Ripples of Change: How CHIS Data Creates Waves of Impact

Since its launch, the California Health Interview Survey, or CHIS as many of you know it, has provided one-of-a-kind data about the health of California’s diverse population to inform policy and programs that address health disparities.

The largest state health survey in the nation, CHIS provides pivotal insights into a wide range of health matters, from use of and access to health care, to health conditions and behaviors, to a range of topics that influence health: public program participation, housing, income and employment, food insecurity, climate change, gun violence, adverse childhood experiences, and much more.

To remain an essential tool in a constantly evolving health landscape, we continue to expand and update our areas of inquiry. In the 2023–2024 CHIS, we added more than 50 questions on topics including gambling, housing discrimination, and adolescents’ sexual orientation. Among the findings: 

• 9.4% of Black or African American adults experienced housing discrimination, which was 4x higher than white adults (2.3%).
• About 25% of California adults said they gambled in the past year, and of those individuals, 6.7% reported they had symptoms of problem gambling.
• 67.8% of gay or lesbian adolescents reported serious psychological distress in the past year, compared with 23.2% of straight adolescents.

Producing insights like these, which didn’t exist before, has built CHIS into a highly trusted resource cited by policymakers, researchers, health departments, journalists, and advocates.

As you will see in this report, the ripples of CHIS extend beyond California, reaching corners of this country and world that many wouldn’t imagine a state survey could reach — from studies published in peer-reviewed journals across various fields and throughout the United States, to the more than 450 mentions in news outlets around the world, to organizations using CHIS as a model for data collection on underrepresented populations.

This year the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research celebrated its 30th anniversary by honoring the contributions of the past, spotlighting our work in the present, and reaffirming our commitment to building a healthier and sustainable future through data that we collect, produce, and share.

For all that we at UCLA CHPR and CHIS accomplished, none of it would have been possible without you — our staff, funders, collaborators, friends, and partners.

So as 2024 comes to a close, we also want to take this opportunity to say: “THANK YOU.”

Thank you for your trust, generosity, and support.