Health Education Program for Asian American and Pacific Islander Women

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Health Education Program for AAPI Women
Health education programs are important for creating awareness on health and screening for diseases. Health education for screening and treating are particularly important for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women, where their presence or availability for this population is limited (Fang, Ma, & Tan, 2011). This limited presence creates a disadvantage for the population who has been identified as having the highest occurrence rates for breast and cervical cancer in the United States (Dang, Lee, & Han, 2010). The high occurrence and low screening rates for cervical and breast cancer highlight the need to develop a comprehensive health program that caters to the need of AAPI women. A community-based health education program is proposed for AAPI women. This program addresses the factors hindering screening of breast and cervical cancer and proposes strategies for community involvement, management of relationships, enablers, nurturers, and cultivation of positive cultural empowerment. The success of this program will reduce mortality and morbidity of AAPI women from cervical and breast cancer.
Creating a Health Education Program for AAPI Women
A community-based health education program will be effective in reducing the mortality and morbidity of AAPI women from cervical and breast cancer. This program would provide optimal benefits for the women and the health sector because it would incorporate the social needs of the AAPI population. This approach has been supported by various studies that have applied or recommended community involvement in the establishment of cervical and breast cancer programs. Fang, Ma and Tan (2011) proposed a two-community intervention to reduce the prevalence of cervical cancer among Vietnamese American women in San Francisco and Sacramento. Their program showed a 20 percent increase in the requests for and receipt of Pap tests in the community (p.4). Therefore, a community-based approach will produce greater yield than an individual approach. The proposed health education program will target AAPI women and families, health workers, and social workers. It will integrate different media such as television, radio, and the Internet to reach the target AAPI population. Advertisements, pamphlets, health fairs, outreach ministries, and educational materials will be customized to the cultural and language needs of the targeted group. Outreach ministries providing educational materials and encouraging women to go for testing will be the focus of health workers. The health education program will also run a post-intervention segment to assess the reliability and effect of the different media on screening rates. A post-intervention program has helped researchers such as Fang, Ma and Tan, (2011) to evaluate the impact of their media campaigns on the uptake of screening tests.
Perceptions, Enabler, and Nurturers
The program will reinforce perceptions such as the knowledge of sexual risk as a risk factor and healthy lifestyles (diet, stress management, and exercise). It will also reinforce enablers and nurturers that promote early screening and detection. In particular, it will use mixed media to communicate the need for early detection, provide translated educational resources, and train health workers on the health needs of the women (Dang, Lee, & Tran, 2010).
The health education program will overcome the negative factors namely, cultural attitudes towards cancer, procrastination, insurance, and cost limitations. Outreach ministries will be used to educate the women on the need for early screening, and the dangers of superstitions on treatment outcomes. Community leaders will be trained to encourage women to suppress their fears and cultural beliefs that increase their risk of cervical and breast cancer morbidity. The program will seek financing from the state government, non-governmental organizations, foundations, and the private sector to provide low-cost screening services and mobile services for women who are unable to visit the screening centers (Islam, Kwon, Senie, & Kathuria, 2006).
Integrating Aspects of Cultural Empowerment
The program will enforce the women’s positive attitude towards sexual health, time with their loved ones, knowledge of the risk factors of cancer, and acknowledgement of advice from family or friends. It will identify AAPI women in leadership positions who can influence others to go for screening. It will also acknowledge existential factors such as traditional and alternative medicine, but dispel any superstitions that bad luck causes cancer (Wang, Sheppard, & Schwartz, 2008). The program will seek community and corporate assistance in overcoming negative cultural factors such as lack of money, inadequate facilities and resources, language barriers, and delayed screening. Community leaders will help in translating educational materials and encouraging early screening while the corporate community will provide financial assistance to reduce cost and insurance barriers affecting AAPI women. The program will seek public support in petitioning the state and federal governments to increase funding for the construction of additional screening facilities in AAPI-populated areas.
Challenges
The key challenges are combining the needs of the community, integrating different media, and evaluating the success of the program. The community-based program needs to meet the cultural and language needs of AAPI women, their families, and health workers. It also needs to integrate different media such as television, radio, and the Internet to reach the target population. Advertisements, pamphlets, health fairs, outreach ministries, and educational materials will need to be customized to the needs of the targeted group. Further, the program will need a post-intervention component to help health workers assess its reliability and actual screening outcomes. Post-intervention programs have been successful in Fang, Ma and Tan’s (2011) evaluation of the impact of media campaigns on the uptake of screening tests.
Conclusion
The community-based health education program aims to reduce the mortality and morbidity of AAPI women from cervical and breast cancer. The paper has discussed strategies for reinforcing the positive and overcoming the negative perceptions, enablers, nurturers, and cultural factors affecting screening behavior among the women. The success of the program depends on commitment and support of the community, government, and private sector in addressing the cultural, social, and financial needs of AAPI women in the US.

References
Dang, J., Lee, J., & Tran, J. H. (2010). Knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding breast and cervical cancer among Cambodia, Laotian, Thai, and Tongan women. Journal of Cancer Education, 25, 595-601.
Fang, C. Y., Ma, G. X., & Tan, Y. (2011). Overcoming barriers to cervical cancer screening among Asian American women. National American Journal of Medical Science, 4(4), 77-83.
Islam, N., Kwon, S. C., Senie, R., & Kathuria, N. (2006). Breast and cervical cancer screening among South Asian women in New York City. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 8(3), 211-221.
Wang, J. H., Sheppard, V. B. & Schwartz, M. D. (2008). Disparities in cervical cancer screening between American and non-Hispanic White women. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 17, 1968-1973.