Advocacy lessons from the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) in the movement towards health equity for all

Despite past policy changes and an increasingly diverse geographic landscape, a paucity of data on Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AA & NHPI) communities still exists. The Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF), a national health advocacy organization will share concrete examples of current, federal health issues affecting the AA &NHPI communities and how community agencies and community members can become involved in advocacy efforts on the federal level.

APIAHF's policy analyst will highlight federal efforts around health care reform, including language access issues, health information technology, and other current, policy issues. She will discuss how the reasons communities have expressed for more disaggregated data and research and the main action steps that have resulted. In particular, this section will focus on the action steps resulting from convening's APIAHF has organized to gather together researchers, government officials and community members to improve data and research on AA & NHPIs. The panelist will highlight pursuing policy change through administrative advocacy with federal agencies such as the National Center for Health Statistics of the CDC and the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities of the NIH, in order to pursue community driven priorities. The panelist will also discuss continued education and relationship building with Congressional offices in order to improve the collection and reporting of disaggregated data and increase research efforts for AA & NHPI populations. Lessons from APIAHF can inform the work on all communities committed to increasing the health and well-being of their populations.