Sunday, March 30, 2025
3/30/2025
Advancing Health Literacy to Enhance Equitable Community Responses to COVID-19 - The City of Newark proposed health literacy program will leverage the strengths of the Newark Department of Health and Community Wellness (DHCW), the City’s FQHC, the Mary Eliza Mahoney Health Center (MEMHC), and community-based organizations (CBOs) to improve responses to COVID-19 public health strategies and related health outcomes among Newark’s racial ethnic minorities. The objectives of the program are to (1) increase the capacity of healthcare literacy delivery and community based organizations to provide culturally and linguistically tailored and relevant COVID-19 public health education and training for their staff and community members; (2) increase community members’ understanding of COVID-19 public health measures which should lead to declines in vaccine hesitancy, increases in vaccination rates, and improved use of COVID-19 testing. To achieve these goals we propose to hire three (3) health educators to train staff and community members. Two in-kind health educators will also be provided for a total of five (5) health educators working on the grant. Twenty-one (21) Community Health Workers (CHWs) will be assigned to the program to include one (1) CHW supervisor, five (5) CHWs in DHCW and fifteen (15) CHWs hired by the CBOs. DHCW will partner with Partners in Health (PIH) to develop and deliver a robust CHW training and mentorship program. The City will also partner with Partners In Health (PIH) to develop a strategic communications plan to promote behavioral change with respect to COVID-19 and other health-related issues. The plan will leverage distribution avenues through mass media as well as trusted CBOs and other community messengers. Within the Mary Eliza Mahoney Health Center (MEMHC) the Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system will be optimized to provide a user-centered platform to increase ease of access to information on COVID-19 and other health issues. MEMHC will leverage other grant programs to educate patients on improved self-management skills and reinforce personal responsibility in combating COVID-19 and other public health challenges including diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and chronic lung diseases, comorbidities which more likely lead to severe COVID-19 illness. The Minority Serving Institution that will partner for program evaluation is Rutgers University-Newark School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA). The evaluation team includes the school’s dean and research faculty and graduate students and will use a mixed-methods, utilization-focused approach to assess factors influencing health literacy, track statistics and survey adherence to public health recommendations.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).