The AAPI Data Project at UC Riverside and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) released a comprehensive report today revealing economic hardships, negative health outcomes and a rise in hate incidents experienced by Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Using data from UCLA CHPR’s 2018–2021 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), as well as the 2019 and 2021 American Community Survey, the study found that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders experienced difficulties accessing health and mental health services, as well as affordable and quality housing, education, and food.
The impact was vast in health outcomes, with about 3 in 10 Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in California reported difficulties in accessing health services, and 1 in 4 experiencing difficulties in accessing mental health services. Cost was the most common reason for difficulty in accessing health services, with 7 in 10 experiencing this financial burden, however a lack of knowledge about available options was the top reason for difficulty in accessing mental health services.
The Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities have grappled with a rise in violence in recent years—from the anti-Asian hate incidents that occurred during the pandemic to the recent back-to-back mass shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay. The 2021 CHIS, which added questions on attitudes about gun violence, found that Asian Americans and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders reported the highest proportions of concern about gun violence: 66% of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders and 65% of Asian Americans said they were “very worried” or “somewhat…
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