An Educational Tool with Recommendations for Providers: Barriers to Screening for Hepatitis B in Asian American and Pacific Islanders

Healthcare providers have long subscribed to the notion of providing culturally competent healthcare to diverse populations. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) are the fastest growing minority group in the United States and chronic hepatitis B affects more of this population then the general US population. The CDC reports that 1.25 million people are chronically infected with HBV in the United States and AAPIs account for 50% of those infected. Clearly, the infection rate of HBV in AAPIs is an important public health problem that needs to be addressed. There are several barriers to prevention and control efforts. The purpose of this project was to introduce the barriers to screening for hepatitis B viral infection in AAPIs. In hopes of increasing awareness of AAPIs health concerns, including language barriers, lack of insurance, belief systems, stigmatization, screening, and vaccination. An educational tool, along with a pamphlet focused on barriers to screening for hepatitis B was developed for healthcare providers in order to address this healthcare burden in AAPIs. This project describes the method, implementation, evaluation and integration of this pamphlet into practice at primary practice clinics throughout Salt Lake City, Utah. The ACE Star Model offers a framework for knowledge transformation to achieve evidence-based practice and was utilized with this project development. The five processes in this model included evaluating an existing problem seen in clinical practice, review and supply of current literature available, translation of current literature and integration of the practice guidelines. By utilizing this educational tool, health-care providers will have a resource that will (a) introduce barriers to screening for HBV in AAPIs, (b) increase awareness of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders health disparity in regards to hepatitis B, (c) provide screening recommendations, (d) assist in surveillance of disease sequelae, and (e) review vaccination guidelines. By utilizing this educational tool, healthcare providers will be better prepared to identify and treat those in this population in relationship to HBV. By doing this, the long-term sequelae experienced by this population will be lessened with early screening and treatment, and the use of vaccinations will prevent others from acquiring the disease. The DNP essentials used in the project include the following: • Essential I: Scientific underpinnings for practice. Literature review completed • Essential II: Organization and systems leadership for quality improvements and systems thinking. Educational tool to improve HBV screening and vaccination in AAPIs. • Essential III: Clinical scholarship and analytical methods for evidence-­‐based practice. Discovery of new knowledge was gained from a thorough literature review and translated into EBP. • Essential V: Health care policy for advocacy in healthcare. An educational tool focused on barriers to screening for hepatitis B was developed. • Essential VI: Interprofessional collaboration for improving patient and population health outcomes. This educational tool will better prepare healthcare providers to identify and treat those in the APPI population in relationship to HBV. • Essential VIII: Advanced nursing practice. This educational tool will assist in decreasing the healthcare burden in AAPIs