PRC's Research

Current Research

California Family Health Study (CFHS)

CFHS is a multi-year project sponsored by the California Department of Social Services which examines the food intake and physical activity of mothers/female caregivers and children in California. The goal is to assess the food consumption, physical activity, and food security of low-income families in CA via phone surveys including 24-hour dietary recalls. Through CFHS, CDSS is interested in learning about California residents’ fruit and vegetable consumption, physical activity, and food security, and using this information to improve programs and services throughout the state. CFHS is conducted in both English and Spanish. MORE INFORMATION.

Healthy Side California Survey

Sponsored by the Nutrition and Physical Activity Branch of the California Department of Public Health, the Healthy Side California Survey is a multi-year project which conducts a series of online surveys of low-income Californians, in both English and Spanish. In earlier years of the study, the surveys were conducted by phone. The aim is to learn more about the reach and impact of California’s annual nutrition and physical activity media campaigns.

California Smile Survey

In order to assess the oral health of third grade children, PRC is partnering with the Office of Oral Health of the California Department of Public Health. PRC will send dental hygienists into schools across the state and conduct Smile Checks on thousands of children, which will help the Office of Oral Health make informed decisions as to how best to prevent oral disease in children, and establish a new baseline for the oral health indicators in the California Oral Health State Plan.

Past Research

Directory Accuracy Study

The Directory Accuracy Study was conducted by PRC on behalf of the Claifornia Depatment of Justice Office of the California Attorney General. The study was conducted to help improve Californians’ access to mental healthcare by assessing the accuracy of behavioral health providers' information displayed in the public online directories of several health insurance companies.

California Cannabis Consumption (C3)

Sponsored by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), PRC developed and administered a measure the quantity of cannabis consumption by Californians in order to understand exposure to residual pesticides. This research will assist DPR in protecting the health of cannabis users from pesticide residues. Interviews were conducted at cannabis dispensaries and events throughout the state.

California Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (CABRFSS)

The Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) was established in 1984 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is the nation’s premier system of health-related telephone surveys that collect state data about U.S. residents regarding their health-related risk behaviors. California has participated in the BRFSS since it’s inception, and PRC was the CABRFSS data collector from 2014-2021 on behalf of the California Department of Public Health. CABRFSS is a yearly assessment of a variety of public health topics, including: cancer prevalence and screening, tobacco use and control, gender specific health screenings (e.g., breast and prostate cancer), asthma diagnosis, alcohol consumption, and other current health concerns (e.g., flu and pneumococcal vaccinations). CABRFSS is conducted in both English and Spanish.

Del Puerto Health Care District Needs Assessment

The Del Puerto Health Care District serves specialized health care needs of residents of four rural zip codes in Stanislaus County. PRC worked with the District to develop, implement, and report on a community health assessment and needs survey by mail and online. Over 500 District residences were surveyed on a variety of health related topics, including: access to health care, chronic conditions, dental health, smoking behavior, and neighborhood safety.

Healthy Stores for Health Communities

Healthy Stores for Healthy Communities aims to improve the health of California residents though supporting healthy changes in store environments. All California counties sampled stores in their areas and assess the store environments for sale and advertising of various health related products. The Nutrition Education and Obesity Branch of the California Department of Public Health sponsored oversampling of stores in several counties and contracted PRC to provide sampling and assessment support to those counties. PRC called hundreds of stores to confirm their existence and addresses prior to sampling and conducted 60 store assessments.

Every Woman Counts

The Department of Health Care Services needed an assessment of their Every Woman Counts program participants. PRC conducted telephone survey assessments of close to 1,000 physicians in the program in order to evaluate the progress of providers who receive interventions, create interventions to improve provider service, and guide women to appropriate providers.

School Based Health Centers Assessment

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) sponsored the School Based Health Centers Assessment project with the goal to better understand how School Based Health Centers (SBHC) operate, how to extend the CDPH program support and services, and how to partner with SBHCs. In collaboration with the Institute for Social Research, PRC designed and collected data using online surveys and selected key informant interviews of health center administrators and CDPH program staff. PRC conducted analyses of the collected data and the National School Based Health Alliance census to meet the data needs of various State agencies and the Alliance.

School Health Profiles

School Health Profiles is a system of surveys assessing school health policies and practices coordinated by the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control and implemented in California by the Department of Education (CDE). The Nutrition Education and Obesity Branch of the California Department of Public Health contracted PRC to provide assessment support to CDE. School principals and lead health educators were recruited by email and phone calls and completed the surveys either by phone, mail, or online. PRC submitted cleaned datasets and surveys to CDE.

Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)

YRBS provides data on health-risk behaviors among 9th-12th grade students. Coordinated by the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control and implemented in California by the Department of Education. The Nutrition Education and Obesity Branch of the California Department of Public Health sponsored oversampling of schools in several counties and contracted PRC to provide sampling and assessment support for those schools. PRC staff traveled to 19 schools to administer surveys to selected classrooms and submitted cleaned and completed surveys to the California Department of Education.

Aspirin Prescribing and Use in the Medi-Cal Population

The California Department of Health Care Services and the UC Davis Institute for Population Health Improvement sponsored this quality improvement project with the goal of estimating the prevalence of aspirin use for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease and stroke among Fee-For-Service adult Medi-Cal members. PRC administered a brief telephone survey with a sample of 600 adult Medi-Cal members in both English and Spanish.