Happy AAPI Heritage Month! Let’s talk well-being!

As we enter the last half of Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, it’s a great time to focus on the importance of a holistic well-being program that can be personalized to the individual. Your company likely understands the importance of having a diverse population of employees to encourage innovation, creativity, and strategic thinking, but are your benefit offerings supporting everyone contributing to the success of your company?

The likelihood is that the AAPI community represents a very small percentage of the people working for your company. If you are depending on your insurance vendor communications or claims data to identify where your population needs benefits education, you are likely missing the AAPI community entirely. Below are just a few points to note specific to the AAPI population in the U.S. as you consider how to help your people be well.

Contact Centurion At Work to learn more about how we can help ensure your well-being program is truly inclusive and is effectively communicating resources to all of your employees, and their families, where they need it the most.

Physical Health

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health (OMH) uses information from the National Center of Health Statistics, Census Bureau, and other private and public resources to report on health challenges among various minority groups.

Specific to Asian Americans, it was identified there is a high risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, unintentional injuries (accidents), and diabetes. In addition, there is a high prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hepatitis B, HIV/AIDS, smoking, tuberculosis, and liver disease. Issues from these diseases are made worse by negative factors such as infrequent medical visits, language & cultural barriers, and lack of health insurance. Recently, New York-Presbyterian reported a significant increase in Asian American women being diagnosed with lung cancer despite having never smoked, which appears to be attributed to a genetic mutation.

In reviewing data reporting from OMH for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities, higher rates of smoking, alcohol consumption, and obesity with less access to cancer prevention and control programs were observed leading to greater risk of death by cancer, heart disease, unintentional injuries (accidents), stroke and diabetes. Hepatitis B, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis were also reported as prevalent health conditions.

Action you can take - Make sure your benefit offerings highlight the importance of preventive visits, and establishing care with a trusted primary care physician to help employees stay on top of the issues prevalent to their individual circumstances. In addition, provide education to all employees highlighting any programs you have in place to help them better manage habits that may lead to greater issues such as smoking cessation, alcohol addiction services, and weight management. These are often already embedded in your medical coverage and available to participants for free.

Mental Health

Mental Health America (MHA) cites the US Census indicating 6.1% of the US Population identifies as AAPI. Of those, 15% (equating to 2.9 million people) reported having a mental health issue in the prior year. Studies found mental health in the AAPI Community is impacted greatly by:

• the Perpetual Foreigner stereotype - being considered a foreigner because of how they look;

• generational trauma - first-generation immigrants experiencing conflicts and wars passing trauma to their children;

• mental health stigma - Asian Americans are least likely (3 times less likely than their white counterparts) to take action to address their mental health and are more likely to lean on friends and family, but do not always have a strong support system that values mental health;

• expectations - often serve as translators to older family members, caregivers of younger and older family members, often viewed as not being enough, criticized for their appearance, and compared to others;

• religious intolerance - often discriminated against for their beliefs, appearance, and viewed as being criminal or dangerous based on race.

It is often harder for individuals in the AAPI to receive mental health services due to language barriers, cultural views on receiving care, lack of awareness of resources, and lack of access to insurance.

Action you can take - Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) are one of the most underutilized benefits often provided by employers at no cost to the employee. In addition, most EAP vendors have out-of-the-box communications available to share with your employees. Many EAP offerings will include the household, as well, so extended families within the home may have mental health services available to them through the plan.

Employees often do not understand how mental health services are managed by their medical plans. Additional education identifying what to expect when medical benefits are utilized will help ease anxiety in seeking assistance before they are in a mental health crisis.

Financial Health

The National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) published an article (Asian Americans and The Racial Wealth Divide) as a part of their racial wealth snapshot series in 2023 highlighting a racial wealth divide that while Asian Americans have the highest household median income, many still face financial insecurity with a poverty rate of 11%. The same article cited Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders with a poverty rate of 13%, which is 2.9% and 4.9% higher than that of White, non-Hispanic Americans.

The National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD) identified that though the AAPI community as a whole appear to be doing well financially, there are large disparities in the data when separated into smaller groupings of the large number of ethnic cultures nested under the AAPI category. For example, according to 2019 U.S. Census Data, though the poverty rate of 11% applies to AAPI, individuals who identify as Burmese have a poverty rate far closer to 25%. In addition, it should be noted that households are far more likely to include more generations with a greater number of people in the household within the AAPI community which can inflate the household income when reviewed in total.

According to a poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and AAPI Data in October 2023, reveals that even though 62% of individuals in the AAPI community feel good about their current finances, 65% have concern over the U.S. economy describing it as poor.

Action you can take - Financial planning and education sessions are often available for free through your 401(k) vendor. These sessions will help employees consider if their current strategy for their finances are the most advantageous in managing today’s expenses, as well as tomorrow’s. Your EAP will also include financial services to assist employees.

As the economic uncertainty continues, consider adding benefits to assist with caregiver support for both children, and adults.