Statement of Need

Vietnamese Community Health addresses health issues in underrepresented communities such as the Vietnamese community in Southern California. The largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam. According to the National Cancer Institute (2001), Vietnamese women have the highest incidence of invasive cervical cancer in age groups 30-54 years and 55-59 years. Research indicates that Southeast Asian women tend to have more severe cervical cancer cases due to language barriers and late diagnoses and are less likely to follow up with treatment. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in the City of Los Angeles about 26% of those speaking Asian or Pacific Island languages, which include Vietnamese, at home were unable to speak English proficiently. A study on breast and cervical screening among Vietnamese women in California revealed that 34% of the women never had a mammogram and 54% never had a Pap test. According to UCSF researchers, in California (2000), 35% of Vietnamese men smoke, a rate 1.5 times higher than the proportion among all men. Cultural acceptance of smoking is traced back to life in Vietnam, where the proportion of men who smoke is 73%, the highest rate in the world, according to the researchers. These grim statistics are compounded by the fact that there is little culturally relevant health information for the Vietnamese community. Therefore, it is important that Community Health has bilingual brochures and trained volunteers for hypertension that specifically focus on the Vietnamese community.

Another aspect for which there is no concrete statistics for concerns the health and education of the youth, especially those in the Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian immigrant communities. Obesity is on the rise and more and more children/teens are engaging in more risky lifestyles such as smoking. This is due to the misinformation of the parents and also the lack of knowledge in making proper lifestyle choices for children. There is a great need to educate the children and their parents on these topics that involved lifestyle. Therefore it is important to have a child/teen component in our organization.

VCH collaborates extensively with VSU, PCH, APHC, and SWC in carrying out its programs. We pool our members with that of VSU to spread our health message to a larger audience. We also plan to recruit a lot of our members from VSU. Community Health also works closely with PCH and APHC to train our members in hypertension screenings, and to organize The Our Lady Peace Health Fair. SWC provides CPR training.

Mission Statement of Vietnamese Community Health

Vietnamese Community Health (VCH) seeks to improve the health needs of the Vietnamese/Vietnamese-American Community.

Goal 1 - Promote awareness of prevalent health issues affecting low-income families with minimal access to health care in Southern California.

Objective A: Create a site where kids could come every week to learn about health, nutrition, and safety.

     1. Collaborate with site officials and community members to ensure community and parental involvement in the program.

     2. Advertise to the community by passing out flyers at elementary schools, local parks, and libraries.

     3. Have a curriculum to teach young children good health, nutritional, and safety habits planned by Child Health Mentorship Directors, Interns, and volunteers.

Objective B: Create a hypertension site in the Vietnamese community that will provide blood pressure screenings to older community members.

     1. Purchase and maintain hypertension equipment.

     2. Train volunteers to take correct blood pressure readings by undergoing training with American Heart Association.

     3. Volunteers will also create a forum presentation to community members about hypertension related diseases.

Objective C: Set up a monthly forum at one of the community centers for adults and senior citizens to attend and learn about pressing health issues.

     1. Collaborate with community health professionals and recruit them to be speakers at the forums.

     2. Advertise to the community by printing out flyers in English and Vietnamese, and telling them about our informational forum.

     3. Translate and make copies of brochures to pass out at the forums for the participants to take home.

Objective D: Provide resources and information that promote health in a holistic sense.

     1. Provide informative pamphlets and brochures about health issues.

     2. Provide information of other programs that can help recipients meet their health needs.

     3. Provide information about Medicare/Medicaid to people who meet the requirements.

Goal 2 - Vietnamese Community Health: Ensure the growth and expansion of Community Health by informing and empowering the Interns and General members (composed of UCLA students) through education and awareness.

Objective A: Train Interns so they can advocate for the improvement of health in the Vietnamese community.

     1. Set up site visits to fully learn about the community.

     2. Talk to community members and health professionals about the needs of the Vietnamese community.

     3. Have weekly meetings to organize an activity that promotes health knowledge.

Objective B: Provide valuable training sessions and health informational workshops where Interns and General members can gain important skills and knowledge.

     1. Conduct weekly meetings where a topic related to Vietnamese health is discussed.

     2. Sponsor hypertension trainings by the Red Cross.

     3. Facilitate free First Aid/CPR certification training provided by the Student Welfare Commission.

     4. Have pre-med and pre-health informational workshops to learn about entering professional schools.

Goal 3 - Collaborate with other community health projects to provide services and put up events that would benefit the Vietnamese and other socio-economically disadvantaged communities.

Objective A: Work with Philipinos for Community Health (PCH), Latino Student Health Project (LSHP), and Asian Pacific Health Corps (APHC) to organize a health fair in the San Fernando Valley.

     1. Vietnamese speakers can help translate/inform others of health issues.

     2. Provide informative brochures of pertinent diseases plaguing the community.

     3. Assist doctors in various health-related check-ups (mammograms, bone imaging, etc).

Objective B: The Vietnamese Health Researcher will research health topic relevant to the Vietnamese community.

     1. Vietnamese health reports will be done twice every quarter.

     2. The health reports will be presented in bilingual (Vietnamese/English) newsletters given out during health fairs.

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