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APANO Community Forum on Health Care Cultural Competency

Since 2009, the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon has led advocacy and education work among (and on behalf of) the Asian Pacific American community about health care access and reform.

There are significant disparities between the mainstream and API communities when it comes to accessing quality health care. "API communities face significant barriers to good health, many of which are poorly understood due to the lack of data collection by race/ethnicity. Issues include language access, medical interpretation, cultural competency, health disparity research, workforce diversity, immigrant and refugee health care," according to a statement on "Health Equity" on the APANO website.

APANO has organized annual community forums to discuss health equity. At the June 2, 2012 forum held at Portland Community College SE Campus, community members, leaders and elected officials came together to talk about current policy and advocacy work at the local and state levels.

Speakers included: Holden Leung, Executive Director at Asian Health and Service Center; Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer, State Representative; Emily Wang, MPH, Health Equity Policy Analyst at Office of Equity and Inclusion, State of Oregon; Connie Nguyen-Truong, PhD, RN, Post-Doctoral Fellow, OHSU School of Nursing; and Alberto Moreno, Executive Director, Oregon Latino Health Coalition.

On Tuesday, July 31, APANO invites the community to a screening of an episode from the documentary "Unnatural Causes," which explores the intersections of race, class, and health outcomes among different communities of color. The screening will be held from 6 to 8pm at the SEIU Portland Office Ballroom, 6401 SE Foster Rd. Register for the event here.

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