Community-Engaged Respondent-Driven Sampling: The California Pacific Islander Well-Being and COVID-19 Economic Survey, 2024.

Abstract

<b>Objectives.</b> To describe how community engagement combined with respondent-driven sampling (RDS) enabled timely documentation of the mental health and socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 on California's Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) adult population. <b>Methods.</b> The California Pacific Islander Well-Being and COVID-19 Economic Survey (CAPIWAVES) was a collaboration between NHPI community-based organizations and academic researchers who sampled 929 NHPI adults in California from January to May 2024. The initial respondents were composed of a convenience sample of 58 CHamoru, Fijian, Marshallese, Native Hawaiian, Sāmoan, and Tongan respondents in Northern, Central, and Southern California, who referred up to 4 others. <b>Results.</b> Compared with the American Community Survey, CAPIWAVES RDS estimates differed. We reported initial data findings to NHPI community members in June 2024 in an online webinar. In April 2025, we released a report with the analyzed CAPIWAVES data, with community-generated recommendations for policy, programming, and research. <b>Conclusions.</b> Although data were not population-representative, community-engaged RDS was an efficient method for collecting and disseminating needed data for minoritized populations. (<i>Am J Public Health</i>. Published online ahead of print July 16, 2026:e1-e12. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2026.308517).