Advancing Health Literacy to Enhance Equitable Community Response to COVID-19 in Orleans Parish, LA. - The funding for the proposed project will support racial and ethnic communities (i.e. Black, Hispanic and Vietnamese) and other vulnerable populations in New Orleans, LA (Orleans Parish) an urban setting, as defined by the US Census Bureau (US Census, 2021). Funding from this grant will be used to support evidence-based community outreach strategies to enhance availability, accessibility and enrollment of COVID-19 vaccinations. The COVID-19 Pandemic significantly impacted racial and ethnic minority communities in Orleans Parish. The Black population accounts for 59.5% of the population in Orleans Parish, yet, experienced 73% of COVID-19 deaths. Nearly 3% of the Orleans Parish population is Asian and 5.5% is Hispanic. The lack of COVID-19 vaccine confidence among racial and ethnic minorities in Orleans Parish has led to only 43.9% of the Black population being fully or partially vaccinated. Based on a COVID-19 vaccine survey conducted by the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI) to assess the state population’s willingness to get the vaccine, over 50% of the non-Hispanic Black population, located in Region 1 of the state (including Orleans Parish) indicated that they were either “unsure” or “definitely not”/”probably not” going to get the vaccine. The factors influencing the survey participant’s vaccine decision were affordability, accessibility, accurate and quality public health information, effectiveness of the vaccine, protecting their family, and experiences of other people. The New Orleans Health Department (NOHD) in partnership with Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA), Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities (a minority serving institution), Resilience Force, Louisiana State University (LSU), Health Sciences Center New Orleans, 504HealthNet, Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF), Doc Griggs Enterprises, and the Louisiana Community Health Outreach Network (LACHON) will work together to develop, plan and implement equitable health literacy strategies tailored to educate and support racial and ethnic communities in Orleans Parish. Through the recruitment training, and placement of Community Health Workers within disparately impacted COVID-19 communities and community-based health centers, partners will assure a community-engaged approach. Utilizing a Train-the-Trainer Model XULA will train CHWs, health professionals, volunteers, community-based health centers, and partner organizations on the National Cultural and Linguistic Standards (NCLAS) assuring responsiveness to the target populations in Orleans Parish to improve personal and organizational health literacy. XULA will also provide ongoing quality improvement and evaluation of all project activities. Funding will also be used to develop and disseminate health literate media messaging and supporting related outreach activities sponsored by Community-Based Organizations that will increase availability and accessibility of the COVID-19 vaccine.
