COLLABORATION: Background

GOAL: APA Health CARE’s goal is to increase the health status, health awareness, and health resources for the underserved Asian Pacific American communities of Los Angeles County including but not limited to Service Planning Area 4. APA Health C.A.R.E. serves as a point of entry into community or Los Angeles County clinics, as well as enrollment into public benefits programs.

OVERVIEW: APA Health CARE is a collaborative effort between UCLA student professional schools (Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health), undergraduate health organizations, UCLA physicians, and community partners that aims to improve access to health care, health resources, and health education to indigent and culturally- and linguistically-isolated Asian Pacific Islanders in Los Angeles Service Planning Area (SPA) 4.  This region is a part of metropolitan Los Angeles, where many Asian ethnic enclaves are located.  We have continuously aimed for this overarching goal through monthly outreach events that provide focused health screenings, health education, referrals, and assistance with public health benefits enrollment.  We have also expanded our services to cover neighboring service planning areas, including but not limited to the Filipino community in SPA 8 and the Chinese community in SPA 3. On site we provide drop-in consultations in addition to follow-up letters and phone calls after the health fairs.  At the same time, we consider the language and culture characteristic of the community we are serving, thus providing language translators when necessary and health information in both English and the respective language.

With personal interaction, firsthand experience, and culturally diverse settings alongside practicing healthcare professionals, APA Health CARE dynamically benefits both communities in need as well as its student volunteers.  While APA Health CARE’s target population is the underserved Asian and Pacific American population in the metropolitan Los Angeles area, all services will be available to everyone, regardless of ethnic or cultural background. Students from all backgrounds are welcome and encouraged to participate in all APA Health CARE activities.