Asian & Pacific Islander

 

“This forum should be more frequent.”

Session Infographic (PDF)

Overview

• Community Partner: Everyday Impact Consulting
• Location: Virtual Session
• Date: February 15, 2024
• Population: Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Medi-Cal members

What We Heard

• New Member Accessibility
• Operational Barriers to Care
• LQBTQ+ Resources and Competencies
• Community Engagement
• Diversity Training
• Educational Resources
• Culturally Relevant Care

Population of Focus

API residents comprise roughly 15.5 percent of California’s population and 9.3 percent of California’s Medi-Cal population. According to 2020 U.S. Census data, California’s API population grew by 25 percent in the past decade, faster than any other ethnic group in the state.

While API Californians have the highest life expectancy of any group in California, they are disproportionately likely to experience other negative health outcomes. For example, Asian women are the least likely to have had a pap smear in the past three years of any ethnic group.

The API community includes more than 22.6 million individuals with more than 40 distinct ethnicities, along with distinct differences in language, religion, education, socioeconomic status, and immigration patterns.

Examining experiences, rather than aggregated data, among API people is crucial. Aggregated API data often mask underlying disparities among subgroups of the population. Within the API community, health disparities range significantly. For example:

• 33 percent of Korean American adults experience symptoms of depression, while 16 percent of Chinese-Americans experience similar symptoms.
• 78 percent of Filipino American women rate their mental health as “excellent or very good,” compared to 45 percent of Chinese American women and 50 percent of Vietnamese American women.