Oregonian Examines Outreach Efforts To Improve Minority, Immigrant Health

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 28 Jul 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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The Oregonian on Wednesday examined community health programs and outreach efforts in Oregon that aim to overcome obstacles such as language barriers and cultural issues, including modesty concerns and having the appropriate provider treat patients.

For example, Thanh Pham, a family doctor with Providence Medical Group and founder of a Vietnamese Health Promotion Program, said, "Vietnamese Americans, especially women, are very modest about their body. They'd rather have a female Vietnamese American physician tell them about those things." Child care can be another issue, and outreach efforts often need to provide child care or reach out to women in places where they can still take care of their children, the Oregonian reports.

The Oregonian highlights some local efforts, including the Men's Health Partnership Improving the Health of Young African-American Men program, which gives black men information about healthy diets and hypertension; the Oregon State University Latino Health Project, which aims to address unplanned pregnancy and prevent sexually transmitted infections; the Vietnamese Health Promotion Program, which trains Vietnamese-American women to encourage others to join health discussion groups; and the HBI/Portland State University Men's Health Forum, which performs prostate and blood pressure screenings (Dworkin, Oregonian, 7/23).

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