During Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) Heritage Month, the HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) is focused on improving health outcomes for AA and NHPIs by providing information and resources that will support healthcare professionals in providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services, information, and resources.

As part of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) works with the WHIAANHPI’s Language Access Subgroup to address barriers that limited English proficient (LEP) individuals face in obtaining information, services, and/or benefits from HHS programs.

Visit our AA and NHPI Heritage Month website to find more information, health resources, upcoming events, shareable graphics, and social media messaging.  

Learn More  Read the National Strategy from the WHIAANHPI (PDF)

Ensuring ready access to culturally and linguistically appropriate resources is critical for advancing health equity. Join the HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) for a webinar highlighting creative solutions for providing language access services to diverse Asian populations in both community and healthcare settings. The presentation will be followed by a facilitated panel with an additional expert representing Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities.
May 11, at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Register

Language barriers are associated with lower quality of care, poor clinical outcomes, longer hospital stays, and higher rates of hospital readmissions. A little over half of Asian Americans (54 percent) were born outside the U.S., including about 7-in-10 Asian American adults (68 percent). Roughly half of recently arrived Asian immigrants in the U.S. speak English proficiently compared to 60 percent of immigrants who have been in the U.S. for more than a decade.

The study In Their Own Words: Asian Immigrants’ Experiences Navigating Language Barriers in the United States from the Pew Research Center highlights the experience of Asian immigrant communities when accessing medical care, government services, or attending school.

Download the Full Study (PDF)

The Designing Culturally Responsive Health and Nutrition Programs toolkit created by the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) tools and resources needed to design and implement culturally-responsive health and nutrition programs for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities.

The toolkit will help organizations understand the importance of cultural competence in the design and implementation of health and nutrition programs, explore best practices for engaging with AA and NHPI communities in a culturally responsive manner, and develop an action plan for incorporating cultural competence into nutrition programs.

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The Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patients’ Assets, Risks and Experience (PRAPARE) was created by the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO), the National Association of Community Health Centers, Inc. (NACHC), and the Oregon Primary Care Association (OPCA). The protocol is an evidence-based, standardized patient risk assessment protocol designed to engage patients in assessing and addressing social drivers of health (SDOH).

PRAPARE helps community health centers and other providers collect data needed to better understand and act on their patients’ addressing SDOH, define and document the complexity of their patients, transform care with integrated services and community partnerships to meet the needs of their patients, demonstrate the value they bring to patients, communities, and payers, and advocate for change in their communities.

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