Who Are The Asian Americans AsiaAmericana March 10, 2015 About, Uncategorized 1620 Let’s get to know who are the Asian Americans or US Asians: Asian refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. (US Census 2010) Asian Americans encompass many subgroups with great diversity in terms of ethnicity, culture, English proficiency, religious traditions, historical experience, and about 100 languages. Asian Americans or US Asians are about 18.2 million strong (US Census 2011) and about 5.8% of the US population. By 2050, the US Census Bureau projects that there will be more than 40.6 million Asians living in the US, comprising 9.2% of the total US population or one in ten persons in the US. Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial group in the US. Asians have recently surpassed Hispanics as the largest group of new immigrants to the United States. [Figure 1] Asian Americans are represented throughout the US with the largest concentration in California (5.8 million in 2011) and New York (1.7 million in 2011). Hawaii has the largest concentration or percentage of the total population as Asians (57% of Hawaiian population are Asian Americans). The 3 largest US Asian groups are: Chinese (4.01million), Filipino (3.41million), and Indian (3.18million). [Figure 2] Asian Americans are the highest-income and best-educated racial group in the US. They are more satisfied than the general US population with their lives, their finances, and the direction of the country. They place more value than other racial groups in the US do on education, hard work, career success, marriage, and parenthood. [Figure 3] Asian Americans tend to have better life expectancy than other racial groups in the US (e.g. Asian American women have the highest life expectancy of any ethnic group in the US [85.8 years]. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Asian Americans’ priorities are similar to the US general population with: economy and jobs #1, healthcare and education #2 (National Asian American Survey). Asian Americans have been touted as the “model minority” because of their achievements in the socioeconomic and educational areas, which in certain categories are higher than the dominant majority, however, these generalizations are misleading because they mask the glaring health disparities experienced by this community. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Health Issues of Asian Americans: Health is a right of every American. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) constitution enshrines the highest attainable standard of health as a fundamental right of every human being; the right to health includes access to timely, acceptable and affordable health care of appropriate quality. [WHO Factsheet 2013]. Health disparities, as defined by the National Institutes of Health, are differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and burden of diseases and other adverse health conditions that exist among specific population groups in the United States. There is a moral imperative in addressing health disparities because they exemplify historical injustices. Health disparities in the Asian American community: Asian Americans have disproportionately high prevalence of the following conditions and risk factors: Diabetes Cardiovascular diseases Obesity Hepatitis B HIV/AIDS Tuberculosis (TB) Smoking and Tobacco Use (Asian American youth in grades 7 through 12 have the highest increase in smoking rates of any racial and ethnic groups) Substance Abuse and Gambling Disorders Osteoporosis (especially with Asian women whose average calcium intake was observed to be half that of Western population groups) Lactose Intolerance Suicide and Depressive Symptoms (e.g. Asian women aged 65 years and over have been reported to have the highest suicide rate in the US compared with any other population in that age group; Asian American adolescent girls reportedly have the highest rates of depressive symptoms compared to girls of other ethnicities) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Many Southeast Asian refugees are at risk of PTSD associated with trauma experienced before and after immigration to the US Greatest percentage of populations residing in counties whose air quality did not meet Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for particulate matter (together with the Hispanics in 2006-2008) compared with other racial and ethnic populations Healthcare Disparities in the Asian American community: Access to and utilization of health/mental health services Language barriers Cultural barriers (stigma and shame) and unfamiliarity with Western medical practices Immigration status Quality of care Infrequent use of preventive health services (e.g. in 2010, Asian American women, ages 18+, were least likely to have had a Pap smear test compared with other women of other racial groups). Mental Health Services that specifically address Asian American mental health issues are inadequate 10 Leading Causes of Death in the Asian American Population in 2010 Cancer Heart Disease Stroke Unintentional Injuries Diabetes Influenza Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases Nephritis, Nephrotic Syndrome, and Nephrosis Alzheimer’s Disease Suicide Recommendations of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to establish health equity in the Asian American community: Adjust federal efforts for and investments in correcting health disparities Increase funding for health research and for services for prevention and alleviation of prevalent health conditions Expand workforce development programs to bring Asian Americans into health care fields where they are underrepresented Build capacity of Asian Americans to compete for government funding to reach medically underserved populations; this includes increasing the ability of Asian American health providers to compete in solicitation process and manage awarded funds Expand language access to and cultural competency of federal health programs for limited English proficient groups so they can better utilize available services. The White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) established the following to address health disparities Developed educational tools and resources on the Affordable Care Act to inform and engage the Asian American community on the enrollment process for the new health insurance marketplace. The WHIAAPI, in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services, developed a number of resources including an infographic [see below] about the positive impact of the Affordable Care Act on the Asian American community. 2. Developed online resources on health disparities including diabetes, obesity, cancer, HIV/AIDS, and mental illness; developed a resource page on mental illness and substance abuse following a White House Briefing on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. 3. Promoted healthy and culturally appropriate recipes through White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford and Chef Ming Tsai who teamed up to film a cooking demonstration [see links below] in the White House kitchen featuring healthy and traditional Asian recipes that follow the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and recommendations that support the Department of Agriculture MyPlate food icon. http://www.letsmove.gov/blog/2013/05/17/white-house-kitchen-healthy-and-traditional-asian-american-and-pacific-islander-cuis References: National Asian American Survey: The Policy Priorities and Issue Preferences of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: Karthick Ramakrishnan (UC-Riverside and Taeku Lee (UC-Berkeley) Pew Research Center, The Rise of Asian Americans, Updated Edition, April 4, 2013, www.pewrearch.org National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases: Strategic Plan for reducing health disparities, September 7, 2010 National Cancer Institute. Health disparities defined. September 7, 2010 US Census Bureau 2010 US Census Bureau 2011 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Asian American Populations World Health Organization, Fact Sheet No.323. Reviewed November 2013 Building the American Mosaic, A Report from the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. May 2014 White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Highlights, www.whitehouse.gov/aapi. President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Addressing Health Disparities: Opportunities for Building a Healthier America, 2003 Asian American Health Initiative 2005 American Psychiatric Association, Division of Diversity and Health Equity, www.psychiatry.org 2014 Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)
