This project?s urban focus area is Frederick, Maryland, the state?s second largest city and sixth highest number of coronavirus cases by county/jurisdiction. In Frederick, foreign-born residents are 20.4% of the population, and over 30% of residents are non-white. Nearly 15% of Frederick?s population reported speaking languages other than English at home. The county?s COVID-19 positivity rate is currently 6.22% (after reaching a high of 27.44% in April of 2020), indicating substantial undiagnosed COVID cases in the community. Prevalence in the 4 ZIP codes within the city limits is 9.46%. Frederick residents? above average literacy skills have not been protective, justifying the focus on health literacy, cultural and linguistic barriers. Our proposed project has 2 goals aligned with personal and organizational health literacy strategies and Healthy People 2030 objectives. Goal 1 is to increase City of Frederick residents with social vulnerabilities? access to and understanding of culturally and linguistically appropriate COVID-19 testing and vaccine information and services. Goal 2 is to increase the capacity of Frederick?s providers, including community health workers (CHWs), to deliver COVID-19 testing and vaccination services aligned with CLAS and health literacy best practices, thereby preparing them to serve residents more effectively post-pandemic. We will begin the work on 2 fronts: by expanding CHW services and COVID materials that meet cultural, linguistic, and health literacy standards. The staffing plan includes health literacy training for CHWs and other providers and staff to create a materials library for CHWs and other providers to draw from. We will use the CLAS standards and HLE2, a validated tool, to assess local provider organizations. These assessments align with Healthy People objectives HC/HIT-01, 02 and 03 and will identify steps providers can take, such as providing plain language or teach-back training, to improve commun
ication between residents and providers. The city of Frederick is the lead applicant with the Asian American Center of Frederick, Horowitz Center for Health Literacy, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, as the evaluation lead from a minority-serving institution.
