Recorded presentation

Miyong T. Kim, RN PhD¹, Hae-Ra Han, RN, PhD², Jeonghee Kang, RN, PhD², Moonju Ko, RN, MSN³, Soyoung Chung, RN, MSN, GNP², Gina Pistulka, RN, MPH², and Kim B. Kim, PhD³. (1) School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, 525 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD 21205, 410-614-1443, mkim@son.jhmi.edu, (2) School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, 525 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD 21205, (3) Korean Resource Center, 3201 Rogers Ave., Suite 203, Ellicott City, MD 21043

Korean Americans (KAs), a predominantly first-generation immigrant group, suffer from a considerably high prevalence of uncontrolled HBP and its serious consequences. To address their urgent need, in 1997 a group of community leaders and researchers initiated a health promotion movement using a CBPR approach. The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate the applicability of CBPR as a tool to enhance the sense of community as well as to offer a more culturally appropriate intervention for KAs. The team initiated the CBPR program through community assessments, prevalence studies, and a pilot testing of a self-help intervention for HBP (SHIP), and is currently recruiting 400 KAs to test the effectiveness of the intervention. Since November 2003, we have recruited more than 150 KAs into the program. The active community involvement from the planning phase of the intervention has been key to our unprecedented success in recruitment. The successful outreach and community building strategies include: 1) utilizing a community advisory board and the ethnic news media 2) developing an indigent health worker network, 3) building equal partnership with other KA community organizations, including ethnic churches, and 4) facilitating access to mainstream HBP care for the underserved. This is the first intervention program of its kind and magnitude in the 100 year history of KA immigration. We conclude that the CBPR approach is not only effective in developing and implementing this culturally sensitive HBP intervention but also in building a community infrastructure to sustain the health promotion movement in this hard-to-reach population.

Learning Objectives:

(
• Assess effective outreach and community building strategies in Community-Based Participatory Research for Korean Americans with High Blood Pressure. (
• Apply Community-Based Participatory Research approach to improve health promotion for immigrant population.

Keywords: Community-Based Health Promotion, Community Outreach

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.

Recorded presentation