Asian Health Support Services (AHSS) is one of Waitemata District Health Board's (WDHB's) Hospital Operations Services.
Aims:
- To provide communication (language) support to Waitemata DHB staff and Asian patients/clients and their families using WDHB services
- To provide cultural, emotional and communication support to Asian patients/clients
- To improve access to health services and health information for the Asian population
- To provide cultural training and resources to WDHB staff to enhance cultural competence working with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) population
- To improve access to primary health services for non-English speaking patients
Asian is commonly referred to as people who come from Asia, including people coming from West Asia, e.g. Afghanistan, Nepal, South Asia, covering the Indian sub-continent, East Asia covering China, North and South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and South East Asia covering countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, and Kampuchea (Source: Statistics NZ 2003).