{"id":30435,"date":"2023-12-22T07:00:39","date_gmt":"2023-12-22T07:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/?p=30435"},"modified":"2025-04-28T23:50:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T23:50:13","slug":"hidden-health-inequities-of-asian-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/hidden-health-inequities-of-asian-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"Hidden health inequities of Asian communities","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

At MultiCare, we are committed to working toward health equity \u2014 ensuring all people have access to quality health care regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, ability, socioeconomic status or location.<\/em><\/p>\n

But we also recognize the reality that longstanding biases and barriers embedded in the health care system, and our society, can prevent people from accessing the care they need.<\/em><\/p>\n

In this series \u2014 inspired in part by society\u2019s growing awareness that not everyone has the same chance to be healthy \u2014 we take a deeper look at the disparities that impact our patients and how we as health care providers and community members can reduce those disparities and improve the health and well-being of all.<\/em><\/p>\n

Dividing AAPI for better representation<\/h2>\n

The United States government created the term AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islanders) in the early 1960s to collect data from these populations on everything from food insecurity to housing and health.<\/p>\n

While \u201cAAPI\u201d was created with the intention of better representing the roughly 65 ethnic groups included in this term, in reality it\u2019s had the opposite effect, explains Tanya Velasquez (she\/her), MA, associate professor at the University of Washington and co-principal investigator for the AAPI THRIVE Project.<\/a> Consolidating so many different populations under one umbrella hides their unique experiences.<\/p>\n

Many communities now push for a more granular and representative approach to research with the use of the terms A\/AA (Asian and Asian American) and NH\/PI (Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander).<\/p>\n

In the first of this two-part article, we\u2019ll cover health disparities faced by the A\/AA community.<\/p>\n

Diversity at every level<\/h2>\n

While separating the A\/AA and NH\/PI communities is important for research, it should also apply to the A\/AA community itself.<\/p>\n

Asian Americans are the most economically divided racial or ethnic group in the U.S., according to the Pew Research Center. But because about half of A\/AA adults hold a bachelor\u2019s degree or higher, the \u201cmodel minority\u201d myth gives the incorrect impression that all are well-educated and financially stable. The Model Minority myth is a stereotype that characterizes all A\/AA individuals as part of a high-achieving, hardworking and superior monolithic group.<\/p>\n

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2021 U.S. Census<\/h3>\n

24 million Asian-identifying people speak more than 100 different languages:<\/p>\n