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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Sela V. Panapasa, PhD, Survey Research Center (ISR), University of Michigan, 426 Thompson Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, 734-763-2368, panapasa@umich.edu and David R. Williams, PhD, MPH, Survey Research Center, ISR, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.

Research on the health of the US Pacific Islander population is limited. Health profiles on this subpopulation continue to face a variety of obstacles including data availability, lack of baseline information and small number of cases in national health surveys to conduct robust analysis. Traditionally, statistical reporting aggregates Pacific Islanders with Asians, creating measurement problems due to the high level of heterogeneity within this broad category. Under the new federal guidelines for race and ethnicity developed by the OMB, opportunities emerge to establish baseline demographic, SES, and disability profiles of Pacific Islanders and its subgroups. This directive remains limited however and confidentiality issues restrict detailed reporting on Pacific Islanders.

This project provides a comprehensive review of available data on Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NHPI) health and reports on both the current understanding and barriers that exist in the collection and reporting of data on this group. Using the 2000 PUMS and mortality records provided by NCHS, demographic, SES and mortality profiles of NHPI is exhibited.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss the benefits of the new OMB racial category “Native Hawaiian Other Pacific Islander”
• Identify the challenges, barriers and gaps in understanding the health of US Pacific Islanders
• Recommend areas for improvement for eliminating racial and ethnic disparities among the NHPI subpopulation

Keywords: Asian and Pacific Islander, Measuring Social Inequality

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation