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MArch 1, 2006
Los Angeles, CA - As part of its efforts to combat the spread of domestic violence, the Blue Shield of California Foundation recently awarded $450,000 to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research to support the collection of new data on how the problem affects families and communities statewide. The new funding will help the Center establish a new Violence Module to the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), the largest statewide health survey in the nation.
"National and state survey data that focuses on domestic violence is sorely lacking," said Crystal Hayling, president of Blue Shield of California Foundation. "Adding a domestic violence element to the California Health Interview Survey will provide invaluable information and understanding about the issue so that it can be addressed more effectively at the state and local level."
Policymakers, health advocates, providers, researchers and many others look to CHIS as the most reliable source of ongoing data on the health status of California adults, adolescents and children. Conducted every two years, CHIS is a collaborative effort of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, the California Department of Health Services and the Public Health Institute.
The new Violence Module will be incorporated into the 2007 survey, and will yield information about the nature and prevalence of intimate partner, family and stranger violence statewide and at the local level. It will also provide prevalence rates for the state's diverse ethnic groups, including the Latino/Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander communities.
"We are pleased that the Blue Shield of California Foundation recognized that the California Health Interview Survey is a vital resource for those working to address a variety of health issues, including domestic violence," said E. Richard Brown, Ph.D., director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and professor in the School of Public Health.
A working group, led by Elaine Zahnd, Ph.D., of the Public Health Institute and staff at the California Attorney General's Crime and Violence Prevention Center, planned the Violence Module. Several California agencies, research institutions, and advocacy organizations were involved in the planning, including the Department of Justice, Department of Health Services, Department of Social Services, Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, Department of Mental Health, Public Health Institute, UCLA School of Public Health, County of Los Angeles, National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and Youth ALIVE, a violence prevention community-based program. The California Partnership to End Domestic Violence is the most recent addition to the working group.
The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research was established in 1994 and is one of the nation's leading health policy research centers. It is also the premier source of key health policy information for California. The Center is based in the UCLA School of Public Health and is affiliated with the UCLA School of Public Affairs.
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