APAMSA

In February 2009, APAMSA launched the Community Outreach Initiative (COI) program to facilitate and organize APAMSA's community engagement efforts nationwide in addressing Asian Pacific Islander (API) health care issues. In collaboration with community and health service organizations, COI intends to deepen and sophisticate APAMSA’s leadership involvement in API communities.

COI Task Force officers will serve as community leaders and collectively strive to enhance the integrity of APAMSA’s community engagement program. To strengthen APAMSA’s leadership in the development of community outreach projects, COI will integrate online leadership training modules with the production of each community health education project (COI-HELP).

We invite and encourage all APAMSA members and nonmembers to partake in the leadership training modules and the production of community engagement projects.

We look forward to the outcome of our collective efforts throughout the year, and anticipate the cultivation of exceptional community leaders among APAMSA members for years to come.

                    By our example,

      We intend to lead.

                                By your lead,

                                We intend to follow.

“Community engagement is the process of working collaboratively with and through groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest, or similar situations to address issues affecting the well-being of those people. It is a powerful vehicle for bringing about environmental and behavioral changes that will improve the health of the community and its members. It often involves partnerships and coalitions that help mobilize resources and influence systems, change relationships among partners, and serve as catalysts for changing policies, programs, and practices.”

– Fawcett et al., 1995, CDC Community Engagement Project