4298.0: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 4:30 PM

Abstract #32614

Science and Politics in Meeting Policy Needs for Population Health Assessment in the Most Diverse State

E. Richard Brown, PhD, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, 10911 Weyburn Avenue, Suite 300, Los Angeles, CA 90024, (310) 794-0812, erbrown@ucla.edu

CHIS is a large, new population-based survey designed to provide policy makers, public health researchers, policy analysts, and advocates with information required to assess health needs and develop public policies to improve health insurance coverage, access to health services, and population health for California’s diverse population. It will permit identification of health disparities by ethnicity, race, immigration status, socioeconomic status, urban-rural residence, and specific locale. CHIS is a collaborative project of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, plus the California Department of Health Services and the Public Health Institute. The development and implementation of CHIS reflected a balancing of scientific standards and political considerations. Many constituencies were involved in CHIS’s design, development and operation through an Advisory Board that consists of senior officials from a variety of government agencies, health care and advocacy organizations, and six Technical Advisory Committees that includes a diverse group of more than 150 experts from government agencies, educational and research institutions, and advocacy organizations. This open and inclusive process has benefited CHIS both scientifically and politically, although it has required the commitment of considerable time and resources.

Learning Objectives: The California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) is a large population-based assessment of health and health care access designed to provide estimates at the local level and for California's ethnically diverse population. This session will provide information on the use of CHIS data to measure health disparities based on race/ethnicity, income, age, gender and sexual orientation, immigration status and citizenship, and geography, including urban-rural place of residence. Presenters will describe scientific and political factors involved in the development of CHIS; the design of the 55,000 household CHIS sample; methods of assuring quality of health, health insurance, access, and other measures; methods of multicultural and linguistic adaptation of survey measures; confidentiality protection policies; and the dissemination of data and results to diverse users.

Keywords: Population, Politics

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

The 129th Annual Meeting of APHA