Community Healthcare Centers can help mitigate the effects of trauma.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 in March 2020, Asian Americans have been the target of increasing racial and violent attacks. We have attributed many of these to China’s role in the outbreak. In the US, an increase in anti-Asian racism has accompanied the effects of the pandemic. They rooted this discrimination in the country’s long history of xenophobia.

The rise in anti-Asian sentiment comes at the heels of the protests and murders of black people, which may have also contributed to the under reporting of crimes against Asian Americans. This racial divide has been a recurring theme in the media, and it is difficult to ignore the significant under reporting of anti-Asian hate crimes.

Many Asian Americans are experiencing the effects of the pandemic, such as social isolation, financial hardship (exacerbated by the quarantine), and emotional distress. To help reduce these symptoms, community health centers and healthcare workers can help their patients identify these triggers and provide them with resources and treatments.

Since hate crimes have occurred in various locations, Asian-American patients might feel unsafe in certain settings they previously considered safe. To help ease their anxieties, health care providers can change their offices and clinics.

There is also a need to create a safe space for Asian-American health care workers. This is an important step in addressing the concerns of our community. Healthcare centers can help minimize the effects of racism by training their employees in culturally competent techniques. One such organization is North East Medical Services (NEMS).

North East Medical Services (NEMS) — North East Medical Services (NEMS) is a non-profit community health center serving the medically underserved populations of the San Francisco Bay Area. Celebrating 50 years of experience and services in 2021, NEMS is one of the largest community health centers serving Asians in the United States.

By creating a welcoming environment for patients, healthcare workers can make it possible to address race in their visits. Doing so can help make the discussion more open and allow patients to consider the effects of racism on their health.

If a patient reports being the victim of a hate crime, then it is appropriate to treat the event like a traumatic experience. However, this should require taking a more detailed history and using a screening tools (i.e. for PTSD).

There are many resources available to help address the harms caused by anti-Asian sentiments from the Asian Americans Advancing Justice and Stop AAPI Hate.

The history of racist abuse against Asian Americans has scarred our communities. Even if the recent uptick in media attention has led to action to prevent this violence, the effects of anti-Asian sentiment will remain.

6/23/2021