Vietnamese Cancer Awareness Research and Education Society
About VN CARES
History:
In 2001, UC Davis undergraduates and medical students established the Vietnamese Cancer Awareness, Research and Education Society (VN CARES) in response to the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) report that revealed Vietnamese American women had the highest incidence rate of cervical cancer – five times greater than Caucasian women. VN CARES is a non-profit student-run organization that promotes cancer awareness and provides free cancer screenings to the underserved Vietnamese population.
VN CARES began working with Sacramento Vietnamese Community to implement the following:
VN CARES' Goals
1. Inform the community about the prevalent types of cancer that affect the target population – namely breast, cervical, and prostate cancer.
2. Educate the community about the benefits of performing regular cancer screenings and the available cancer treatments.
3. Enroll people to receive free cancer screenings.
VN CARES' Objectives
° Reduce the cancer-related disparities in the Vietnamese community.
° Ensure that all Vietnamese individuals obtain skills and knowledge to maintain a cancer reducing lifestyle.
° Participate in the planning and implementation of research activities designed to identify the health care needs of the Vietnamese community.
° Network with other organizations to achieve common objectives.
What is Research and Education?
The Research & Education Team is committed to improving the community's health by spreading awareness of prevalent health concerns. The R&E Team educates the public through the use of public presentations, community events, and the development of educative resources.
What are Our Specialty Clinics?
In 2005, VN CARES partnered with Paul Hom Asian Clinic to serve the Asian population in Sacramento, California. Our collaboration strives to provide primary care, cancer screening services, and select speciality clinics intended to create a more holistic health care experience for our patients.
Vaccination Clinic
Provides free Hepatitis vaccinations to patients.
Enrollment Clinic
Provides insurance enrollment for patients.
Liver Ultrasound Clinic
Provides free liver screenings to patients with Hepatitis B to check for liver scarring (cirrhosis).
Cardiopulmonary Clinic
Provides preliminary labs to get EKGs, ABIs and a spirometry, which summarizes the patient's overall cardiopulmonary health.
Ophthalmology Clinic
Provides vision screenings, completed by the medical students, vision exams, and a detailed retina exam by an ophthalmologist.
Diabetes Clinic
Provides healthy cooking and exercise demonstrations, workshops on healthy lifestyles, and HbA1C blood tests.
Public Relations
Why does VN CARES do community services?
° Give back to the community that has given us many opportunities
° Learn about other organizations that are also making a difference
° Build relationships with other organizations
° Spread awareness about VN CARES
Our Partners and Services
Davis Community Meals
We work with Davis Community Meals to prepare and serve food to low-income and homeless populations who are in need.
Challah For Hunger
We partner with Challah For Hunger to bake and distribute bread at local food banks to fight food insecurity.
Food Recovery Network
We work with YOLO Food Bank to collect produce donations from farmers and distribute them all over Yolo County to communities that do not have easy access to food.
Recruitment
We cooperate with interns and the community to distribute flyers to recruit prospective interns and patients.