Center in the News List
Dr. Imelda Padilla with the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research says social media impacts young LGBTQ+ people, making them more vulnerable to risk factors of suicide ideation.
The first step is the definition. The next step is utilization," said D. Imelda Padilla-Frausto, PhD, MPH, a research scientist at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, who helped craft the definition. "Research and evidence-based practices, or EBP, are primarily developed for English-speaking children and don't capture children speaking other languages and other cultures," explains Padilla-Frausto. "If that's how EBP are decided, are we capturing the needs of other groups?
"It's a very clear, direct line," said Imelda Padilla-Frausto, a research scientist at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. We were actually seeing, in real time, people losing their jobs or their incomes or having their lives disrupted in other significant ways, and seeing how all of that contributed to their stressors and resulting poor mental health.
Mental health recovery from the pandemic begins when equitable policies are made to address the social and economic crises of the pandemic," Padilla-Frausto said, adding that the pandemic's effects on mental health and on people's social lives and personal relationships will be felt for years to come.
“In order to reduce the additional risk of psychological distress and severe impairment related to COVID-related economic hardships, policymakers need to give all Californians access to the financial and social resources that will help bridge the gap in economic insecurity,” said Imelda Padilla-Frausto, a scientist at the research center. “Recovery from the pandemic begins with addressing many longstanding inequities across the state.”
In order to reduce the additional risk of psychological distress and severe impairment related to COVID-related economic hardships, policymakers need to give all Californians access to the financial and social resources that will help bridge the gap in economic insecurity,” said Imelda Padilla-Frausto, a scientist at the research center. “Recovery from the pandemic begins with addressing many longstanding inequities across the state."
“In order to reduce the additional risk of psychological distress and severe impairment related to COVID-related economic hardships, policymakers need to give all Californians access to the financial and social resources that will help bridge the gap in economic insecurity,” said Imelda Padilla-Frausto, a scientist at the research center. “Recovery from the pandemic begins with addressing many longstanding inequities across the state.”
The intersection of social determinants of poor mental health existed even before the pandemic and especially in communities of color,” Padilla-Frausto said. “So we do see that compounding effect, especially for students of color.”
The COVID-19 pandemic surfaced a youth mental health crisis that was surging throughout California. In Sacramento County, the Department of Public Health says it worked with almost 12,000 kids with mental health-related concerns between 2021 and 2022 ... Dr. Imelda Padilla-Frausto, a research scientist at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, says there’s a need for equitable — not equal — distribution of mental health resources to properly aid students of color. Her vision for equity is providing more support to schools with marginalized students, instead of the same level of support.
If we can identify all the impediments to good care, can’t we find the will to remove them and build a better system?
“I think we can,” said UCLA health policy research scientist Imelda Padilla-Frausto, a member of the L.A. County Mental Health Commission, who is big on homelessness prevention and early mental health intervention.
The county is housing thousands of people each year but the lifeboat is still taking on water. Padilla-Frausto calls for a greater “upstream approach” that targets social and economic needs early on, so that “we are not left bailing out a sinking boat.” She said