Use of enabling services by Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islander patients at 4 community health centers.
OBJECTIVE
We sought to examine the utilization and impact of enabling services, such as interpretation and eligibility assistance, among underserved Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islander (AANHOPI) patients served at 4 community health centers.


METHODS
For this project, we developed a uniform model for collecting data on enabling services and implemented it across 4 health centers that served primarily AANHOPI patients. We also examined differences in patient characteristics between users and nonusers of enabling services.


RESULTS
Health center patients used many enabling services, with eligibility assistance being the most used service. In addition, compared with nonusers, users of enabling services were more likely to be older, female, AANHOPI, and uninsured (P < .05).


CONCLUSIONS
For underserved AANHOPI patients at community health centers, enabling services are critical for access to appropriate care. We were the first to examine uniform data on enabling services across multiple health centers serving underserved AANHOPI patients. More data on enabling services and evaluation are needed to develop interventions to improve the quality of care for underserved AANHOPI patients.
Weir
Rosy Chang
RC
Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations, Oakland, CA 94612, USA. rcweir@aapcho.org
Emerson
Heidi P
HP
Tseng
Winston
W
Chin
Marshall H
MH
Caballero
Jeffrey
J
Song
Hui
H
Drum
Melinda
M
D000328:Adult; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003151:Community Health Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004608:Eligibility Determination / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006254:Hawaii / Q000208:ethnology; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044468:Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009519:New York City; D014175:Translating; D014861:Washington