Frontiers in Public Health (Feb 2023)

Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities: Academic-community partnership to support workforce capacity building among Arizona community health workers

  • Dulce J. Jiménez,
  • Omar Gomez,
  • Ruby Meraz,
  • Amanda M. Pollitt,
  • Linnea Evans,
  • Naomi Lee,
  • Matt Ignacio,
  • Katherine Garcia,
  • Richard Redondo,
  • Floribella Redondo,
  • Heather J. Williamson,
  • Sabrina Oesterle,
  • Sairam Parthasarathy,
  • Samantha Sabo

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1072808
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11

Abstract

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The COVID-19 pandemic has both highlighted and worsened existing health inequities among communities of color and structurally vulnerable populations. Community Health Workers, inclusive of Community Health Representatives (CHW/Rs) have entered the spotlight as essential to COVID-19 prevention and control. To learn about community experiences and perspectives related to COVID-19 and inform CHW/R workforce capacity building efforts, a series of focus groups were conducted with CHW/Rs throughout Arizona at two time points in 2021. Throughout the data collection and analysis process, researchers and community partners engaged in ongoing and open dialogue about what CHW/Rs on the ground were reporting as priority community concerns, needs, and challenges. Thus, CHW/Rs informed the development of culturally and linguistically relevant health education messages, materials, and training for CHW/Rs. In this community case study, we detail the efforts of partnership between a statewide CHW professional association and an academic research team that facilitated rapid decision-making and knowledge sharing to create community-grounded tools and resources supportive of CHW/R workforce capacity building in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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