Addressing COVID-19 Disparities in RGV an Oppressed Community, through Professionals’ Collaboration and Community Engagement

Overview: The Latinx population has severely struggled during the pandemic. Their rate of hospitalizations and deaths has been higher, and they have a disproportionally lower rate of access to testing and to the vaccine. Through the interprofessional and community engagement approach, we aimed to address this injustice by providing appropriate intervention.Proposal text: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect individuals, families, and communities globally and nationally. However, it has devastating altered the Latinx community’s well-being; they have been disproportionately exposed to COVID-19, have been hospitalized and have died at higher rates, compared to their white counterparts (CDC, 2021). Latinx access to testing and vaccines has been disproportionately limited as well (Macias Gil et al., 2020; Dukakis, 2021). Health inequality has a long history in our society and needs to be actively challenged. Although the pandemic has devastated the global and national economy and has caused the death of 2.36 million people worldwide, including nearly 500K in the U.S., it has also created opportunities for interprofessional and community engagement-based collaborations. Social workers have enthusiastically embraced the opportunity of interdisplinary collaborations.
The X , is a 4-county region with 1.5 million people, 94% of whom are Hispanic/Latinx. This region is one of the most disadvantaged ones in Texas, with one-third of the population living in poverty (Ura, 2016). This region has been severely affected by COVID-19. Its population also has the least access to medical care and the most mistrust in both providers and researchers.
Our School of Social Work, in partnership with public health, medical, and nursing schools, along with two community agencies, is leading to deliver a COVID Engagement and Prevention Intervention through an NIH grant, the Community-Engagement Research Alliance Against COVID-19 in Disproportionately Affected Communities (CEAL).
We aim to increase COVID-related knowledge, the rate of prevention practices, COVID-19 testing, participation in clinical trials, and vaccinations.
We are training social work and nursing undergraduate and graduate students to utilize motivational interviewing to assess the community members’ needs and to intervene to address these needs.
We are also conducting baseline and follow-up assessments at 30, 60, 90, and 180 days to evaluate the impact of the intervention and changes in COVID knowledge, attitudes, and rates.
Our School of Social Work is determined to foster our relationship with the community, to develop our understanding of its strengths and struggles, and to highlight our dedication to advocate for social justice. This project is unique in connecting interprofessional collaborations with community engagement and social work core values to address the community’s pressing needs during this pandemic.