Despite the high rate of hepatitis B among Asian-Americans, public health officials struggle to screen, immunize and treat this population and many remain undiagnosed and unvaccinated due to economic and cultural barriers to healthcare.
However, an initiative by the Asian Health Coalition and University of Chicago that screened Asian-Americans in non-clinical settings–such as street fairs and churches–was able to reach twice the number of people who were screened at area clinics.
The Asian Health Coalition and community partners conducted screenings at health fairs organized by churches and social service programs, and they followed up with clients to link them to care in both clinical and nonclinical settings.
As a result of this initiative, twice as many Asian-Americans were screened in these nonclinical settings than at local clinics. The participants in both settings were similar in gender, health insurance status, years of residence in the U.S., education and how many tested positive for HBV infection.
Additionally, equal numbers of people from both groups were successfully referred to medical care.
"Nonclinical settings were as effective as clinical settings in screening for HBV, as well as in making treatment options available to those who tested positive," the researchers reported in the December issue of theJournal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare.
