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September 24, 2007
PASADENA, CA - Kaiser Permanente announced today that the UCLA Center for Policy Health Research will receive a two-year grant of $743,826 to survey 48,000 households from every California county on behaviors linked to obesity. This statistical snapshot will be gathered using the California Health Interview Survey, the largest state health survey and one of the largest health surveys in the United States.
The California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) and AskCHIS, a free online CHIS data query system, are widely used by community providers, advocates, and health policy makers in planning public health programs.
"CHIS is a well-known, well-conducted, and well-used survey, always reaching for relevant data on health links and connections such as healthy eating/active living, adolescent health and education, and other issues that Kaiser Permanente strongly cares about," said Diana M. Bontá, vice president of public affairs for Kaiser's Southern California Region. "Kaiser Permanente strongly supports CHIS because all Californians, about 36 million, benefit from this invaluable health policy tool."
Kaiser Permanente's Northern and Southern California regions will each provide $371,913 over the next two years, bringing the health care provider's CHIS contributions to more than $1 million since 2002.
"Obesity-related illnesses impact all Californians," said Jean Nudelman, director of Community Benefit Programs for Kaiser Permanente, Northern California Region. "This research funding ensures that Kaiser Permanente's commitment to promoting health and wellness can be extended to the community clinics, public health departments, policymakers and all California residents who are working to address one of the most pressing health concerns of our time."
Kaiser Permanente's grant will also be used to fund technical training through the Center's Health DATA (Data, Advocacy, Technical Assistance) program for community-based organizations who want to effectively use the data to develop best practices, mobilize stakeholders and advocate for programs that will improve the health of vulnerable populations throughout the state.
"The 2007 survey will provide California communities with data to identify overweight, obese and at-risk populations," said David Grant, PhD, director of the California Health Interview Survey. "This valuable information will be used to target interventions to relevant population groups and to evaluate their efforts to combat obesity."
CHIS is a telephone survey of adults, adolescents, and children from all parts of the state. Conducted every two years since 2001, the survey provides statewide information on the overall population including many racial and ethnic groups, and local-level information on most counties for health planning and important comparison purposes. The CHIS sample represents the geographic and socio-economic diversity of California, and the available multi-language interviews accommodate the state's rich ethnic diversity.
Researchers will use the data to produce articles and materials to inform the development of policies addressing obesity and identify whether there is an association between parental behavior and child behavior. They also will use CHIS geocoded data together with measures drawn from other data sources (e.g., proximity to parks, playgrounds, fast food restaurants) to study the effects of these environmental factors on individual diet and physical activity or sedentary behaviors.
CHIS gives health planners, policy makers, advocacy groups, and community providers a detailed picture of the health and health care needs facing California's diverse population. The American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) presented its 2006 Policy Impact Award to CHIS as an outstanding example of how surveys can be used to improve policymaking and society.
"The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research has made a concerted effort to ensure the CHIS data are accessible and easy to use by non-academics, including community members, policy makers, public health departments, and researchers and students," said E. Richard Brown, Ph.D., director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, professor in the School of Public Health, and Principal Investigator of CHIS. "The Center's mission when it was established in 1994 was to improve the public's health by advancing health policy through research, public service, community partnership, and education. Today, the Center has become the premier source of health policy information on California's population."
CHIS is conducted by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research in collaboration with the California Department of Public Health, the Department of Health Care Services and the Public Health Institute. Other major supporters of the 2007 California Health Interview Survey include the California Department of Public Health, The California Endowment, First 5 California, the California Department of Mental Health, the National Cancer Institute, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Kaiser Permanente, founded in 1945, is America's largest not-for-profit health care organization, serving 8.1 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. The Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit Program is committed to improving the health of communities by addressing health disparities through an integrated multi-dimensional collaborative approach. Kaiser Permanente partners with community groups, schools, and government organizations to provide social benefit activities that include assistance to the uninsured and special populations; training new health professionals; introducing new delivery and financing methods into the health care arena at large; and through their clinical research efforts, developing and sharing better ways to care for patients.
More information about Kaiser Permanente can be found at www.kaiserpermanente.org.
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