UCLA Center for Health Policy Research

UCLA CENTER FOR H E A LT H P O L I C Y R E S E A R C H

OUR RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS HAVE DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTED TO A BROAD RANGE OF HISTORIC PUBLIC HEALTH INITIATIVES.

W H O W E AR E The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research improves wellbeing through high-quality, objective, and evidence-based research and data.

The Center is one of the nation’s leading think tanks. Our experts, research, and data have been at the center of some of the most pivotal health care debates of the past two decades. Most recently our research and data helped propel passage of health care reform and inform the implementation process of the Affordable Care Act. We are also widely known for our work on obesity, diabetes, asthma, elder health, mental health, and the health of minority groups including lesbians, gays and bisexuals.

W H AT W E D O We use hard science and statistics to encourage those in power to take action to improve the lives of all community members.

We conduct surveys, policy analysis, policy-relevant research, trainings, public service, community partnerships, media relations, and education to foster equitable, impactful and, cost-effective laws, policies, and programs. We also strive to democratize data by training thousands of activists and community organizations on how to use health data to credibly advocate for grass-rootsdriven policy change.

H OW W E D O IT We provide policymakers and the public with comprehensive health data — essential to understanding the problems we face and making the case for change.

Our California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) provides policymakers and the public with comprehensive health statistics. It is the nation’s largest state health survey and a cornerstone achievement in health policy. CHIS interviews up to 50,000 Californians on a regular basis and is well known as a source of data on many under-studied minority groups. We disseminate our data in user-friendly formats including publications and seminars, and our innovative Web tools, including AskCHIS and AskCHIS NE, have been used more than one million times.

O U R I MPAC T We put evidence-based health research and data into the hands of citizens in ways they can understand and act upon.

The Center’s work has impacted the food you eat, the air you breathe and the health of your families.

It has led to a moratorium on fast food restaurants in South Los Angeles, to soda machines being removed from schools and from city halls, and to a heightened understanding of the effect that highways have on our ability to breathe.

New laws have been built on the bedrock of our data, including legislation to help more poor families qualify for food stamps, to help us understand and alleviate the poverty that affects our senior citizens, to help veterans access health insurance, to increase the minimum wage, as well as efforts in support of marriage equality. Our work has been used as evidence in amicus briefs presented to the U.S. Supreme Court, and has helped state and national policymakers plan for major changes, including the implementation of health care reform.

Learn more at: healthpolicy.ucla.edu

healthpolicy.ucla.edu