A follow-up survey to the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), which is conducted in seven languages, authors of the study focused on 1,000 Asian and 1,000 Latino immigrants statewide to understand their experiences dealing with health care, social services, employment, education, and law enforcement and how those experiences impacted their health and access to health care.
An additional 60 individual interviews were conducted with Chinese and Mexican immigrants in Los Angeles and Fresno counties to compare experiences in a county where policies were more "inclusive" toward immigrants (for example, Los Angeles County offers health care to residents regardless of citizenship status) compared to a county whose policies were likely to exclude immigrants. Data collection was completed in 2020.
The study builds on knowledge regarding the impact of contextual and structural factors on both groups and how policy, legal status, and race/ethnicity may have impacts across the two groups on their access to health care.
The project team includes UCLA CHPR Associate Director Nadereh Pourat, PhD; Senior Research Scientist Kathryn Kietzman, PhD; and Faculty Associates Maria-Elena Young, PhD, Michael Rodríguez, MD, and May Sudhinaraset, PhD. The RIGHTS Study was previous led by UCLA Center for Health Policy Research Associate Director Steven P. Wallace, PhD, who served as principal investigator of the project until his passing in 2021.
The RIGHTS Study is advised by a Community Advisory Board (CAB), made up of representatives from nonprofits that serve immigrant communities, such as the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO), California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC), Consulado de Mexico/Ventanillas de salud Program, Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (LCHC), and other organizations, as well as an Academic Advisory Committee that includes academic and technical advisers.
The RIGHTS Study is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD).
