Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) are among the fastest-growing racial groups in California and nationwide. In response to a wave of attacks on AANHPIs, California passed the API Equity Budget in 2021 that included a three-year investment of over $166 million to better serve communities experiencing hate and barriers to various government services.
Today, AAPI Data, in partnership with the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, released a groundbreaking study that highlights disparities in the access and utilization of health, mental health, and social services by Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities.
In the report, the team found that the shortage of physicians in the Inland Empire shows up in the California Health Interview Survey in the lower percentage of people who were able to get timely medical appointments. Asians have been disproportionately impacted by the shortage, compared to the same measures at the statewide level.
Some of the report’s key findings include:
- Asians, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders were slightly less likely to be enrolled in public programs such as CalFresh, Medicare and Medi-Cal compared to other racial and ethnic groups. Enrollment among detailed Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander groups showed wider variation, including much larger gaps among groups such as Indians, Japanese and Taiwanese.
- Asians, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders were less likely than whites to have a usual source of care, have visited a doctor in the last 12 months, and be able to schedule a doctor’s appointment in a timely manner.
- While Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities reported the lowest rates of suicide ideation overall, disaggregated data reveal Japanese, Korean, and U.S.-born Asians are more likely to have said they had ever thought of committing suicide
Read more at News.UCR.edu.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.