APIAHF's Blueprint for the Health of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, is based upon an understanding that to achieve optimal health and well-being, targeted efforts for improvement are needed at multiple levels. Changes are needed within health care and health programs, the community, and among individuals. Primary prevention and addressing the socio-economic and environmental determinants of health are also considered essential to improving health and wellbeing.
More specifically for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities, significant challenges remain in these areas: data collection, dissemination, and analysis; access to culturally and linguistically competent services; civil rights and equal opportunity; and community capacity to address local needs. The Blueprint focuses on changes needed at the systems level, in policy, and systems improvements that lead to better health and health care.
The following five domains are essential for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to address in order to attain optimal health and well-being:
1. Guaranteed Affordable Health Care. The cost of health care should not prevent any individual from obtaining necessary health care. Guaranteed affordable and adequate health insurance coverage should be available to all individuals, regardless of citizenship status and income level.
2. Guaranteed Access to High Quality Care. All individuals deserve to receive high quality care. Access to high quality care includes, but is not limited to the following: having a choice in providers; having access to culturally and linguistically appropriate health care; and assuring a diverse health and health care workforce that can serve diverse populations.
3. Health Equity. Health equity means that every individual has a fair opportunity to attain optimal health and well-being. To achieve health equity, primary prevention and effective health programming must be supported. This requires appropriate data and research to inform how resources are allocated. In addition, the underlying socio-economic factors that drive health and health care disparities must be addressed.
4. Healthy Communities. Communities must have the capacity, infrastructure and resources to address existing and future health needs. This includes the capacity to manage and improve their social, economic, and physical environments now and in the future.
5. Leadership, Civic Engagement and Political Will. To affect change, it is critical that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islander take leadership roles, and are increasingly engaged, setting agendas and assuring that equitable resources are invested in our communities. This includes supporting and preparing a new generation of leaders.
The Blueprint sets forth an ambitious agenda for change in policies, in systems, and in the fundamental ways that we address health for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. The Blueprint is designed to help guide APIAHF, our partners, and our communities into and through the coming decades.
To download the Blueprint in color, click here.
To download the Blueprint in black and white, click here.
