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, TTRAN@AAPCHO.ORG

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