Community Resources

Below are resources related to Asian health—including articles on the aggregation of Asian American health data, the lack of financial support for Asian health research, and Asian language resources.

Lung Cancer Guide

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Learn more from the Lung Cancer Guide, created by Stanford CARE.

MED275: From Diagnosis to Dialogue, A Doctor's Real-Time Battle with Cancer

Bryant Lin, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine provides a first-person perspective of receiving a diagnosis of Stage 4 “Never Smoker” lung cancer in May 2024, which has metastasized (spread) to his brain, liver, and bones. The course will consist of Dr. Lin sharing his personal experiences accompanied by weekly talks from leading Stanford cancer clinicians and researchers discussing all aspects of Dr. Lin’s case across cancer screening, diagnostics, caregiving, policy, therapy, and spiritual care. This unique course will appeal to students interested in learning about advanced-stage cancer from both patient and physician perspectives—almost in real time.

The course recording is now available for viewing on the Stanford CME YouTube channel here.

Asian Health Infographic

Are you of Asian descent? You may be at risk for certain health conditions you might not even be aware of. CARE at Stanford University is here to improve the health of Asians everywhere. See the links below to learn more about your health and common issues that Asians face today.

Languages:

The omission, aggregation, and extrapolation of Asian American health data

Asian Americans make up the fastest growing racial group in the United States, yet their health needs and disparities remain poorly understood. Asian American health data is scarce, and what little data does exist groups all Asians together (e.g., Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and others). As a consequence of this grouping—or “aggregation”—health differences between the various Asian ethnic subgroups are obscured.

When health studies do disaggregate Asian American health data, typically only one Asian American subgroup is studied. Furthermore, findings from these studies are often incorrectly extrapolated to other Asian American subgroups.

To address the issues of omission, aggregation, and extrapolation of Asian American health data, it is vital to 1) oversample Asian Americans in health studies, 2) collect and report race and ethnicity data by Asian subgroup, and 3) acknowledge the tremendous heterogeneity of Asian Americans when interpreting data.

Learn more about problems with Asian American health data

NIH Funding of Asian American Clinical Health Research (1992 to 2018)

What is the level of investment by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund clinical research focused on Asian American populations? In this study, researchers found that only 0.17% of clinical research projects funded by the NIH focused on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) participants. Furthermore, only 5.1% of this AANHPI funding was allocated to research career awards, training grants, and fellowships. AANHPI populations remain severely underrepresented in the biomedical workforce.

Although promoting health equity for AANHPI populations is a priority for federal agencies, the impact and future direction of investments in and legislation on this issue remain unclear. The dearth of financial support for AANHPI health research, as well as the absence of efforts to increase diversity in the biomedical workforce, may continue to disadvantage minority populations.

Below are the current Asian-languages resources we offer.

Let us know if you find these resources helpful or if you have ideas on how we can improve them.

Health Resources on Bones, Joints, Muscles and Skin

Multilingual Health Service Information Guide for Bay-Area AANHPI

Stanford’s Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA) and CARE are two organizations committed to advocating for improved access to healthcare for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities. Stanford medical students in APAMSA, Ji Hae Lee and Jacqueline Yao, are working with Stanford CARE faculty member, Dr. Jison Hong, to assess AANHPI health and healthcare access in the Bay Area, with a focus on language barriers.

The Bay Area has long been home to a large, fast-growing, and diverse community of AANHPI native-born residents and immigrants. One in five API households in the Bay Area is linguistically isolated, meaning that no member aged 14 and above speaks English “very well.” Additionally, the uninsured rate is higher than the state average in certain AANHPI groups, such as the Korean community (15%), new immigrants (11.6%), and those with limited English proficiency (17.8%). The high prevalence of linguistic isolation and lack of health insurance suggests that many AANHPI community members in the Bay Area face challenges accessing healthcare. This project seeks to support medical care access with a comprehensive list of free/low-cost clinics offering interpretive services in AANHPI languages in the Bay Area (San Francisco and Santa Clara counties).

Please find their community flyers—available in English, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Tagalog, and Vietnamese—at the links below.