rtfu l
g ap s in th e d a ta and d eclared th a t to
overco m e h e a lth d isp a rities, w e w ould have
to u p d a te rac e, ethnicity, and language d ata
collection sy stem s. T h ey w ould have to be
co m p re h en siv e and c o n siste n t acro ss th e
sta te . B u t 13 y e a rs is a long wait.
So w e acted . And w e did n o t act alone.
We c re a te d o u r own coalition to overcom e
th e challenge of brin g in g invisible
c o m m u n ities to light in O regon. We b u ilt on
o u r long-term rela tio n sh ip s w ith th e
C oalition of C o m m u n ities of Color, Racial
E q u ity R e p o rt C ard, and th e H ealth y
O regon P a rtn e rs for E quity (H O PE )
C oalition. O u r allies from o th e r
c o m m u n ities of co lo r cam e to g e th e r as th e
SISTERS
OFTHE
ROAD
}
}
Executive Director
Rev. Joseph Santos-
Lyons is a Chinese-
American cultural
organizer, minister,
and musician. Born
in Portland, adopted
and raised in
Clackamas County,
Joseph has worked for
democracy, human
rights and systemic
change that addresses
the root causes of
inequities for 25 years
in Oregon, Colorado,
Massachusetts and
the Philippines.
Currently he serves as
staff for the Asian
Pacific American
Network o f Oregon.
Victoria Demchak
grew up in Portland
and worked in
cooperative groceries
and planning in New
York state for several
years. She earned her
bachelors in English
and economics at
University o f Oregon,
and a masters in city
planning at Cornell
University. She now
works with APANO
researching health
equity.
* ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft ft
Meet Your Local Branch Manager:
"Communities aren'tjust streets a n d build­
ings. Communities are thriving places
where cultures, commerce a n d souls grow
stronger together ”
Hospitality & friendship
Community change
through the Dorothy Day
Community School
Working together for
nonviolence & justice
And don’t forget: fun!
All ore welcome ~
Monday-Friday, loom - 1:50pm
The reality is, the 215,000
UPI ixi Oregon come from 60
unique ethnic origins and
speak over 1OO different
languages.
XX
X ,
We are—
}
}
O regon H ealth E quity Alliance (OHEA).
T ogether, we identified im proved d ata
collection as one of th e keys to unlocking
th e box of d isp a ritie s facing O regon.
And we d ecid ed on o u r feasible solution
by cre atin g O regon H o u se Bill 2134 to
estab lish new uniform
racial, eth n ic, language
and dev elo p m en tal
disability d ata
collection p ra c tic e s for
th e O regon H ealth
A u th o rity (OHA) and
D e p a rtm e n t of H um an
S erv ices (D H S). T his
legislation
acco m p lish es o u r
goals: acco u n tab ility to
o u r c o m m u n ities w ith
re g u la r public re p o rts,
a sta k e h o ld e r advisory g roup, and e n su rin g
d ata collection sta n d a rd s are u p d ated ev ery
o th e r y e ar to k eep up w ith population
change and national b e s t p ractices.
B u t sp o n so rin g legislation is new for u s at
APANO and we n e e d e d to learn m ore. We
s ta rte d w ith w h e re O regon H ealth A u th o rity
w as in its d ata collection, and built on th e ir
h e a lth eq u ity goals and policies. We built a
coalition w ith m o re th a n 45 o rg an izatio n s in
C over O regon, th e new h e a lth in su ra n ce
exchange. And we b e n efite d from th e
N o rth w e st H ealth F o u n d atio n ’s
co m m u n icatio n s train in g and polling to
develop a c le ar and disciplined m essag e on
effective and affordable h e a lth equity.
O ur coalition clarified ro les, a u th o rity and
p ro c e ss early, and w as o u r b a se to re a c h o u t
and le a rn w h at ad v o cates and h e a lth
p ro v id ers n e e d e d , w hile o u r allies a t
D isability R ights O reg o n and S E IU m ade
su re th is leg islatio n w e n t beyond ra c e to
u n co v er d isp a ritie s for folks w ho e x p e rie n c e
d ev elo p m en tal disabilities.
W ith o u t o u r allies, s ta rtin g w ith
individuals like Dr. N guyen-Truong, we could
n o t have c o m m u n icated th e im p o rta n c e of
o u r w ork and achieved o u r re su lts. At
APANO, and O reg o n ’s h e a lth advocacy,
com m unity, w e are p ro u d of o u r w ork to
sh a re th is p ro jec t w ith p a rtn e rs and find
recep tiv ity in new places. We h o p e to
co n tin u e o u r m o m e n tu m from o u r 55-0 vote
on th e H o u se flo o r as we m ove into th e
S e n a te and beyond.
B etw een o u r w ork w ith d ata and cu ltu ral
com petency, we h o p e o u r a u n ties and
u n cles can u n d e rsta n d th e ir doctor, and th a t
th e y will be tre a te d w ith re s p e c t and dignity.
H ealth p ro fessio n als have pow er, th e pow er
to diag n o se and decide tre a tm e n ts . C ultural
co m p eten cy is ab o u t taking resp o n sib ility to
u se b o th pow er and know ledge w ith an
a w are n ess of O reg o n ’s div erse c u ltu res to
deliver quality h e a lth care.
- M ary
133 NW 6th Ave. in Portland
503-222-5694
w w w .s is t e r s o f t h e r o a d .o r g
Mary Edmeades
Social Impact Banking
503.445.2155
medmeades@albinabank.com
Êï
EQUAL H0U»NG
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