CARE's & COMPASS' Statement on President Biden's Executive Order on Racial Equity

by Dr. Van Ta Park, Principal Investigator

President Biden issued an Executive Order on January 26, 2021 that condemns and denounces racism, xenophobia, and intolerance against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). The “inflammatory and xenophobic rhetoric” made during the coronavirus pandemic has brought to the forefront the significant health disparities, socio-economic inequalities, and discrimination/xenophobia that exist, both prior to and due to COVID-19 for AAPI.

A team of researchers and community partners are currently investigating this important issue among AAPI. Specifically, our national survey study, COVID-19 Effects on the Mental and Physical Health of AAPI Survey Study (COMPASS), will examine the prevalence and impact of COVID-19 related discrimination on AAPIs’ health, lifestyle behavior, healthcare access, caregiving, employment and income. About 3,500 AAPI nationwide have completed this survey since the survey’s launch in mid-October 2020, and we look forward to sharing the results of COMPASS with policymakers, advocates, researchers, and other stakeholders, so their voices can be heard.

We would also like to highlight another important project that aims to meaningfully include AAPI in health-related research called, Collaborative Approach for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Research and Education (CARE). CARE is a California research recruitment registry that aims to recruit 10,000 diverse AAPI in multiple languages. Prior research has shown that between 1992 and 2018, the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded research focusing on AAPI composed only 0.17% of the total NIH budget. CARE aims to help address this disparity by meaningfully including AAPI in research. In collaboration with 25+ academic and community partners, CARE provides culturally and linguistically appropriate outreach to educate, engage, and increase awareness about what research is and why it is important to participate in research as it affects our health across the lifespan. CARE utilizes community-based participatory research methods and cultural humility in all our outreach and research activities.

On behalf of CARE and COMPASS, we hope that our efforts will help to inform programs, strategies, and research that will not only reduce racism, discrimination, and xenophobia among AAPI, but health inequities broadly.

For more information about CARE, please visit https://careregistry.ucsf.edu/.
For more information about COMPASS, please visit, https://compass.ucsf.edu/.