Center in the News

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.

According to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, 1 in 10 adults in Los Angeles County has type 2 diabetes, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states 11.3 percent of American adults are diabetic. There is a higher percentage of people who are overweight—with a body-mass index between 25 and 29.9—in Los Angeles (35.9 percent than nationally 35.2 percent). Nevertheless, obesity—when the BMI is 30 and higher—is less prevalent in LA County than America as a whole: 23.5 percent to 28.9 percent.

“Our findings show that more people are experiencing serious psychological distress, more people are in need of professional help and more people are reporting moderate or severe impairment in their work, social lives, relationships and daily activities,” Ponce said. Also quoted was Todd Hughes, director of the California Health Interview Survey, which conducted the research: “As the largest and most diverse state, California is often looked at as a model that strives toward health equity,” Hughes said. “However, the data show there is still a need to address some of the inequities in

“Our findings show that more people are experiencing serious psychological distress, more people are in need of professional help and more people are reporting moderate or severe impairment in their work, social lives, relationships and daily activities,” Ponce said.