Identifying Unique Health Challenges of AAPI Populations, with Adrienne Poon, MD, MPH

Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) populations are often overlooked in health care due to the model minority myth, which portrays these individuals as uniformly successful and without significant health or socioeconomic disparities and can contribute to gaps in research, policy, and healthcare access. In reality, AAPI communities are diverse and should be looked at in a disaggregated way to better understand and target unique health challenges of these populations.

Adrienne Poon, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine at George Washington University, presented research investigating community health needs of AAPI populations in the greater Washington, DC, area at the American College of Physicians (ACP) Internal Medicine (IM) Meeting 2025, held April 3-5, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

HCPLive spoke with Poon to learn more about the study and some preliminary findings. Some preliminary findings of note include high rates of hyperlipidemia, diabetes and hypertension in Vietnamese Americans, high rates of depression in Chinese Americans, and high rates of anxiety in Indian Americans, posing an alarming pattern in the field.

Poon gave an overview of how she and her colleagues conducted the survey and shared further research that she would like to do in looking at health disparities in AAPI populations. She also discussed some factors clinicians should keep in mind when treating AAPI patients and stressed the importance of conducting this research.

“[Sharing] ways to promote a healthy lifestyle is really important for the patients, but also in a way that… works for them and their families… I've heard people say in the community [that some of the guidance] is not the most culturally appropriate. So, trying to work with them to find strategies that are tailored towards an individual, I think is important,” Poon told HCPLive.

Poon has no relevant disclosures to report.

REFERENCE

Poon AN. Debunking the Model Minority Myth: Preliminary Findings for a Community Health Needs Assessment for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Health Disparities in Greater Washington DC. Presented at: ACP IM Meeting 2025; April 3-5; New Orleans, Louisiana.