Best of CASE District VII Award
 

Institution: University of California, Los Angeles

Title of entry: A COVID Crisis Comes to Light

About this entry: "Although many pandemic-related news stories have noted that the coronavirus exposed and exacerbated inequalities in the United States, there was little-to-no coverage about its effects on the Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (NHPI) community, who have typically been lumped in with Asian Americans. UCLA Magazine saw this as an opportunity to spotlight a critical issue and explain how the pandemic was affecting the historically marginalized population by telling the story of what a dedicated team of UCLA researchers are doing to help members of this community get access to resources.

Researchers at UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research created the NHPI Data Policy Lab to disaggregate overgeneralized data and study the impact of COVID-19 specifically on the NHPI population. The lab’s first step was determining the scope of the problem, which meant finding out infection and death rates. Prior to the launch of the lab’s NHPI-specific COVID-19 dashboard, attempts to get government assistance were regularly stymied, in part because datasets that included NHPIs in the Asians category showed that Black Americans, Native Americans and Alaska Natives, and Latinos were in more jeopardy.

Once separated, California data showed that the people most devastated by COVID-19 are NHPIs. They are three times more likely to contract the disease compared to whites and nearly twice as likely to die.

The article raised awareness of this issue, showcased the work of our faculty, and provided an easily understandable summary of their work that UCLA’s government relations team could share with policymakers to drive action."