California Pacific Islander Socioeconomic Assessment (CAPISEA)
Brittany Morey
UC Irvine, Department of Health, Society, & Behavior
Sora Tanjasiri
UC Irvine, Department of Health, Society, & Behavior
Ninez Ponce
UCLA, Fielding School of Public Health
The purpose of this project is to evaluate the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on California’s Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) population and to understand their access to resources meant to alleviate these impacts. NHPIs in California were the hardest hit by the pandemic of all other race and ethnic groups in the state, including American Indian/Alaska Natives, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic, and White populations. Unfortunately, the heavy toll of the pandemic on NHPI communities likely resulted in high levels of job loss, income loss, housing instability, and food insecurity. However, studies of the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 in the state have not had large enough samples of NHPI individuals to document the true social and economic toll on NHPI Californians. Furthermore, there is a need to evaluate whether and how NHPI communities knew about, applied for, and utilized government and public funds to support their families.
Our project addresses some of these gaps in knowledge by conducting surveys of 800 NHPI Californians and reporting back the results to NHPI communities. The survey assesses COVID-19 socioeconomic impacts and access to socioeconomic resources. Findings will be interpreted with community feedback and presented as an online report and presentation to NHPI community leaders and members. The results of this project will help to determine the extent of the toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on NHPI socioeconomic well-being and to inform best practices for providing socioeconomic resources to NHPI Californians in the future.
Collaborators:
- UCLA Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Data Policy Lab
Brittany Morey has received CPR³ funding for another project focused on mental health outcomes among NHPI communities, entitled California Pacific Islander Well-Being Survey (CAPIWEBS). Click here to learn more about CAPIWEBS.