Recorded presentation

Junko Honma, MSW, Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations, 439 23rd Street, Oakland, CA 94612, 510-272-9536, jhonma@aapcho.org and Joanna Su, MSW, Asian Health Coalition of Illinois, 4554 N. Broadway, Suite 306, Chicago, IL 60640.

Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) are the fastest growing minority group in the Midwest. AAPI population increase between 1980 and 2000 jumped ranging from 162% in Illinois, 386% in Wisconsin and 422% in Minnesota after experiencing a primary migration of Southeast Asian refugees during the 1970s. Despite the growing AAPI population and its corresponding health concerns, primary health services targeting the needs of this diverse population have yet to surface.

Since 1997, the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO) has supported promoting health access for AAPI communities in the Midwest through its Promoting Access to Healthcare (PATH) Program. Through PATH, AAPCHO, along with its local partners such as the Asian Health Coalition of Illinois (AHCI), has worked to ensure that the health issues of AAPIs in the Midwest are recognized, and that the Midwestern communities have a voice in the national AAPI health dialogue whose focus has historically been communities on the East and West coasts.

In this proposed presentation, the following efforts that are beginning to address the gaps in health access in AAPI communities will be highlighted: „X Establishment of Chicago°¦s Asian Human Services Family Health Center, the first AAPI serving Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in the Midwest; and „X Coalition building with local partners to convene two bi-annual conferences in the Midwest focusing on regional AAPI health issues. The dialogue will also include recommendations for Federal health policies to be focused on the lack of services for AAPI populations in the Midwest.

Learning Objectives:

• „X To understand the efforts that have been accomplished to promote AAPI access to healthcare in the Midwest
• „X To identify potential partners and processes for coalition building with AAPI communities in the Midwest
• „X To generate dialogue around further recommendations for Federal health policies for AAPI health in the Midwest

Keywords: Access to Health Care, Asian and Pacific Islander

Related Web page: www.aapcho.org

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