Health Equity in the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Community

The past few years have seen significant investments in our nation's health infrastructure and a move toward achieving health equity. Health equity is the ability of all persons to achieve their highest health status – health status that is viewed holistically and includes physical and mental health, economic sufficiency and safety. We cannot achieve health equity unless we first understand and document community health disparities. Data and research are important tools that can help build this evidence base and ensure adequate support for quality health care and prevention for all, especially for underserved populations such as Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AAs and NHPIs).

The lack of research and information on AAs and NHPIs – in contrast to the information available on other communities – has made it difficult to assess health needs and develop evidence-based interventions. This presentation will describe how AAs and NHPIs continue to experience health disparities stemming from unequal access to quality care, difficulties finding affordable health insurance, and the intersection of language barriers, immigration status and culture. AAs and NHPIs are the fastest growing racial groups in the U.S., and will become increasingly important to our nation's health. We will discuss potential opportunities and public-private partnerships through the implementation of the Affordable Care Act's data collection requirements for advancing health equity across AAs and NHPIs and other communities. Further, we will discuss legislative strategies for developing data policy recommendations through our work with the Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011 and 2012.