Gaining access into a Vietnamese American community in New Orleans: A lesson in cultural competency

The Vietnamese Community in New Orleans East lived independently from surrounding communities for nearly seventy years. The exclusive yet internally cohesive community made many social progresses upon their arrival to New Orleans building and maintaining small businesses. Since the 1940's, the community has not fully participated in health research as a result, there is very limited information pertaining to health status. Health statistics specifically describing this segment of New Orleans population is not currently available. Previous attempts by the Tulane Xavier National Center of Excellence in Women's Health (TUXCOE) to gain entrance into this community in a culturally sensitive manner were halted by the sudden departure of staff and student liaisons.

In August 2006, TUXCOE re-entered the community to assess the stress response of the Vietnamese American women post Hurricane Katrina. This session will explore how TUXCOE gained entry into this community breaking seventy years of isolation by establishing relationships with the elders and other stakeholders, building partnerships with the community through the Mary Queen of Vietnam Church's Community Development Cooperation, expressing TUXCOE's sincerity of purpose, and earning community members' trust. Through focus groups, TUXCOE assessed the women's stress response and coping mechanisms and the women discussed difficulties associated with access to health facilities and the roles that cultural competence and linguistic capability play in delivering efficient yet culturally appropriate health education services. This session will also express the imperative needs of the women, revealing the importance of establishing a free, bilingual health clinic in New Orleans East.