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Metta Health Center

In October 2000, the Lowell Community Health Center added the Metta Health Center to the roster of health care facilities it operates in Lowell, Massachusetts.  The new site is designed to improve access for Cambodians and Laotians to primary medical care and mental health services, and also to add more culturally appropriate services such as traditional healing, meditation, and alternative health care approaches including acupuncture and massage therapy.  Initially referred to as the “West Meets East Center”, a community advisory committee determined that a more culturally appropriate name for the center would be “Metta” which is a Buddhist Sanskrit word meaning love, kindness, or compassion.

The Community Need -  Lowell’s Asian population is federally designated as a Medically Underserved Population (MUP).  Cambodian health practices differ greatly from western medicine in that they include few preventive approaches, with a tendency to wait until a crisis occurs to seek medical care, and they are based upon a completely different explanation for disease causation (e.g. wind; imbalance).  Due to this lack of preventive care as well as low rates of immunization and a distrust of western medical practices, the Southeast Asian population suffers from higher rates of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, tobacco use among men, late entry into prenatal care, tuberculosis, and hepatitis B.  In addition, 1998 data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health reveals that, of all ethnic groups in the state, Cambodian women had the lowest level of adequate prenatal care (44.7% vs. a statewide average of 79.8%). 

Southeast Asians fled their home countries as a result of war and severe trauma and spent years in relocation camps prior to coming to Lowell. As a result of war, relocation, and the terrible legacy of the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime, Cambodians are at greater risk for mental health problems.  While there is a 15% rate of moderate to serious mental health problems for the general population in the United States, 53% of Cambodians suffer from these conditions.  These problems are typically viewed as being related to some religious or spiritual wrongdoing and are felt to bring shame on a family. 

The Response -  The Metta Health Center will address the ethnocultural and institutional barriers to care for Lowell’s Southeast Asian population. Most importantly, this new “West Meets East” approach builds on the strengths of the culture that the Southeast Asians carried with them to Lowell. 

To improve access and make clients feel more comfortable, the center is located in a well-known Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association (CMAA) facility that also houses a broad array of social services and cultural programs for the SEA community.  CMAA services include day care, job training, ESL classes, and housing assistance as well as a Buddhist meditation center.  The facility is close to the neighborhoods where the majority of Southeast Asians live, is well served by public transportation, and will be monitored by an advisory committee completely comprised of Cambodian and Laotian representatives.

The Metta Health Center will integrate western-based primary care and mental health services with traditional healing and meditation and alternative medical approaches such as acupuncture and massage.  Mental health services will be provided on-site by practitioners from the Mental Health Association of Greater Lowell.  In addition, existing health center sites will refer other clients to the Metta Health Center to obtain specialized services only available at that site such as acupuncture, mental health services, and massage therapy. 

 

 For additional information:
Mr. Sonith Peou, Program Director
(978) 322-8755
SonithPE@lchealth.org
 
 
    

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The Target Population - The Metta Health Center is designed to increase access to primary care and mental health services for the city’s growing community of Southeast Asian residents  (this population in Lowell increased 2278% from 1980-1990).  With the second largest Cambodian community in the United States, Lowell’s Cambodian population is estimated at 25,000 and there are an additional 5,000 Laotians (approximately one-third of the city’s total population).  As new immigrants to this country, the Southeast Asian population suffers higher rates of poverty and unemployment.  Of the SEA families living in Lowell, 41.2% live below the poverty level compared to a statewide average of 8.9%.  The unemployment rate for this community is 21% compared to a citywide average of 4.3%, and it estimated that an additional 45% of Southeast Asians are not in the labor force (Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association, 1998).

The number of Southeast Asians obtaining adequate preventive and medical care continues to be small due to linguistic and cultural barriers, a lack of culturally competent medical care, and the small pool of bilingual/bicultural credentialed professionals due to their newness to this country.  Additional barriers include an unfamiliarity with appointment systems and waiting times; limited provider understanding of Cambodian health beliefs; limited use of health care facilities except in cases of severe illness; limited transportation options; and different beliefs about disease and preventive care.

Services include:

  1. Primary medical Care
  2. Nutritional Counseling
  3. Mental Health Services
  4. Traditional healing
  5. Acupuncture
  6. Massage
  7. Social Services
  8. Information & Referral
Staffing include:
  1. Physician
  2. Psychiatrist
  3. Family Nurse Practitioner
  4. Clinician Social Worker
  5. Mental Health Specialist
  6. Psychiatrist Clinical
Nurse Specialist
  • Massage therapist
  • Acupuncturist


  
      Main Phone Number: 978-937-9700
Adult Medicine Fax: 978-322-8622 | Metta Health Center Fax: 978-454-1681 Pediatric Medicine Fax: 978-453-3289 | Prenatal Fax: 978-453-1777