Pathways to Culturally-Adapted Cancer Care: Clinical Work and Program Development with Latinx and Chinese Immigrant Patients

This class will explore the challenges, barriers, and opportunities in the delivery of culturally responsive cancer care for patients in the Chinese and Latinx immigrant New York City community. Disparities in cancer diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes drawn from the literature will be presented to frame why culturally responsive treatment is crucial to improve the engagement and outcomes of these large and growing groups. Instructors will guide participants through the assessment and intervention process with these populations and discuss their clinical work with immigrant cancer patients.

Grace will present her experience as the only oncology social worker in a community hospital where a large number of Latinx immigrants receive their care. Emma will present the process of developing culturally tailored cancer-supportive services for Chinese immigrant patients, barriers encountered during the program-building process, and the strategies for reaching out to Chinese immigrant cancer patients and recruiting them to the program. Helen will present her experience working with older Chinese immigrants in the VNS Health Chinatown Neighborhood Naturally Occurring Retirement Community. Emma and Helen will also highlight the collaboration between a cancer center and a community-based organization in outreach efforts to the Chinese immigrant community.

Participants will learn important cultural values for both populations and their role in engagement in healthcare and decision-making, barriers in engaging these groups in advance care planning and psychosocial support, and best practices for providing culturally responsive care to these groups.

OBJECTIVES

After taking this class, participants will be able to: 

1. Describe at least three strategies to facilitate engagement with cancer patients from the Latinx and Chinese communities.
2. Identify micro and macro strategies to collaborate with community-based agencies to provide quality psychosocial services for cancer patients from the Latinx and Chinese communities.  
3. Identify at least three barriers for Chinese and Latinx immigrant cancer patients to access psychosocial support services and how to navigate these.

Grace R. Downs-Liguori, LCSW

holds a B.A. in Political Science from Hunter College, an M.S.W. from Silberman School of Social Work, and a Post-Masters Certificate in Palliative and End-of-Life Care from the NYU Silver School of Social Work. She is currently an Oncology Social Worker at Mount Sinai Queens. Previously, Grace was a Program Coordinator and clinical supervisor with Mount Sinai Health Partners, where she also worked as a social work care manager in the community for five years. In addition to her current role, Grace is a field instructor and enjoys mentoring and supporting new social workers entering the field. Grace is passionate about increasing access to palliative care for non-English speakers and Latinxs, as well as working towards addressing issues of equity within the social work profession.

Mi (Emma) Zhou, LCSW 

is a social work supervisor at Mount Sinai The Blavatnik Family – Chelsea Medical Center. She oversees a growing support program for Chinese-speaking cancer patients. Due to the large Chinese population that the Mount Sinai Downtown Cancer Centers cares for, Emma has developed numerous culturally tailored support programs. Emma seeks to ensure that the holistic needs of her patients are being met by conducting biopsychosocialspiritual assessments, collaborating with the interdisciplinary team and establishing support programming that is culturally tailored. She has moderated numerous community presentations in both Mandarin and Cantonese. She has presented her work at the Association of Oncology Social Work conference, New York Academy of Medicine, and presented to social work departmental grand rounds at Mount Sinai Beth Israel and Mount Sinai West, among others. In 2021, she published her first peer-reviewed journal article, Lessons Learned from a Social Worker’s Approach to Advance Care Planning Discussions with Chinese-Immigrant Oncology Outpatients. She also wrote a chapter in the forthcoming textbook, Oncology and Palliative Social Work: Psychosocial Care for People Coping with Cancer. Emma is passionate about helping underserved patients navigate the health care system and developing culturally appropriate programs for Chinese-speaking cancer patients. 

Hing Lin (Helen) Sit

has played a pivotal role in supporting some of the most vulnerable Asian-American communities in New York City. With 30+ years of social work experience, she is currently the manager of the nonprofit VNS Health Chinatown Neighborhood Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NNORC), where she oversees a team of social workers, nurses, volunteers, and many others providing essential services to older adults. As a dedicated leader, she has expertly guided her team through the pandemic while keeping those they serve safe. As an immigrant and cancer survivor herself, she is familiar with the needs of NYC’s Asian community and the challenges they encounter. She is passionate about meeting their needs and improving the quality of life for underserved Asian populations!  

Helen is also the recipient of the 2022 Crain’s New York Business Notable Asian Leaders Award; the 2016 University Settlement Distinguished Community Service Award; the 2013 NASW Social Work Image Award; the Community Services Recognition Award by Chinatown Outreach Program of Alzheimer’s Association, NYC Chapter (now known as CaringKind, the Heart of Alzheimer’s Caregiving); and the 2012 VNSNY ESPRIT Award. 

• Full tuition - $60
• GSS alumni - $50
• Current Field Instructor to a Fordham MSW student - $50
• Current Adjunct Online Faculty - $50
• SWHPN Member - $50
• 3+ from one agency registering at same time - $40
• Current Military and Veterans - $40
• Non-Fordham Current MSW or Social Work Doctoral Student - $30
• Current Fordham MSW or PhD Student - $20
• Fordham Alumni Palliative Care Fellow - $20
• Fordham GSS Ambassador Program Alumni - $20
• Field Instructor to a CURRENT Palliative Care Fellow -$0
• Fordham faculty and staff - $0
• Current Fordham Palliative Care Fellow or Montefiore Fellow - $0

Continuing Education Hours

Completion of this class will result in the receipt of two (2) continuing education hours. CEHs are not awarded for partial completion of the class.

You will receive the Zoom link for joining the class by the day before the class. IF YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED THE LINK BY THIS TIME, PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER. 

You will need a computer and a reliable WiFi connection. The computer may be a desktop or a laptop. It may be an Apple or Windows computer.

If you have never used Zoom before, you will likely be prompted to download an applet, which is a small program that allows Zoom to communicate with your computer. This is safe and you will need to do this to join the class.

It is NOT advised that you participate using a table (e.g., an iPad) or a cellular phone. The software is not optimized for these devices.

Please plan to join the online class 15 minutes before the start time to be sure that you don’t have any problems connecting. We cannot provide technical support to you and refunds won’t be offered if you have technical problems. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please contact us at [email protected] at least a few days before the class.