Asian American Research Journal

A comparison of the San Francisco Chinese Hospital’s Community Health NeedsAssessment (CHNA) from the year 2019 to 2022 reveals striking transformations in top-reportedcommunity health concerns in San Francisco Chinatown during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Thesurvey reports skyrocketing mentions of mental health, community safety, and linguisticallyappropriate health information. These concerns emerged as pressing unmet needs during thepandemic. The spread of the COVID-19 virus alone is not enough to explain these shifts, rather,the sudden change in community health needs highlights the interrelationship between the healthof the individual and their environment. Major changes in social stigma, politics, andcommunication had a direct impact on health during the pandemic. This literature reviewsynthesizes recent literature to uncover how the influence of historical, social, and global factorsduring COVID-19 catalyzed these shifts in health priorities among a vulnerable population. Iargue that historical scapegoating, exclusionary policies, anti-Asian ethnic violence, and novelhealth communication framed and contributed to the greater concerns in safety, mental health,and in-language education, reiterating the embeddedness of health in the social sphere.