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

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

3105.0: Monday, November 17, 2003 - 11:15 AM

Abstract #57603

Organizing a successful coalition to develop, implement and evaluate a cervical cancer prevention project for Vietnamese-American women

Thoa Nguyen1, Tuyet Ha-Iaconis2, Nhien Luong, MPH3, Stephen SJ McPhee, MD1, Tung T. Nguyen, MD4, Ky Q. Lai, MD, MPH1, Jeremiah Mock, MSc, PhD1, Hiep Doan, MD1, Ching Wong1, and Hy Lam5. (1) Vietnamese Community Health Promotion Project, University of California, San Francisco, 44 Page Street, Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94102, (415) 476-0557, thoa@itsa.ucsf.edu, (2) American Cancer Society, 1715 South Bascom Ave. Suite 100, Campbell, CA 95008, (3) Santa Clara County, Public Health, Santa Clara County Public Health Department, 3003 Moorpark Avenue, San Jose, CA 95128, (4) Division of General Internal Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 400 Parnassus Avenue, Box 0320, San Francisco, CA 94143, (5) Vietnamese Community Health Promotion Project, University of California, SF, 44 Page St. Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94102

Objective: participants will learn how to work in partnership to organize, build, and maintain coalitions for cancer prevention.

The incidence of cervical cancer among Vietnamese-American women is the highest of any ethnic group, 5 times that of white women in the U.S. Yet, their cervical cancer screening (Pap test) rate is well below national guidelines. "REACHing Vietnamese Women: A Community Model for Cervical Cancer Screening" is a community-based participatory research trial funded by the CDC, aimed at increasing cervical screening among Vietnamese-American women in Santa Clara County, California. This study is overseen by the Vietnamese REACH for Health Initiative, a coalition of 12 organizations including 6 Vietnamese community-based organizations, 2 provider organizations, 2 health insurers, the County Health Department, and the UCSF Vietnamese Community Health Promotion Project (VCHPP). VCHPP recruited coalition members based on their knowledge of the Vietnamese community and women's health issues, and their links to key stakeholders. The coalition makes decisions by consensus, with each organization, including the university research group, having one vote. The coalition developed its vision and mission, reached consensus on intervention strategies, developed a community action plan, and obtained input from the community at-large through annual community forums. We will explain how the coalition has sustained energy, maintained active leadership, and made decisions. We will outline how coalition members worked together to learn, develop and carry out the community action plan; how it managed to get the Vietnamese community to respond to the program; and how it evaluated the projects undertaken.

Learning Objectives:

Keywords: Water,

Related Web page: www.healthisgold.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Health Issues of Asian American and Pacific Islander Women

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