Tarrant County, TX is an urban area as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. It is located within the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan area and includes 2.1 million. Tarrant County is among the top 25 most populated counties in the U.S. The county is racially and ethnically diverse with Non-Hispanic White residents representing 45.3% of the population, Hispanics 29.5%, African American (17.9%), Asian (5.8%), American Indian/Alaska Native (.9%), and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents (.3%). According to the CDC Social Vulnerability Index, Tarrant County is .5475 indicating a moderate to high level of vulnerability. Low health literacy rates range from 37% to 65% and according to the U.S. Census 2014-2018 American Community Survey. As of April 14, 2021, Tarrant County was also among the top 25 counties in the U.S. with the greatest number of COVID-19 cases according to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. Tarrant County Public Health (TCPH) has been a lead strategist in addressing COVID-19 in Tarrant County. As TCPH has worked to mitigate COVID-19, several challenges have contributed to COVID-19 related disparities and minimized our ability to effectively reach high risk populations, including racial and ethnic groups who are disproportionately impacted by other health issues, such as chronic disease, infant mortality, etc. Utilizing quantitative and qualitative data, TCPH identified disparities in COVID-19 rates, vaccine registration, and vaccine access. Linguistically and culturally tailored communication messaging has been limited. High reliance on technology also created barriers amongst those with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and other populations with limited access to, understanding of, and experience with technology. In addition, limited data has inhibited our ability to understand the full extent to which members of the population have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and other health disparities. For example, as
of February 2021, 45% of cases had no reported race/ethnicity data. Work on this proposal will therefore focus on building internal infrastructure that will allow for more efficient data capture and communication across systems; expanded outreach efforts, including homebased testing, mobile testing and mobile vaccination sites; and improving relationships and community trust through the establishment of a county-wide council to improve communication and the dissemination of information to reach more residents where they live, work, learn, play, and worship. These efforts are reflective of PHAB Domains 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9, and 11.
