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Welcome to Stanford CARE’s new webpage at Asianhealth.stanford.edu. Please note that the old site, med.stanford.edu/care, is no longer in use.

Community Resources

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Below are resources pertaining to Asian health – including articles detailing the aggregation of Asian-American health data and the lack of financial support for Asian health research, as well as information regarding Asian language resources and Asian health FAQ.

The omission, aggregation, and extrapolation of Asian-American health data

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Asian Americans make up the fastest growing racial group in the United States, yet their health needs and disparities remain poorly understood. Asian American health data is scarce, and what little data does exist groups all Asians together (e.g. Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and others). As a consequence of this grouping—or “aggregation”—health differences between the various Asian ethnic subgroups are obscured. 

When health studies do disaggregate Asian American health data, typically only one Asian American subgroup is studied. Furthermore, findings from these studies are often incorrectly extrapolated to other Asian American subgroups.  

To correct errors associated with the omission, aggregation, and extrapolation of Asian American health data, it is vital to 1) oversample Asian Americans in health studies, 2) collect and report race and ethnicity data by Asian subgroup, and 3) acknowledge the tremendous heterogeneity of Asian Americans when interpreting data.

Learn more about problems with Asian-American health data

NIH Funding of Asian American Clinical Health Research (1992 to 2018)

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What is the level of investment by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund clinical research focused on Asian American populations? In this study, researchers found that only 0.17% of clinical research projects funded by the NIH focused on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA/NHPI) participants. Furthermore, only 5.1% of this AA/NHPI funding was allocated to research career wards, training grants, and fellowships. AA/NHPI populations remain severely underrepresented in the biomedical workforce. 

Although promoting health equity for AAI/NHPI populations is a priority for federal agencies, the impact and future direction of investments in and legislation on this issue remain unclear. The dearth of financial support for AA/NHPI health research, as well as the absence of efforts to increase diversity in the biomedical workforce, may continue to languish minority populations. 

Below are the current Asian-languages resources we offer. 

Let us know if you find these resources helpful or if you have ideas on how we can improve them.

Health Resources on Bones, Joints, Muscles and Skin

Asian Health FAQ

Are you of Asian descent? Then you might be susceptible to certain health problems that you might not be aware of. CARE at Stanford University is here to improve the health of Asians everywhere. See the links below to learn more about your health and common issues that Asians face today. 

Credits: Arun Dhingra, UC San Diego

Languages

Multilingual Health Service Information Guide for Bay-Area AANHPI

Stanford’s Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA) and CARE are two organizations committed to advocating for improved access to healthcare for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities. Stanford medical students in APAMSA, Ji Hae Lee and Jacqueline Yao, are working with Stanford CARE faculty member, Dr. Jison Hong, to assess AANPHI health and healthcare access in the Bay Area, with a focus on language barriers. 

The Bay Area has long been home to a large, fast-growing, and diverse community of AANHPI native-born residents and immigrants. One in five (Bay Area) API households are linguistically isolated, meaning that no member aged 14 and above speaks English “very well.” Additionally, the uninsured rate is higher than the state average in certain AANHPI groups, such as the Korean community (15%), new immigrants (11.6%), and those with limited English proficiency (17.8%). The high prevalence of linguistic isolation and lack of health insurance suggests that many AANHPI community members in the Bay Area face challenges accessing health care. This project seeks to support medical care access with a comprehensive list of free/low-cost clinics offering interpretive services in AANHPI languages in the Bay Area (San Francisco and Santa Clara counties).

Please find their community flyers, in a variety of languages available here (English, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese)

Free and Federally Qualified Health Clinics