Report Publish Date: March 22, 2023
This report lays out the need for better data about Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities and makes recommendations for collecting, analyzing, using, and making available high-quality data on and for these populations.
“NHPI data needs are present throughout the data life cycle,” the authors write, from collection to analysis to use and access. They recommend collaboration with Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities at all stages.
There is a dire need for better quality data about Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander experiences related to civic engagement, criminal justice, climate justice, community capacity, economic justice and housing, education, health, immigration, and women’s rights, the authors say. They recommend prioritizing these areas in future data projects.
Insufficient data about Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders and lack of cultural competency in data collection, analysis, use, and access has meant that many of the inequities they experience are not well quantified with data, or at all, and are “rendered ... invisible,” the authors write. This data gap became especially clear during the COVID-19 pandemic. They authors wanted to work with Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander leaders to describe the gaps in data and in methodology and to make recommendations for collecting, analyzing, using, and making data available for these communities.
The authors worked with more than 135 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander leaders in 12 states and Washington, D.C., representing nine subgroups. The leaders participated in interviews and focus groups, helping to identify priority areas of need and populations that needed specific consideration. After the researchers drafted their policy recommendations, they asked participants for feedback.
“This Data Policy Platform proposes a framework to be used by change agents, policymakers, community activists, and data-driven institutions to address NHPI communities’ data needs.”
—Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Data Policy Lab at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
“From start to finish, ample opportunities exist for data systems actors to work closely in partnership with NHPI communities to improve their internal systems,” the authors write. “More importantly, this community-informed framework establishes lasting relationships that will help guide work through a rapidly changing digital landscape.”
The Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) Data Policy Platform is a resource for change agents, policymakers, community activists, and data-driven institutions seeking to improve their data processes to better address NHPI needs and develop more fruitful relationships with NHPI communities. This Platform details the harm created by data systems that inadequately reflect NHPI communities’ challenges and strengths while proposing a framework and specific recommendations for improving data systems for NHPIs. This Platform reflects input and feedback provided by over 135 NHPI community leaders across multiple states.
NHPI leaders expressed the need to develop processes that encourage and incentivize building community capacity and applying community-centered principles across all four pillars. Prominent recommendations for these two cross-cutting recommendation categories include lasting, sustainable investment in NHPI communities to strengthen data literacy, analytical expertise, and community-friendly data reporting.
Specific recommendations are provided for government agencies, policymakers, and data-driven institutions to help guide implementation of the proposed framework and broader recommendations. Common themes across these recommendations include establishing values-driven relationships and community partnerships, increasing investment in NHPI communities’ capacity to work with data, and implementing data standardization and linkage protocols to maximize the value of data.
University of California, Los Angeles, March 22, 2023
This study and report was conducted and created by:
