Abstract

Harnessing the Synergies of Faith Communities and Public Health Partnerships: The GEORGIA CEAL Project

Claudia E Ordóñez¹, Barbara Baylor², Kaleb Whitfield³, Rakale Collins Quarells⁴, Gaëlle Sabben ⁵, Kate Winskel⁵, Unjali P Gujral⁵, Wendy K Jefferson⁶, Brittany D Taylor ⁷, David Williams⁸, Sedessie Spivey⁹, Robert A Bednarczyk⁵, Tabia Henry Akintobi¹⁰, John Blevins ⁵, GEORGIA CEAL Team¹¹ (1)Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University , (2)GEORGIA CEAL Project, (3)Graduate Education in Public Health, Morehouse School of Medicine, (4)Cardiovascular Research Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Department of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, (5)Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, (6)Health Assessment and Promotion Department, DeKalb County Board of Health, (7)Georgia CEAL, Prevention Research Center, Community Health and Preventive Medicine, |Morehouse School of Medicine, (8)South Side Medical Center, (9)Health Assessment and Promotion Department, DeKalb County Board of Health. , (10)Prevention Research Center, Evaluation and Institutional Assessment, Morehouse School of Medicine, (11)Multiple, GEORGIA CEAL Stakeholders

APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo

ISSUE: Need to improve effectiveness of public health response to address the disproportionate burden of COVID-19 among Black and Latinx communities and their lack of trust in the health system.

DESCRIPTION: GEORGIA CEAL* seeks to address the disproportionate burden of COVID-19 among Black and Latinx communities in the state of Georgia. Employing CEnR, it aims to identify culturally appropriate and locally relevant response strategies to address vaccine misinformation and mistrust and improve COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Phase 2 of GEORGIA CEAL focused on engaging local faith communities. During Phase 2, researchers conducted interviews, focus groups, and online meetings (forums, townhalls, webinars) with clergy and laypeople from Black and Latinx faith communities in Georgia to identify assets and barriers to COVID-19 public health response among faith communities. Framework methodology was identified as an appropriate rapid analysis strategy to organize participants’ responses into a data matrix and identify themes using an iterative process of consensus.

LESSONS LEARNED: The formative research (Phase 1) of GEORGIA CEAL identified clergy and lay leadership as key and appropriate public health response allies for the local context. GEORGIA CEAL’s Community Coalition Board was important in engaging with stakeholders. Fostering continued engagement with clergy and faith communities as partners in addressing COVID-19 builds trust and facilitates effective public health outreach.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Recognizing the value and importance of consistent engagement with faith communities, Phase 3 of GEORGIA CEAL will build on Phase 2 partnerships by developing Congregational Care Teams to address hyper-localized public health needs in Black and Latinx communities.

* Garnering Effective Outreach and Research in Georgia for Impact Alliance (GEORGIA) Community Engagement Alliance Against COVID-19 (CEAL)