Hawaii is often called a “melting pot” for its diverse mix of ethnicities living on the islands. That can also create a lot of barriers, from language to cultural beliefs, notes Waihea Perreira, HT, a histotechnician at The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Here, she shares her insight on opportunities to bring more diversity into laboratory medicine, and how we can connect with Asian American and Pacific Islander communities to improve care.
How can healthcare providers in the U.S. get a better understanding of cultural needs or differences for Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in order to better provide earlier screening and prevention, and better health care overall? How can the laboratory play a role in this?
I believe that everything stems from a great foundation. Hospitals and companies that create a strong vision that stresses the importance of cultural inclusivity will radiate on how healthcare providers care for their patients. Hospitals and healthcare providers can educate their staff through cultural seminars, hands-on workshops, or even volunteer opportunities in the Asian American/Pacific Islander communities. Connecting with community leaders would assist in the communication and engagement to provide early screening and health prevention. When it comes to the lab, education and visuals, like looking through a microscope of a H&E-stained tissue, always seem to grab the attention of those who come through for tours. Maybe the lab might want to consider, for example, taking a visual aid of a healthy vs. unhealthy slide to community outreaches. I presented a gigantic slide made of cardboard and Play-Doh to my nephews’ preschool classmates during a career day.
As an Asian American/Pacific Islander, what challenges have you encountered around increasing diversity and inclusion?
In our lab of 80 staff, there are approximately eight Native Hawaiian individuals, including myself. Although majority of the staff is Asian American, it would be great to include more Pacific Islanders on our staff. In the late 1950s, The Queen's Medical Center was founded by Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV of Hawai’i to provide health care primarily to Native Hawaiians, the majority of whom were suffering during a series of epidemics. Exposure of laboratory sciences through Pacific Islander programs that create internships and shadowing programs could help spark interest in working in a lab. Fourteen years ago, in 2007, I was awarded the last Native Hawaiian internship in our pathology laboratory, which provided me the opportunity to create a career as a histotechnician.
This Q&A has been edited for clarity and length.
To read more Q&As with Asian American and Pacific Islander members of the laboratory, click
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