KEYWORDS:
Asian American
Community-Based Partnerships
Minority
Community Education
Barriers

BACKGROUND:
Although immunization is one of the most significant public health achievements of the 20th century, access to life-saving vaccines is a critical challenge for Asian Americans. Influenza, for instance, kills one in five Asian Americans yearly. Asian American children are 20 times more at risk for hepatitis B, yet immunization levels are extremely low. Asian American populations face language barriers, cultural differences, and long-standing stereotypes of a healthy and well-off "model minority." These barriers often contribute to low risk perception and the underutilization of preventative care. NAWHO studies have also found poverty closely relating to immunization access, and with poverty rates reaching as high as 65 percent for certain groups, it is clear that many Asian Americans are lacking access to immunization information and services.

OBJECTIVE:
NAWHO has launched a five-year multi-faceted campaign of partnership-building, community capacity building, public and provider education to increase immunization awareness and coverage levels at all ages of the Asian American population.

METHOD:
NAWHO has subcontracted four community-based organizations to provide immunization education through workshops, one-on-one outreach, health fairs, media, information distribution, and cultural competency trainings to health care providers.

RESULT:
Evaluation data from the first four years of our immunization program shows dramatically increased rates of knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions in regards to immunization seeking behavior and disease prevention.

CONCLUSION:
By creating a partnership network of local organizations, national organizations and government resources, this program will increase information-sharing, resources and best practices that result in effective immunization outreach for the most hard-to-reach Asian American populations.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
·Identify barriers for Asian Americans and immunization.
·Describe activities that increase immunization knowledge among Asian Americans.
· Describe activities that educate providers about Asian Americans and immunization.