- Cancer health disparities (https://voice.ons.org/topic/cancer-health-disparities)
- Patient advocacy (https://voice.ons.org/topic/patient-advocacy)
- Patient financial advocacy (https://voice.ons.org/topic/patient-financial-advocacy)
- Access to Cancer Care (https://voice.ons.org/topic/access-to-cancer-care)
White House Initiative Addresses Disparities for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders
Advancing equity, justice, and opportunity for Asian American (AA) and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities in the United States requires an ambitious, whole-of-government agenda, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced (https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2021/12/09/secretary-becerra-launches-biden-harris-administrations-white-house-initiative-on-asian-americans-native-hawaiians-pacific-islanders.html) in December 2021. To drive that agenda, the agency launched the Biden-Harris administration’s White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (https://www.hhs.gov/about/whiaanhpi/index.html) (WHIAANHPI).
Created in response to the May 2021 Executive Order 14031 (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/06/03/2021-11792/advancing-equity-justice-and-opportunity-for-asian-americans-native-hawaiians-and-pacific-islanders), Advancing Equity, Justice, and Opportunity for AAs and NHPIs, WHIAANHPI is advancing efforts (https://www.hhs.gov/about/whiaanhpi/about-us/index.html) across AA and NHPI communities to:
- Identify and eliminate existing institutional policies or barriers in federal programs and services that may disadvantage or burden communities.
- Improve safety, access to justice, and violence prevention.
- Promote inclusion and belonging.
- Expand the collection and use of disaggregated data at the federal, state, and local levels and facilitate improved research on policy and program outcomes.
- End language barriers and other disparities in accessing government benefits and services.
- Improve health outcomes, eliminate health disparities, and expand access to quality, affordable, and culturally competent medical and mental healthcare services.
- End disparities in educational outcomes and address barriers to learning for youth and students of all ages.
- Address poverty levels among the communities.
- Expand economic opportunity for families.
- Increase opportunities for civic engagement.
- Improve the equitable allocation of federal resources to communities and organizations.
- Support communities in responding to and recovering from national or regional crises and public health emergencies.
- Secure climate and environmental justice and equality.
- Identify ways to foster recruitment, career and leadership development, retention, advancement, and participation of public servants at all levels of the federal workforce.
Addressing disparities and increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in health care is a priority in ensuring quality care for all, especially those who do not have a representative voice. Join ONS in advocacy and explore relevant ONS Voice topic tags, such as patient advocacy (https://voice.ons.org/topic/patient-advocacy), access to cancer care (https://voice.ons.org/topic/access-to-cancer-care), cancer health disparities (https://voice.ons.org/topic/cancer-health-disparities), and patient financial advocacy (https://voice.ons.org/topic/patient-financial-advocacy), to learn more about the influence you have as a nurse in advocating for the inequities your patients experience.