Center in the News

The study, based on responses to the 2021 California Health Interview Survey, reveals that 1 in 10 adults in the state, or approximately 3 million people, faced difficulties in paying for housing this year. Renters, in particular, were more vulnerable, with 18.6% reporting struggles to pay their landlords, compared to only 5% of homeowners who faced similar difficulties. Housing instability was also an issue for 4.4% of California adults.

Dr. Michael Rodriguez and Dr. Ninez Ponce of the Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA joined Midday Edition on Tuesday to talk about gun violence as a public health issue. Rodriguez has a good quote "there are more safety policies and regulations around teddy bears than there are for guns and keeping them safe in the home." "We need to look at guns as a consumer product that is dangerous, and when there's access to guns then there's a risk that someone will be injured, if not killed by that gun."

These statistics were among those presented at "Addressing Gun Violence as a Public Health Epidemic," a symposium held Feb. 13 by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. The half-day virtual symposium featured emerging research on various aspects of gun violence and discussions with leaders from national and local organizations advocating for policy change and public safety.

Ninez Ponce and colleagues at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research received $161,000 for a study to address the gap in data for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities through the construction of a new measure to better indicate the needs of the state's NHPI population.

Accessing health care, including mental health services, became much tougher for California's Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report published today by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

About 9.3% of Asian immigrants keep guns in their homes in California, compared with 5.6% of Latino immigrants and 12% of white immigrants, said Ninez Ponce.

A new report from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research highlights the impact of the 2021 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) results, the nation’s largest state health survey.

"Gun violence kills people. It also injures many more people and maims people and provides them with disabilities for life."

Segment One: Vickie Mays is a professor in the Department of Psychology at UCLA and Dr. Ninez Ponce is the principal investigator of a study by UCLA’s Center for Health Policy discuss that study with Hal. The findings show that the mental health of young people- as young as 13- has taken a serious hit since the COVID-19 pandemic. "The news isn't good as far as mental health for youth," Ponce said. This data is actually bringing attention to the problem ... What we're getting from this is the alert. Minority population impact? explain. Vickie Mays: The UCLA CHPR goes out of its way to make sure

"The impact of the pandemic has been especially pronounced for young adults,” Hughes said. “A set of potentially traumatic experiences that occur when we are young may be the root cause of some of the most common, serious and costly health and social challenges facing our state.