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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Rosy Chang Weir, PhD and Winston Tseng, PhD. Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations, 300 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Suite 620, Oakland, CA 94612, 510-272-9536 x123, wtseng@aapcho.org

Increasing community health services in medically underserved Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities is critical to reducing health disparities for this population. To support Presidential and Congressional Initiatives to improve the participation of underserved AAPIs in federal programs and to double the number of community health centers by 2006, the Medically Underserved AAPI Communities (MUAC) project utilized the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) approach to map medically underserved AAPI communities across the nation. The project provides a county-level assessment of where AAPIs lack access to health care and serves to help government agencies and public health workers effectively address AAPI needs. Utilizing an index based on four key indicators (population, poverty, LEP, physician to patient ratio) that affect AAPI health, we identified 266 medically underserved AAPI counties across the nation. 52% of these counties were not designated as Bureau of Primary Health Care medically underserved area counties. The proposed presentation will expand upon these findings and also provide a more comprehensive examination of the most severely medically underserved AAPI counties. We will identify underserved AAPI neighborhoods within these select counties, provide associated demographic and health information, and assess the scope of health resources for these counties. Overall, this project will provide a better understanding of the community health service needs of medically underserved AAPIs and support health centers and systems nationwide as they strive to improve health care delivery for all.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the geographical distribution of medically underserved Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities nationally.
• Describe the socioeconomic and health characteristics of medically underserved AAPI communities.
• Discuss the health resource needs of medically underserved AAPI communities.
• Recognize the importance and benefits of utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) approach for health policy.

Keywords: Geographic Information Systems, Asian and Pacific Islander

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation