COVID-19

The Importance of Health Care Phone Visits

Phone visits have quickly become a popular way to access care that is especially appealing to Californians with low incomes and Californians of color — populations whose access to care consistently lags. With Governor Gavin Newsom making health equity a priority, it would be a setback if the state took away this important care option for Medi-Cal enrollees.

Effects of Threats, Harassment Directed at Public Health Officials May Outlast Pandemic

Heather Tirado Gilligan

Stories That Caught Our Attention: The nation's beleaguered public health workforce is looking forward to help from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Skepticism, Slow Response Complicate Mysterious Misery of ‘Long COVID’

Heather Tirado Gilligan

Stories That Caught Our Attention: Up to 30% of people who were infected with COVID-19 have had to cope with persistent symptoms from so-called 'long Covid.'

Study: Higher Death Rates and Taxpayer Costs at Nursing Homes Owned by Private Equity

Heather Tirado Gilligan

Stories That Caught Our Attention: Researchers were stunned by the data they found.

California Health Providers’ Attitudes Regarding a COVID-19 Vaccine, March 2021

Goodwin Simon Strategic Research

In this statewide survey of doctors, nurses, and other health care providers, nearly all (99%) said they have received a COVID-19 vaccine or plan to get it when a vaccine becomes available to them.

Street Medicine Programs Improvise to Meet Shifting Challenges

Homelessness & Health Care

Using approaches tailored to local needs and resources, mobile teams provide humane care to unhoused people in cities and counties across California.

Homelessness and Health Care: Lessons and Policy Considerations from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Center for Health Care Strategies

Homelessness & Health Care

The COVID-19 pandemic has strained communities and health care systems across the country. Among the challenges: how to best meet the health care needs of people experiencing homelessness. This brief, part of a series by the Center for Health Care Strategies, synthesizes innovative approaches and key lessons for supporting the health care needs of Californians experiencing homelessness during COVID-19.

COVID-19 Highlighted the Poverty-Mental Health Link. Can California Experiments Break It?

Heather Tirado Gilligan

Behavioral Health, Health Equity

Stories That Caught Our Attention: The mental health effects of economic instability can be countered by supportive economic policies, according to new research.

Native American Communities in California Devastated by COVID-19

Heather Tirado Gilligan

Stories That Caught Our Attention: As Native American communities see their relatives die in disproportionate numbers, they worry that these losses are not being fully recognized by a state data system that is misclassifying Native Americans as Latinx or multiracial.

Talking It Over

Xenia Shih Bion

A new campaign led by Bay Area comedian and CNN host W. Kamau Bell is providing Black communities with credible information about the COVID-19 vaccines.

The Pandemic’s Financial Impact on California’s Community Health Centers: Largest Centers Suffer Significant Losses

Whether measured by revenue size, number of patients, or number of sites, the largest health centers bore the brunt of the financial losses experienced across California's health centers between April and December 2020.

Coping with COVID-19: How Young People Use Digital Media to Manage Their Mental Health

Behavioral Health

As the COVID-19 pandemic has worn on, teens and young adults report growing levels of depression, stress, and anxiety. CHCF partnered with Common Sense and Hopelab to better understand how young people have used social media and digital health tools to take care of their mental health during the pandemic.

Diane Guerrero Wants You to Know It’s Okay to Not Be Okay

Xenia Shih Bion

Behavioral Health, Health Equity

The noted actor is using her new podcast to ease the shame and stigma that can follow traumatic events and mental health issues.

COVID-19 Relief: The Down Payment America Needs

Sandra R. Hernández

Expanding Health Coverage, Health Equity

The American Rescue Plan Act is a bold and comprehensive federal response built on an accurate understanding of the roots of the pandemic crises.

Both Progress and Pain in Fight to Reduce Homelessness During Pandemic

Heather Tirado Gilligan

Homelessness & Health Care

Stories That Caught Our Attention: Lack of housing is "unignorable" and puts responsibility squarely into the hands of health care practitioners, physician experts say.