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Asian
and Pacific Islanders living in the United States face unique issues
that make it difficult to get the health and social services they
need. Like other immigrant groups, linguistic and cultural barriers
limit their access to health and social services. Healthcare information
is rarely available in Asian languages and few providers speak Asian
languages or fully understand cultural differences.
Several national policy tools exist to address the needs of APIs. They are:
- Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits national origin discrimination as it affects persons with limited English proficiency. Communication is basic to ensuring that persons with limited English speaking skills can effectively access health care and social services. See a fact sheet from the Office for Civil Rights for more information.
- The National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services are designed to address the needs of racial, ethnic, and linguistic population groups. They can serve as a blueprint for building culturally competent health care organizations and workers.
- Executive Order 13125 and the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders aims to increase APIs' participation in federal government programs where they may be underserved.
- The Department of Health and Human Services' Inventory
and Plan for Fiscal Year 1999 provides a summary of major
programs and services that serve the APIs, the level of API participation
in these programs, and enabling activities that broaden service
delivery to API communities.
- The Office of Management and Budget Standards for Maintaining, Collecting and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (1997) require all federal agencies to collect and report federal data by race and ethnicity January 1, 2003.
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