Center in the News

“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.

Researchers from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health have been awarded a federal grant for a multi-year study focused on the sexual and reproductive health of Asian immigrant women in the United States, it was announced Monday.

Proposition 31 on the Nov. 8 ballot would uphold legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020 that would ban the retail sale of nearly all flavored tobacco products in California. 2019 California Health Interview Survey data show that 57 percent of adult tobacco users used flavored tobacco products, and 79 percent of adults who vape used flavored varieties.

“The level of unmet need is pretty staggering,” Kathryn G. Kietzman, the lead study author, said in an interview. “There’s a big void in what is available to folks.”

“UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research shows 94% of Californians have health insurance and 6% are uninsured. Of the uninsured, 54% are eligible for subsidized health insurance but have waived coverage.”

Data disaggregation is important to truly understand the needs of the many communities under the umbrella term: AAPI, said Riti Shimkhada, a senior research scientist at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. “You can take that information and start to drive community action or interventions to address those very specific needs,” she said.

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.”

Results from a recent UCLA survey confirm a rise in COVID-related hate crimes towards Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) in California. Since the California Health Interview Survey from 2020, the percentage of hate crimes against AANHPI individuals has since doubled, said UCLA Center for Health Policy Research Director Dr. Ninez A. Ponce.

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.

“Hate incidents can cause long-term psychological and physical trauma,” Dr. Ponce said to UCLA. “So it’s critical that we provide timely data on often overlooked racial and ethnic groups so that decision-makers can take steps to put an end to hate incidents in California.”