The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities awarded the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research a $2.5 million grant to study in which ways state policies help Latino and Asian immigrants in California integrate into the health care system or ways policies prevent access to health care and contribute to immigrants' persistent inequities in health.
The project will be led by Associate Center Director Steven P. Wallace. Other members of the research team are Center Director of Research Nadereh Pourat, Faculty Associate Michael Rodirugez, and Graduate Student Researcher Maria-Elena Young.
The grant will fund a survey that builds on the 2018-19 California Health Interview Survey, the nation's largest state health survey, about respondents' experiences of health care, social services, education, employment, and law enforcement. The study will include 2,000 Latino and Asian immigrants statewide, as well as in-depth qualitative interviews with immigrants in Fresno and Los Angeles County.
"California has many policies that help immigrants and their families become active and healthy members of our state. Given the increasingly restrictive nature of federal immigration policies, it's critical that we know how immigrants experience California's polices in their daily lives and the extent to which they impact access to health care and health itself," said Wallace. "Our goal is to better understand the mechanism that links policies to immigrant health, and identify ways that policies and education might contribute to healthier communities."
About the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) is one of the nation’s leading health policy research centers and the premier source of health policy information for California. UCLA CHPR improves the public’s health through high quality, objective, and evidence-based research and data that informs effective policymaking. UCLA CHPR is the home of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) and is part of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. For more information, visit healthpolicy.ucla.edu.