2005 Campus-Community Partnerships

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Health Care Employment Patterns in Los Angeles

Abstract:

Los Angeles ' health care crisis continues to worsen with no relief in sight. Rising costs, growing demand, and dwindling health care dollars are fueling both public and private industry trends that further limit access to health care. Through advocacy efforts and policy campaigns, SCOPE, along with other community-based organizations, advocates, and unions, has been attempting to refocus the local health policy debate.

CIPHER / SCOPE's project "Health Care Employment Patterns in Los Angeles" is a joint community / academic research project designed to facilitate grassroots community participation in defining the health policy debate by analyzing geographic and socio-economic factors associated with changes in health care employment over the past 10 years in Los Angeles County and incorporating key findings into training workshops with community resident leaders.

The goals of the project are:

1. To link academic-quality research with on-the-ground organizing and campaign efforts to address disparities in health care access and employment
2. To develop popular education tools and trainings based on key findings to increase participation in local health policy debates and campaigns by residents from Los Angeles' low-income communities.