Asian American Health Initiative

The Asian American Health Initiative (AAHI), part of the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, was established in Fiscal Year 2005.AAHI’s mission is to improve the health and wellness of Asian American communities in Montgomery County by applying equity, community engagement, and data-driven approaches.Over the years, AAHI has developed many different programs and services catering to the diverse needs of Asian Americans in Montgomery County. AAHI's programs and activities fall under four core work areas:• Community Engagement – Conducting outreach to engage. AAHI participates in outreach events, including health fairs, cultural celebrations, to connect and educate community members about the most pertinent and useful health information and resources, and to increase awareness and access of health information in Asian American communities.• Community Empowerment – Providing technical assistance to empower. AAHI offers trainings and workshops and provides technical assistance to community partners and leaders to empower the Asian American community. These tools and best practices help build community resiliency while addressing the needs of the Asian communities.• Capacity Building – Creating models and tools to demonstrate promising practices. AAHI developed promising practices in numerous health issues, most notably, senior wellness and mental health. By establishing promising practices, AAHI is able to develop programmatic models and tools and identify tactics and materials that can be adapted by others when addressing health issues in Asian American communities.• System Improvement – Influencing changes to improve systems. AAHI participates and engages in different workgroups and committees to enhance local infrastructure to be more responsive to the unique needs of Asian Americans, such as advocating for more culturally and linguistically responsive services, disaggregated data, and adoption of health equity principles.