The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #72825

Tu-Uyen Ngoc Nguyen, MPH¹, Maichew Chao², Marina Keo², Sithary Ly², Mao Ly², Bouavanh Tang², Mary Anne Foo, MPH³, Marjorie Kagawa-Singer, RN, MN, PhD¹, Susan Lee³, Sora Park Tanjasiri⁴, and Jacqueline Tran³. (1) School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA 90095, 310-794-9889, tuuyen@ucla.edu, (2) St. Mary Medical Center, 411 E. 10th St., Ste. 207, Long Beach, CA 90813, (3) Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance, 12900 Garden Grove Blvd, #214A, Garden Grove, CA 92843, (4) UCI School of Social Ecology, SE Building 1, Irvine, CA 92697-7070

Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women have the lowest breast and cervical cancer screening rates compared to all other ethnic groups in the United States (American Cancer Society, 1998), yet few programs have been specifically tailored to AAPI women to promote and sustain screening practices. The goal of the project, “Promoting Access to Health (PATH) for Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander Women,” is to increase community capacity for breast and cervical cancer screening and follow-up in Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California. PATH for Women uses a participatory action research model and involves a partnership between four community-based organizations and two universities, and includes seven Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander communities (Cambodian, Chamorro, Laotian, Samoan, Thai, Tongan, and Vietnamese). In this presentation, we will discuss the critical roles of community health workers (as navigators, advocates, interpreters, supporters, cultural leaders, etc.) in educating and encouraging women in each of the seven communities to get screened for breast and cervical cancer. We will also compare similarities and differences in cultural tailoring strategies used by community health workers across these diverse AAPI communities. In particular, we will highlight the activities, challenges, and successful strategies used by community health workers to tailor cancer programs to the Cambodian and Laotian communities. We will present qualitative data from in-depth interviews with project community health workers and discuss limitations, recommendations, and implications regarding strategies for culturally tailoring programs to diverse multicultural communities.

Learning Objectives:

• Define and articulate the important roles of community health workers in educating and encouraging Asian American and Pacific Islander women (AAPI) to be screened for breast and cervical cancer.
• Compare and identify similarities and differences in cultural-tailoring strategies used by community health workers across seven diverse AAPI communities.
• Identify and articulate specific activities, challenges, and successes experienced by community health workers in the Cambodian and Laotian communities.

Keywords: Asian and Pacific Islander Women, Cancer Screening

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.