The Challenge
Challenges faced by AAPI older adults to remain healthy are similar to the issues facing the aggregated older adult population throughout the United States. However, health disparities among AAPI older adults remains prevalent. Lacking culturally and linguistically competent resources, poor health literacy, unreliable enrollment platforms, immigration-related verification issues, funding challenges, and insufficient state policies contribute to inequitable health systems for AAPI older adults.
What We Do
AAPI-serving community-based organizations are often the best partners in working to combat the challenges that AAPI older adults face in accessing health systems. These partnerships reinforce an awareness of assets within the AAPI community and to gain trust, which are all elements that are essential to successfully reducing health disparities. NAPCA continues to partner with AAPI-serving community-based organizations to increase access to nutrition education and chronic disease self-management programs, among other interventions.
The Impact
AAPI older adults who have participated in NAPCA’s healthy aging projects have experienced measurable decreases in fatigue, pain, and how much their health interferes with daily activities, as well as increases in nutrition literacy and fruit and vegetable consumption. By partnering with AAPI-serving community-based organizations on these projects, NAPCA works to balance equity within America’s health systems.
Success Story: Ms. C.
My husband and I are suffering with chronic heart disease and diabetes for years so I thought this would be a good opportunity to learn about the diseases and healthy eating. In the 1st session, I learned that my husband and I are consuming too much salt with the food that we are eating every day. The sessions eventually helped me change my eating habits and cooking recipes. We were able to enjoy the class and the lunch that Jaisohn provided. NAPCA’s Healthy Eating, Healthy Aging Project helped us read the nutrition facts on the back of the labels and now I get to make better choices for what I am eating on a daily basis.
