Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) have some of the fastest-growing rates of obesity of all ethnic groups (Harrison et al., 2005). Preventing childhood obesity among AANHPIs is a challenge constrained by resource and research gaps. These include the lack of national prevalence data, insufficient funding support, limited knowledge of risk factors associated with childhood obesity, particularly in these populations, and the lack of programmatic evaluations. The finding of this literature review shows that only 0.11 percent of PubMed articles on childhood obesity focused on AANHPIs. Recommendations to advance what is known about AANHPI and childhood obesity include targeting community prevalence studies, community needs assessments, risk factor studies, and program evaluations; training and mentoring junior researchers; and creating a national clearing-house to compile research literature and evidence-based practices.

This paper will provide the policy context for the important role of capturing patient experience at federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), especially with the implementation of the patient-centered medical home model. We discuss various quantitative and qualitative methods that were utilized to capture patient experience at the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center in New York City. Specifically, we describe our experience in adapting, pilot testing, and refining the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey to address the unique cultural and linguistic needs of our health center’s patient population. We also explore the benefits and limitations of these methods, and discuss factors that FQHCs should consider when capturing patient feedback.

Patient portals have the potential to empower patients to be more knowledgeable and proactive about their health. Implementation of patient portals has become increasingly critical at primary care sites that serve underserved communities, where there is a growing need for linguistically appropriate electronic access. The Charles B. Wang Community Health Center has recently developed a linguistically appropriate patient portal with the goal of providing increased access to its majority Chinese American patient population with low English proficiency and literacy levels. This article will discuss experiences learned from implementing a Chinese Language Patient Portal that addresses socioeconomic barriers and disparities in health care access.

Research conducted to benefit communities is often done without community involvement, threatening its relevance for the groups the studies purport to serve. A great need exists for education of both researchers and community members on how research can be more appropriately conducted in partnership with community members. This paper presents Community Criteria for Research Participation developed by community health centers (CHCs) with input from academic partners to support CHCs’ capacity to conduct research of community significance.