Just like in any other profession, prevention work serves up an alphabet soup of acronyms and jargon. And when different languages and dialects are added to the mix, it can be even more challenging to communicate. In the melting pot of the United States, Asian Pacific Americans are the fastest growing community. Two coalition experts, Melissa-Kim Tom and Myron Dean Quon, help coalition members to determine the best recipe to help coalitions develop cultural competency and language access for anyone working with or wanting to include and work with culturally diverse target populations, specifically Asian Pacific Americans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The course, \u201cTiger Moms, Shamans, and Jeremy Lin – Coalitions and Asian Pacific Americans,\u201d is being offered Aug. 5 at CADCA\u2019s Mid-Year Training Institute. You can also take courses in a host of other substance abuse issues at the institute in Indianapolis Aug. 2-6.<\/p>\n
Often seen as a “model minority,” Asian Pacific Americans sometimes are perceived to be successful, but the truth is that many are refugees, working class, and have limited English skills, explained Tom.<\/p>\n
With more than a dozen countries and hundreds of languages and dialects from\u00a0Asia and the Pacific Islands represented in many American communities, Tom and Quon will help participants dig into the issues related to assimilation and acculturation and develop strategies to address substance abuse in this unique and often underserved community.<\/p>\n
Tom said their course will challenge coalition members to do some self-reflection of their own biases and prejudices they might have or assumptions they might make when creating their work plans.<\/p>\n
Once everyone understands each other better, Tom added, it will be easier for coalition members to address health disparity, enhance their coalitions with members of this diverse Asian Pacific American community, and to change social norms around substance abuse prevention and treatment.<\/p>\n
Tom is the Training Operations Support Manager for the Training and Technical Assistance Department of CADCA\u2019s National Coalition Institute. Tom spent more than a decade as a prevention leader working at the Coalition for a Drug-Free Hawaii.<\/p>\n
Her co-trainer, Quon, is the Executive Director of the National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse. He is based in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
El Instituto de Capacitaci\u00f3n de Mitad de A\u00f1o de CADCA ofrece cursos de medio d\u00eda y de dos d\u00edas para profesionales nuevos, establecidos y veteranos en prevenci\u00f3n de drogas en ocho \u00e1reas tem\u00e1ticas. Conozca m\u00e1s sobre las rutas de capacitaci\u00f3n, los oradores clave y otros detalles sobre el Instituto de Capacitaci\u00f3n de Mitad de A\u00f1o de CADCA.<\/p>\n