Development, implementation, and preliminary findings of a Community Health Resources and Needs Assessment survey with diverse Asian American communities in New York City

Background:

NYU Center for the Study of Asian American Health (CSAAH), in partnership with community-based organizations (CBOs), developed and is implementing a second round of health needs assessments using a community-engaged and community venue-based approach, to capture the diversity of NYC Asian communities and assess health issues, available resources, and best practices to meet community needs. 

Methods:

Using a community-partnered approach, the needs assessment was developed by adapting existing surveys using validated measures, culturally-tailored as needed, translated into multiple Asian languages, and implemented in-language at CBO venues.  This method ensures that underserved and hard-to-reach immigrant populations are surveyed. 

Results: 

Findings disaggregated by Asian subgroup will be reported on socio-demographic and health-related variables and priorities and compared to previous data.  To-date, surveys have been collected in the Bangladeshi, Asian Indian, Pakistani, Indo-Caribbean, Korean, Chinese, Filipino, Himalayan, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Arab communities (N=1169).   Preliminary analysis indicates high rates of limited English language proficiency: Korean (96%), Himalayan (87%), Chinese (81%), Bangladeshi (79%), Pakistani (55%), compared to NYC overall (9%).  Smoking rates among males varied by subgroup, with Bangladeshis reporting the highest rate (31%), Himalayan (20%), Korean (18%), Pakistani (15%), and Chinese (14%).  Flu vaccine rates differed by subgroup as well, with Himalayans reporting the lowest rate (33%) and Chinese the highest rate (60%), compared to NYC overall (50%). 

Conclusions:

Using a community-partnered approach allowed us to collect data on this ‘hard-to-reach’ and understudied population.  Results will be disseminated to the community and community partner-identified health promotion strategies will be explored.