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Our policy briefs fall into four priority categories:

• Cultural and Linguistic Competency
• Social and Environmental Determinants of Health Disparities
• Access to Health Care
• Data and Research

Please visit our Multicultural Health Library  for additional studies and reports addressing the health of communities of color.

Advocating for Cultural and Linguistic Competency

Opportunities to Advance Diversity in Our Workforce through the New Health Law     
(February 2011)
This bulletin details how the Affordable Care Act can increase workforce diversity and what benefits that would provide to communities of color.

How Medical Homes Can Advance Health Equity     
(November 2010, 23 Pages)
This report highlights the characteristics of medical homes that could reduce disparities, and better meet the needs of our diverse communities.

Building Quality and Equitable Health Care Systems     
(October 2010, 12 Pages)
This report from CPEHN’s latest conference, includes a summary of accomplishments on language access, cultural competence, and health disparities reduction in California and nationwide; a look at opportunities available through health care reform and health information technology; and questions and issues to consider as we move forward.

A Blueprint for Success: Bringing Language Access to Millions of Californians    
(January 2009, 12 Pages)
This brief documents CPEHN's advocacy efforts on SB 853. The first of its kind in the country, this law holds health plans accountable for the provision of language services - requiring health plans and health insurers to provide their enrollees with interpreter services, translated materials, and to collect race, ethnicity, and language data.

The Impact of Race/Ethnicity and Language on Access and Experience of Care Among California's Commercially Insured Adults 
(February 2007, 3 Pages)
Funded by the California Program on Access to Care, this study explores the role of race/ethnicity and language in access to, and experience of, care among adult Californians enrolled in the state's seven major health plans.

Taking Cultural Competency From Theory to Action
(October 2006, 28 Pages)
Supported by the Commonwealth Fund, this paper provides principles and recommendations for implementing cultural competency in the field. Based on interviews with leaders in the field of cultural competency, the authors discuss best practices and important lessons in the implementation of cultural competency initiatives.

Holding Health Plans Accountable: The Provision of Culturally and Linguistically Competent Services by Health Plans Participating in the Healthy Families Program
(March 2006, 12 Pages)
Our review of the state's current process of overseeing health plan compliance with the Healthy Families cultural and linguistic requirements finds that they need to do more to ensure compliance.

Limited English Proficient Enrollee Access to Health Plan Grievance Systems
(December 2004)
Health plans and the Department of Managed Health Care must do more to ensure LEP access to grievance procedures. CPEHN conducted an analysis of the reports health plans submitted to DMHC which found critical limitations and provides recommendations for improvement.

Download the Executive Summary  (10 pages) or Full Report (20 pages)

Diverse Patients, Disparate Experience: The Use of Standardized Patient Satisfaction Surveys in Assessing the Cultural Competence of Health Care Organizations
(March 2001, 72 Pages)
Funded by the California HealthCare Foundation, this project examined whether standardized surveys of consumers' experience and satisfaction with health care could provide useful information on certain dimensions of the cultural competency of health care organizations.

Addressing the Social and Environmental Determinants of Health Disparities

Investing in a Future for All Californians: A Primer on California Budget and Tax Policy
(October 2012, 8 pages)
This brief focuses on the causes of our state's fiscal crisis, highlights the devastating impact of cuts, and illustrates the dire need for new revenues.

Spotlight on Children's Health
(September 2012, 18 pages)
These county-specific fact sheets focus on the nine California counties with the highest populations of communities of color, and highlight how factors like poverty, school safety, and high school drop outs impact the health of children and young adults of color.

The Landscape of Opportunity: Cultivating Health Equity in California 
(June 2012, 64 pages)
This revised report highlights 13 key factors that lead to health disparities in California’s communities of color, with policy recommendations for creating a healthier state. It includes charts and maps all by race/ethnicity, and is accompanied by additional mapping resources on our website at www.cpehn.org/landscape.php.

Health Care Reform Invests in Prevention
(November 2010)
This bulletin highlights the provisions of the Affordable Care Act that support individual and community prevention.

Investing in a Future for all Californians: A Primer on California Budget and Tax Policy
(October 2010, 16 Pages)
This policy brief provides a general overview of factors fueling California's budget crisis and poses key questions to help you analyze new proposals.

The Inextricable Connection Between Food Insecurity & Diabetes
(May 2010, 4 pages)
This policy brief describes the interplay between food insecurity and the onset and management of diabetes, and underscore the need for a comprehensive framework to alleviate poverty and increase access to healthy foods.

 

Unlocking the Playground: Achieving Equity in Physical Activity Spaces
(September 2009, 16 pages)
A new report by CPEHN, presents case studies, expert opinions, and recommendations from our spring 2009 convenings on joint use.

 

The Unequal Landscape of Diabetes: Place-Based Solutions to End an Epidemic
(May 2008, 12 pages)
This policy brief provides statistics on the growing diabetes epidemic among communities of color and highlights policy recommendations and innovative solutions to improve our communities' nutritional and physical landscapes.

 

Out of Balance
(September 2005, 28 pages)
This report documents how money spent to advertise foods including soda, candy, snacks and fast foods, dwarfs the dollars spent to promote the California and Federal "5 A Day" programs to encourage eating vegetables and fruits. Written by Consumers Union, and CPEHN, this report concludes that this imbalance is one of the key factors contributing to unhealthful dietary trends in the United States that have led to the obesity crisis.

Download the Full Report in English or Full Report in Spanish (28 pages).

Multicultural Principles for a Healthy California: A Systematic Approach to Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
(2004)
In 2004, CPEHN held convenings in Los Angeles and Oakland to discuss strategies for eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities. At the meetings, participants suggested that CPEHN develop a set of principles to guide efforts to address the systemic injustices and inequities that impact the health communities of color. This document stems from those discussions.

Policy Implications of Racial and Ethnic Differences in Managed Care vs. Fee-for-Service Utilization Disparities in California
(October 2004)
Funded by the California Program on Access to Care, this study examined the differences in utilization of services, cancer screenings, and chronic disease management among California's racial and ethnic groups in managed care compared with fee-for-service using 2001 CHIS data.

Download the Executive Summary  (4 pages) or Full Report (31 pages)

Addressing the Obesity Epidemic - Public Policies for Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Environments
(August 2003, 14 Pages)
This Issue Brief discusses social and environmental contributors to the obesity epidemic from the perspective of communities of color, proposes solutions directed at community-level environmental change, and stresses that public policy responses are requisite for addressing this epidemic.

Improving Access to Health Care

Equity in the Digital Age: How Health Information Technology Can Reduce Disparities
(February 2013)
This report, developed with the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, Consumers Union, and the National Council of La Raza, examines developments in health information technology and offers policy recommendations for how advancements can best improve health in all communities.

Achieving Equity by Building a Bridge from Eligible to Enrolled
(January 2013)
This fact sheet, developed in partnership with UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, provides an update to the 2012 report and examines how language barriers might impact enrollment in Covered California (the Health Benefit Exchange).

Medi-Cal Expansion: What's at Stake for Communities of Color
(January 2013)
This fact sheet includes data to illustrate the need to fully expand Medi-Cal with culturally and linguistically appropriate outreach efforts to enroll the newly eligible, two-thirds (67%) of whom are from communities of color and more than one-third (35%) of whom speak English less than very well.

Ensuring Access: Engaging Communities of Color in ACA
(August 2012)
Funded by the California Program on Access to Care and developed in conjunction with the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, through in-language focus groups, this brief identifies ways to outreach to and enroll communities of color in coverage under the ACA.

Achieving Equity by Building a Bridge from Eligible to Enrolled
(February 2012)
This brief, developed in partnership with UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, highlights findings from the California Simulation of Insurance Markets (CalSIM) model estimating the effects of specific provisions of the ACA on family and employer decisions about insurance coverage in California, with a focus on communities of color and adults with limited English proficiency.

How Health Information Technology Can Advance Health Equity
(September 2010)
This bulletin examines opportunities for patient and consumer advocates to advance health care quality and health equity through the adoption of electronic health records and other technologies.

Advancing Patient-Centeredness and Equity in Health Reform
(July 2010)
This bulletin highlights how the Affordable Care Act will accelerate quality improvement and reduce disparities.

National Health Reform Proposals Hold Promise for California's Communities of Color
(November 2009, 2 Pages)
Using data from the California Health Interview Survey, this factsheet examines how national reform efforts impact California's diverse communities.

Health Care Reform Principles: A Multicultural Approach
(1992, 3 Pages)
These guiding principles represent the core areas of agreement among CPEHN's multicultural partners and the primary values of our organizations. These principles are used to evaluate various health care reform proposals to ensure that the needs of communities of color are met.

Descargue Los Fundamentos Sobre la Reforma del Cuidado Médico En Español

Promoting Data and Research

Using Race, Ethnicity, and Language Data to Eliminate Health Disparities
(June 2005, 16 Pages)
The health system is not doing enough to collect, standardize, and utilize race, ethnicity, and language data to improve our health. Download our report and help make significant advancements in the use of this data to eliminate health disparities.

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