METTA HEALTH CENTER PROGRAM - AAPCHO€¦ · Center (MHC) program in 2000 to provide culturally and...
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Lowell Community Health Center (LCHC) is a Health Resources and Services Administration-funded health center located in Lowell, Massachusetts. Established in 1970, LCHC provides multilingual and culturally appropriate services to the medically underserved communities in greater Lowell. Over 90 percent of patients are low income, more than two-thirds are racial and ethnic minorities, and nearly half of all patients are best served in a language other than English. To meet the multi-cultural needs of their patients, the health center employs bilingual providers; approximately 60 percent of staff are bilingual, providing services in 25 different languages. These languages include Khmer, Laotian, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, French, Mandarin, Hindi, and Swahili among others. The health center has been recognized by the Office of Minority Health as an exemplar provider of culturally competent care; meeting and exceeding all the standards set forth in the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care. LCHC’s mission is “to provide caring, quality and culturally competent health services to the people of Greater Lowell, regardless of their financial status; to reduce health disparities and enhance the health of the greater Lowell community; and to empower each individual to maximize their overall well being.” METTA HEALTH CENTER PROGRAM United States Census data indicate that Lowell is home to the second largest Cambodian population (about 25,000 residents) in the country, after Long Beach, California. 1 Last Census estimates indicate that there are about 105,000 residents in Lowell with residents of Southeast Asian descent comprising roughly one-third of the area’s population. Recognizing the language and cultural barriers to accessing health care services for the 1 United States Census Bureau/American FactFinder. http://factfinder2.census.gov Promising Practices Report: Community Outreach & Education Efforts of the Metta Health Center program within Lowell Community Health Center PROMISING PRACTICES REPORT 2017
Transcript of METTA HEALTH CENTER PROGRAM - AAPCHO€¦ · Center (MHC) program in 2000 to provide culturally and...
LowellCommunityHealthCenter(LCHC)isaHealthResourcesandServices
Administration-fundedhealthcenterlocatedinLowell,Massachusetts.
Establishedin1970,LCHCprovidesmultilingualandculturallyappropriate
servicestothemedicallyunderservedcommunitiesingreaterLowell.Over90
percentofpatientsarelowincome,morethantwo-thirdsareracialandethnic
minorities,andnearlyhalfofallpatientsarebestservedinalanguageother
thanEnglish.Tomeetthemulti-culturalneedsoftheirpatients,thehealth
centeremploysbilingualproviders;approximately60percentofstaffare
bilingual,providingservicesin25differentlanguages.Theselanguagesinclude
Khmer,Laotian,Spanish,Portuguese,Vietnamese,French,Mandarin,Hindi,
andSwahiliamongothers.ThehealthcenterhasbeenrecognizedbytheOfficeofMinorityHealthasan
exemplarproviderofculturallycompetentcare;meetingandexceedingallthestandardssetforthinthe
NationalStandardsforCulturallyandLinguisticallyAppropriateServicesinHealthCare.LCHC’smissionis“to
providecaring,qualityandculturallycompetenthealthservicestothepeopleofGreaterLowell,regardlessof
theirfinancialstatus;toreducehealthdisparitiesandenhancethehealthofthegreaterLowellcommunity;and
toempowereachindividualtomaximizetheiroverallwellbeing.”
METTA HEALTH CENTER PROGRAM
UnitedStatesCensusdataindicatethatLowellishometothesecondlargestCambodianpopulation(about
25,000residents)inthecountry,afterLongBeach,California.1LastCensusestimatesindicatethatthereare
about105,000residentsinLowellwithresidentsofSoutheastAsiandescentcomprisingroughlyone-thirdofthe
area’spopulation.Recognizingthelanguageandculturalbarrierstoaccessinghealthcareservicesforthe
1 UnitedStatesCensusBureau/AmericanFactFinder.http://factfinder2.census.gov
Promising Practices Report: Community Outreach & Education Efforts of the Metta Health Center program within Lowell Community Health Center
PROMISING
PRACTICES
REPORT
2017
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CambodianandotherSoutheastAsianresidents,LowellCommunityHealthCenterestablishedtheMettaHealth
Center(MHC)programin2000toprovideculturallyandlinguisticallyappropriatecare.Mettameansloving,
kindness,andcompassioninPali,aBuddhistlanguage.PriortothecreationoftheMettaHealthCenter,there
were300SoutheastAsianPatientsreceivingcareatLCHC,andtodaythereareabout10,000patientsseenat
MHC.Asoneofthenation’sfewfullyintegratedEastMeetsWesthealthcenter,MHCprovidesprimarycare,
mentalhealthcareandAlternativemedicineservicessuchasacupuncture,meditation,massagetherapyand
traditionalhealingconsultation.Theseservicesaddresspatients’mental,spiritual,andphysicalhealththrough
EasternandWesterntreatmenttraditions.Today,theMHCprogramservesCambodians,Laotian,and
VietnamesepatientsaswellasandotherpopulationsnewlyarrivinginLowellincludingBurmese,Iraqis,
Bhutanese,Congolese,Somalian,Syrianandothers.
IN-LANGUAGE COMMUNITY OUTREACH & EDUCATION
CommunityoutreachandeducationhavebeenkeyactivitiesoftheMettaHealthCenterprogramsinceits
inceptionandareimportantcontributorstoitssuccess.Cambodiancommunitymembersexperiencedmultiple
barrierstocare;theyhadahistoryoftraumaandtorture,fearandlimitedunderstandingofwesternmedicine,
differentbeliefsaboutdiseasecausesandprevention,feltdiscomfortinwesternsettingsandnavigatingthe
complexhealthcaresystemaswellaslanguageandtransportationbarriers.Compoundingthesebarrierswere
healthcareproviders’inexperienceofCambodianhealthbeliefsandculturalpractices.Asaresult,MHCstaff,
membersoftheCambodiancommunitythemselves,developedandimplementedmulti-pathwayoutreachand
educationmodelstoovercomethebarriersandbringthecommunityintocare.Someoutreachactivities
included:visitingtemplestoinformthecommunitymembersofavailableservicesandprovidehealtheducation
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resources;speakingwithtrustedcommunitymemberssuchaseldersandBuddhistmonksabouttheimportance
ofutilizinghealthcareservices;partneringwithotherCambodianorganizationssuchastheCambodianMutual
AssistanceAssociationandlocalethnicmedia;sponsoringcommunityevents;connectingimmediatelywith
newlyarrivingrefugees.Staffalsoprovidededucationtootherhealthcareandsocialserviceproviders,
researchers,localpharmacistsaboutCambodianculture,healthcarebeliefsandhealthcareneeds.
Amongthemostsuccessfuloutreachandeducationstrategieswerethedevelopmentandproductionofa
weeklyTVshowandradiosegments.MHC’sassessmentofthecommunityhadnotonlyrevealedlimitedEnglish
proficiencybutalsolimitedliteracyinKhmer.Takingintoaccounttheliteracylevelaswellascommunity
feedbackontheirethnicmediaconsumptionpatterns,staffplannedamediastrategytosupplementin-person
outreach.Theweeklyradiosegmentisa15-minutebroadcastonSundaysthroughtheVoicesofCambodian
Childrenprogram.TheVoicesprogram’smissionistoeducateandpreservetherichCambodianheritage,
culture,traditionandartsthroughtheprocessofdemocraticeducation.Itwascreatedtoservetheneedsfor
informationtofellowCambodianslocallyaswellasinternationally.Healthcenterstaffprovidesinformationon
differenthealthtopicsandsharestrategiesforhealthyliving.
Amorecomprehensiveoutreachandeducationalprogramistheweeklycablenewsshow,calledJivitThmeyor
“NewLife”inCambodian.Itisairedonthelocalcommunityaccesstelevisionstation.Designed,hostedand
producedbyMHCstaff,theshowprovidesacombinationoflocalnews,healtheducationandsocialissuesof
importancetothecommunity.Theshowispresentedin-languageandasimultaneoustranslatorpresentfor
invitedguestswhodonotspeakCambodian.Topicscanrangefromchronicdiseasestotipsforsurvivingthe
NewEnglandwinterandthemeaningandtraditionofChristmaslights.Examplesofhealthrelatedtopicsinclude
diabetes,diabetesself-management,depressionandposttraumaticstressdisorder(PTSD).Todate,therehave
560episodesofJivitThmey.
Picturedabove:(L)SonithPeou,DirectorofMettaHealthCenterspeakingonaradioprogram.(R)Sidney
Liang,DirectorofMassinMotion-CivicEngagementforLowellCommunityHealthCenteronJivitThmey.
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MHCstaffcreditthesemediabasedoutreachandeducationactivitieswithdramaticallyboostingvisitstothe
healthcenter.Theysaw4,000inthefirst5yearsoftheprogramandMHCcurrentlyservesabout10,000
patients.PatientscontinuallythankstaffforprovidinginformationonTVandsharelinkstoepisodestofamilies
backinCambodia.Asidefromincreasedsatisfaction,self-managementgoalsettinghaveincreasedforpatients
withdepressionanddiabetes.AndthosewithdepressionandPTSDhaveseenimprovement.However,itis
difficulttoattributetheseoutcomesdirectlyandsolelytheradioandTVprogramminginterventions.Adequate
fundingforthesecriticalservicesisanissuesincetheyarenotre-imburseable;currentsupportcomesfroma
patchworkofgrantsfrommultiplefundingsources.Stafftimededicatedfortheseactivitiesareusuallyin-kind;
staffcanspend16hoursormoreon1episodeofJivitThmey:2hoursfortaping,4-6hoursforpostproduction,
and8ormorehoursonresearch,translationandreporting.
ADDITIONAL PROGRAM INFORMATION PleasecontactSidneyLiangatLowellCommunityHealthCenterforinformationonthedevelopmentof
culturallytailoredhealtheducationthroughtheuseofradioandpublicaccessTVprogramming.
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For more information please contact: TUYEN TRAN, [email protected]
This project was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) under cooperative agreement number U30CS09735, National Training and Technical Assistance
Cooperative Agreements for $450,000.00 with 0% of the total NCA project financed with non-federal sources. This information or
content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any
endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.
W W W . A A P C H O . O R G Headquarters Washington, D.C. Office 101 Callan Avenue, Suite 400 1400 Eye Street N.W., Suite 910 San Leandro, CA 94577 Washington, D.C. 20005 T (510) 272-9536 T (202) 331-4607 F (510) 272-0817 F (202) 296-3526
