189361 Using CHIS data to Measure and Understand Racial and Ethnic Disparities

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: 12:30 PM

Salma N. Shariff-Marco, PhD, MPH , Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, Applied Research Program, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD
Nancy Breen, PhD , Applied Research Program, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD
Deirdre Browner, MPH , Public Health Services, Community Epidemiology Branch, County of San Diego, Health and Human Services Agency, San Diego, CA
E. Richard Brown, PhD , UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
The California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) is the nation's largest statewide survey on health issues. CHIS is used to understand and measure health needs of California's population — characterized by ethnic, geographic, and social class diversity. Researchers, public health departments, non profit organizations and advocacy groups rely on sound analyses to inform public policy. This session will provide examples of currently available data that can accurately assess and address ethnic/racial disparities, cultural sensitivity, health care delivery, and gender based research and policy. Deirdre Browner, MPH, will provide analysis on racial/ethnic group differences in cancer screening rates among populations of color in San Diego County. Nancy Breen, PHD, will provide an analysis of recent mammography estimates among women 40 and older in California and explore reasons why the state's rates differ from the national estimates on mammography use. Salma Shariff-Marco, PhD, will discuss the National Cancer Institute's collaboration with the California Health Interview Survey to develop a psychometrically validated and short instrument for telephone administration to gather self-reported data on discrimination and an analysis of discrimination's potential impact on health behaviors and outcomes. E. Richard Brown, PhD, will discuss findings of a study designed to better understand the effects of the California Health Interview Survey data dissemination, as well as an exploration of the CHIS dissemination or strategy's impact on state and national stakeholders. Participants will learn how CHIS data can be a useful tool not only for state and local counties but throughout the nation. The session will also discuss how data is used for research, evaluation and needs assessments.

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn how population-based survey data can be used to measure and analyze health disparities or discrimination. 2. Demonstrate the value of state and local survey data to examine national trends and inform national health policy, delivery, and practice. 3. Identify data sources to be used for evaluation projects, needs assessments, and as a research tool on the state and local level. 4. Describe how CHIS data can be used to understand issues in women’s health and gender based policy making.

Keywords: Health Disparities, Data Collection

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: E. Richard Brown, PhD, is the founder and director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and is a professor at the UCLA School of Public Health. He received his PhD in sociology of education from the University of California, Berkeley. Brown has studied and written extensively about a broad range of issues and policies that affect the access of disadvantaged populations to health care. His recent research focuses on health insurance coverage, the lack of coverage, and the effects of public policies, managed care, and market conditions on access to health services, particularly for disadvantaged populations, ethnic minorities, and immigrants. Brown and the Center's studies of health insurance coverage, uninsurance, and eligibility for public programs have been used by California's governors, legislators, and advocates in crafting health insurance legislation and programs. Brown is the principal investigator for the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), one of the nation's largest ongoing health surveys. CHIS uniquely provides statewide and local-level estimates for California's diverse population and covers a broad range of health issues, including health status and conditions and access to health care. Brown also has been extensively involved in the analysis and development of public policies, with particular emphasis on health care reform. He served as a full-time senior consultant to the President's Task Force on National Health Care Reform, for which he co-chaired the work group on coverage for low-income families and individuals. He has served as health policy adviser to two members of the United States Senate, where he was a Senate Fellow and developed major health care reform legislative proposals. He was health policy adviser to several candidates for President. Brown also has developed legislation for the California Legislature and advised members on a variety of health policy legislative issues. He has presented invited testimony to numerous committees in both houses of the U.S. Congress and in the California Legislature and has provided consultation to many private, state, federal, and international agencies. He also has served on several National Academy of Science study committees. He is a past president of the American Public Health Association.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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