HEAR2CARE
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Mission Statement
There are 21 million US residents have limited English proficiency (12 million from Latin America, 6 million from Asia, 1 million from Europe, and 700k from Africa), make it especially challenging for them to navigate the complex healthcare systems that already require navigation for native speakers. We aim to breakdown such language barriers by : 1. Empower immigrant patients and their care-givers with trustworthy information that we all can hear in our native tongues and understand; 2. Create resources for healthcare professionals to better serve immigrant patients with limited English proficiency; 3. Build capacities for heritage language support to engage more immigrant patients and their caregivers in clinical research; 4. Advocate for investment into the prevention and treatment of diseases particularly affect immigrants - for example liver disease, stomach cancer, and lung cancer in non-smokers.
About This Cause
Hear2Care is a WA registered public charity recognized by the IRS as a tax exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Interviews with doctors and patients identified the issue for delivering care to immigrant patients: more than 46 million foreign-born people in US speaks many different native languages and dialects that may hinder our access to care, as 21 million of immigrants speak English less than "very well". Navigating healthcare system is difficult enough for native-speakers, so immigrant patients need extra help with these language barriers. Hear2Care was established when we found that there were scarce voices from the immigrant groups in the US health equity discussion. And this is not just a US problem. Due to global warming, more populations are either displaced or on the move. An Italian speaking elderly cancer patient may have difficulty communicating with her Australian oncologist, and a Portuguese speaking Brazilian patient might not understand advices from a GP in UK. Building on our personal experiences and access to global health resources, we launched this non-profit to advocate, to build capacity, and to provide resources to breakdown barriers of access for immigrants. Immigrant patients can hear relevant care information in languages and dialects that they can easily understand. Patients are empowered to better communicate about the diseases even if their doctors do not speak their languages. Curated patient education materials can be shared across national boundaries for speakers of the same language. We plan to start with languages and dialects spoken by the more numerous immigrant groups in US (Vietnamese, Hindi, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Dravidian, Japanese, Korean, French, Portuguese, Russian, Hokkien, Thai, Burmese) and expand to other languages or dialects if designated fundings are allocated. We are also working on building capacities for heritage language support in healthcare delivery using novel engagement approaches. Our Founder, Dr Tingting Zhang, is an Asian American cancer survivor and patient advocate member of American Society of Clinical Oncologists. Dr Zhang received her PhD in cancer biology from Columbia University, and a postdoctoral training in systems biology at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, with a DARPA IPTO special commendation in 2005. She managed decision analytics for autoimmune, respiratory, oncology, and infectious diseases at Roche and led translational analytics for Eli Lilly’s late-stage oncology and immunology drugs. Concerned with the cancer epidemic in Asia, she initiated the digitalization of cancer patient navigation process in 2013 and led the development of a cancer therapy management platform, winning an 2019 ASCO Breakthrough award in “AI to improve patient outcomes". She is also the current patient advocate lead for ASCO Palliative Care Community of Practice. Dr. Kin Wai (Tony) Hung is a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC who specializes in caring for patients with head and neck cancers. His research focuses on developing digital therapeutics and tools to improve the lives of patients and families affected by cancers. At Hear2Care, he is committed to helping to bridge the health disparity gap for patient immigrants. Miss Yung-Ching (Sabina) Tang, a graduate from Georgetown University, has created spaces that connect and empower people. Her experiences in architecture and urban planning include revitalisation of Taipei Expo Park in Taiwan, Fairhaven and Church Scar Public Realm in the UK, and John Grey High School on Grand Cayman. Her open spirit, design thinking and commitment to equity will help us establish a community encouraging healing and wellbeing that reunites people across the world, supporting one another regardless of multiplicity of languages.