Korean Americans churches across Los Angeles are working with the Cedars-Sinai hospital to reduce the high cancer mortality rate faced by the Korean American community, Newswise reports.
Recently, around 50 Korean Americans gathered at L.A. Onnuri Church to hear Dong Hee Kim, a Cedars-Sinai community outreach coordinator, give a talk about cancer risk and provention.
“In the Korean culture, we’re hesitant to share personal problems, especially health problems,” Jeong Yup Lee, senior pastor of the L.A. Onnuri Church told Newswise. “That’s why my church partnered with Cedars-Sinai, which is sharing information about the health risks we face in my community. We need that information.”
According to Newswise, the Cedars-Sinai Research Center for Health Inequity has been surveying Korean Americans to examine, for example, what role things like lack of transportation, fear, and embarrassment might play in preventing Korean American from seeking proper treatment.
After gathering information about what may prevent Korean Americans from seeking treatment, the Health Equity team has been helping arrange free, convenient, and confidential screenings at local clinics.
The research initiative is part of the center’s broader research. The Cedars-Sinai Research Center for Health Inequity is one of the leaders in population health studies, a branch of health studies that seeks to understand why certain populations are disproportionately at risk for cancer and other diseases.
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