In Durham County, COVID-19 services have largely been implemented within existing health service infrastructure and networks that exclude Black and Latinx communities. This approach that has predictably led to disproportionately high rates of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in these communities.

Seeking both immediate and long-term solutions to health inequities in Durham, this project team collaborated with Advance Community Health in Wake County to bring testing resources and vaccination information to Latinx community members in partnership with La Semilla, a local service-based nonprofit.

The team also investigated scalable and sustainable care delivery models for strengthening community-based care in under-resourced communities. Working with partners in medicine, community health, nursing and public policy, the team explored culturally appropriate, community-based care efforts that could address social determinants of health, ensure community partnerships and engagement while also engaging with health policy and community programming.

This teams is continuing its work in 2021-2022 with the goal of identifying best practices for vaccine distribution.

Team Outputs

Bridging the Health Equity Gap: Strategies to Create an Equitable Health System For Latinx Communities (by Andrea Thoumi, Keren Hendel, Sebastian Gutierrez, Nikhil Chaudhry and Viviana Martinez-Bianchi)

COVID-19 and the Roots of Health Disparity (2021 Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Virtual Showcase)

Community-based Testing and Primary Care to Mitigate COVID-19 Transmission (lightning talk by Keren Hendel and Zachary Rene)

Community-based Care Delivery and Primary Care to Mitigate COVID-19 (poster by Emine Arcasoy, Nikhil Chaudry, Alex Chukwuma, Michael Dieu, Michele Huang, Adaora Nwosu, Caroline Palmer, Zach Rene, Dru Ricci, Sebi Gutierrez, Keren Hendel, Njideka Ofoleta, Cokie Young, Andrew Flynn, Ry Garcia-Sampson, Gabriela Plasencia, Andrea Thoumi and Viviana Martinez-Bianchi)

Mobile Health Clinics to Mitigate COVID-19 Systemic Barriers (by Nikhil Chaudry)

Timing

Fall 2020 – Summer 2021

Reflection

Caroline Palmer

This Team in the News

Taking the Bull City by the Horns

Meet the Members of the 2022-2023 Student Advisory Council

Meet the Members of the 2021-2022 Bass Connections Student Advisory Council

Read the Winners of the SCOHP Policy Writing Contest

Two Faculty Receive Inaugural Bass Connections Leadership Award

Two Graduate Students Honored for Their Outstanding Mentorship

See related team, Bridging the Health Equity Gap for COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake in Durham (2021-2022).

Image by Staff Sgt. Mary Junell, North Carolina National Guard, public domain