Video: Stokes discusses the coalition and the needs it addresses

SACRAMENTO — In recognition of her efforts to address end-of-life issues in the Chinese-American population, Sandy Chen Stokes, a chaplain resident at UC Davis Medical Center, has been selected to receive one of AARP The Magazine's Inspire Awards for 2011.

For nine years, AARP The Magazine has bestowed the awards to "salute outstanding individuals who are using their energy, creativity and passion to make the world a better place."

In 2005, Stokes founded the Chinese American Coalition for Compassionate Care, which provides information and resources to families whose loved ones are ill. Initially, the group translated basic end-of-life directives into Chinese and recruited volunteers to explain the forms to elderly Chinese Americans. Today, the coalition works with more than 60 different health-care organizations, including the American Cancer Society, to train health-care workers about end-of-life issues for this population.

Stokes' motivation to found the coalition stemmed from the traditional reluctance of Chinese Americans to talk about death, which is considered bad luck in China. Because of that resistance, Stokes frequently finds it difficult to even broach the subject with the families of terminally ill Chinese-American patients.

"When children try to bring up subjects like health-care directives, parents will say, 'Are you trying to make me die earlier?'" said Stokes, a geriatric nurse. However, avoidance of the topic creates an intense burden for families, who then must scramble for last-minute solutions.

Other winners of the Inspire Awards for 2011 include Tony Danza, Maya Angelou, Joy Behar, Henry Winkler and Elizabeth Warren.

UC Davis Medical Center is a comprehensive academic medical center where clinical practice, teaching and research converge to advance human health. Centers of excellence include the National Cancer Institute-designated UC Davis Cancer Center; the region's only level 1 pediatric and adult trauma centers; the UC Davis MIND Institute, devoted to finding treatments and cures for neurodevelopmental disorders; and the UC Davis Children's Hospital. The medical center serves a 33-county, 65,000-square-mile area that stretches north to the Oregon border and east to Nevada. It further extends its reach through the award-winning telemedicine program, which gives remote, medically underserved communities throughout California unprecedented access to specialty and subspecialty care.