Internship Sites

Partnership Approach to Promoting Asian Communities' Health: Chinese Information and Service Center (CISC) and Cambodian Cultural Alliance of Washington (CCAW)

Jenny Hsin-Chun Tsai, PhD, PMHCNS-BC
Associate Professor, UW School of Nursing
(206) 543-6079
jennyt@u.washington.edu

Census 2000 shows that 395,741 people, or 6.7% of the Washington State total population, identified themselves entirely or partially as Asian Pacific Islanders (API). Over 50% of them resided in King County. Differences in culture, language, income and education level, and immigration history create great heterogeneity in assets, needs, and health outcomes within the API population. With my focus on promoting a healthier API population, I have been working with Chinese Information and Service Center (CISC) since 1996 and Cambodian Cultural Alliance of Washington since 2006. Through years of effort, I have gradually built trust and rapport with more program staff and administrators of each agency. Below are brief descriptions of the partners:

• CISC, founded in 1972 by a small group of community volunteers, is a central community resource for Chinese who are limited in English proficiency or low income in the Puget Sound area. The main office is located in Chinatown/International District with a small number of elderly programs in the Eastside area. Sixteen programs, including National Family Caregiver Support Program, Parent Education, and Community Technology Center, are offered to serve more than 4,000 King County residents each year. Consistent with the Chinese culture, most of the programs are family-focused. CISC has expanded services to Vietnamese, Russian, Hispanic, and South Asian populations in recent years.

• CCAW is a grassroots group based in White Center. The mission of CCAW is to create opportunities for diverse communities to understand and appreciate traditional Cambodian art through events and other cultural activities. This group has organized the White Center Cambodian New Year Festival since 2002 and is interested in expanding its function to better serve the Cambodian community. Members are community volunteers, mostly Cambodian immigrants. (Note: Students need to attend some, if not all, of their regular meetings on Saturday.)

In general, graduate students will work with the needs of the partners with which School of Nursing (SON) currently has connections through my work. Throughout their internship, students will apply theory and develop practice competencies to strengthen the current partnership between SON and the two partners. Also, students will work collectively toward enhancing the capacities of CISC, CCAW, or other community assets central to APIs and fostering coalition of these resources to promote a healthier API population.