KEY POINTS:
From September, non-English-speaking patients visiting their GPs on the North Shore will have access to a telephone translation service.
The $200,000 service, initiated by the Waitemata District Health Board, is one of the new projects the board is planning to meet the needs of the growing number of Asian migrants in the area.
Today, the board will also hold the first of two consultation meetings to discuss health in the Asian, migrant and refugee communities, and how it can better meet their needs. Asians are the second-largest and fastest-growing group the board serves, and on the North Shore alone account for 37,200 of the 200,091 population.
Last year, 7508 Asian patients used services provided by the board, of whom 65 per cent were Chinese and Koreans.
But Ministry of Health statistics show language is still a problem for the migrant communities, with 22 per cent of Chinese and 20 per cent of other Asians not speaking English.
"We are now serving a population which is more diverse than ever before," said Sue Lim, the board's Asian health services manager. "The challenges we face are different and new."
She said the way the diverse communities were being categorised by Statistics New Zealand was also a problem.
"While we can depend on statistics to work on what we can do for some, the health status of others remains a mystery because of how they are being classified in the statistics."
The Ministry of Health's 2006 Health Chart Book lists specific health risk to certain ethnic groups within the Asian community.
For example, it identified obesity to be common among Indian males, and said Chinese women were less likely to be physically active or eat enough fruit and vegetables in their diet.
But unlike the Chinese and Indians, Koreans come under "others" in the New Zealand Statistics classification code.
"A large number of the people we serve are Koreans, but we are still unable to fully identify what their main hospital discharges and health status are because of how they are classified," Ms Lim said.
The board has Asian co-ordinators, cultural advisers, volunteers and 201 interpreters who speak 89 languages and dialects - but Ms Lim said there were still "many Asians who are missing out", especially as regards health screening services.
"The problem is, when health services do not reach the people at the preventive stage, it could end up costing the health system a lot more later," she said.
The board will be using today's consultation meeting at the St John North Shore office, and another on Friday at the Kelston Community Centre, to "identify gaps" and wants community leaders to identify the "top 10 things" they want the board to focus on to better engage with its Asian patients.
