As the second year of Forging Partnerships wraps up in July 2022, APIAHF and their
community partners worked collaboratively and innovatively to address COVID-19 needs in the
Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AA and NH/PI) communities in Houston,
TX; NYC, NY; New York State; Northern California; Southern California; San Francisco City and
County; all islands of Hawai’i; Washington State; and nationally.

In late January 2022, APIAHF in collaboration with NYU Center for the Study of Asian American
Health (NYU CSAAH) and 10 community-based partners developed and released the National
COVID-19 Rapid Needs Assessment survey translated into 12 languages. The purpose of this
rapid needs assessment survey was to understand COVID-19-related needs and knowledge
within AA and NH/PI communities.

Preliminary survey findings and data disaggregated by AA and NH/PI ethnic groups were
shared with Forging Partnership community-based partners. APIAHF, NYU CSAAH, and our
community-based partners continue to advocate for the importance of disaggregated data on
AA and NH/PI populations to present the distinct, nuanced experiences and impacts that the
COVID-19 pandemic continues to have on AA and NH/PI communities.

In April 2022, the Southeast Asian Resource Action Center (SEARAC) in collaboration with NYU
CSAAH, APIAHF, and their community-based partners developed and released the COVID-19
Rapid Needs Assessment survey focused on Southeast Asian communities. For more
information, please read SEARAC’s press release here.

Project partners utilized the survey results to support the creation of in-language, culturally
specific COVID-19 communication and education resources for the Forging Partnerships
project. These communication and education will be available on our National AA and NH/PI
Health Response Partnership website.

 

The types of resources and topics covered include:

● COVID-19 Booster Palm Cards translated into Arabic, Burmese/Rohingya, Simplified
Chinese, Urdu, and Vietnamese (Association of Asian Pacific Community Health
Organizations)
● Infographic on topics such as COVID-19 Booster Shots for older adults, the mental
health impact of COVID-19 on AAPI communities (Asian Pacific Islander American
Public Affairs)
● In person COVID-19 PPE distribution event (Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation)
● Flyers, PSAs, and webpages that address vaccine hesitancy and COVID-19
vaccinations for children (Coalition for Asian American Children + Families, NICOS
Chinese Health Coalition)
● Data reports and a messaging toolkit for community-based organizations (NYU Center
for the Study of Asian American Health, Pacific Islander Health Partnership/Southern
California Pacific Islander COVID-19 Response Team)
● Infographics that address the rise in bullying during COVID-19 (National Asian Pacific
American Bar Association)

● A toolkit providing LGBTQIA+ history and resources designed for healthcare workers
and NH/PI communities (Papa Ola Lokahi)
● Narrative videos featuring local Pacific Islanders in Washington who share their cultural
resistance and discuss health during the COVID-19 pandemic (Pacific Island Community
Association of Washington)
● Demonstration videos on how to use At-Home Antigen Test Kits in “Taglish” (Tagalog
and English), Vietnamese, Hmong, Mien, Khmer, and English (Philippine Nurses
Association of America Foundation, Southeast Asian Resource Action Center)