National urban league vaccination coverage program - project abstractthe african american and black communities face significant health challenges and disparities relative to other racial and ethnic…

National urban league vaccination coverage program - project abstractthe african american and black communities face significant health challenges and disparities relative to other racial and ethnic groups in the united states, a truth borne out yet again under the covid-19 pandemic. In order to address the specific issue of vaccine uptake, and larger issues around health equity and literacy in the black community, the national urban league proposes to focus our signature health initiative, project wellness (the program) on both part a and part b under the solicitation, by building coalitions in twenty communities and to provide culturally relevant and resonant messages to the broader african american / black community via the development of a curated toolkit, focused on vaccine uptake and hesitancy and health equity/ literacy, to be distributed to all 90 urban league affiliates and to the chapters of our partners the national coalition on black civic participation and the national action network. As we understand the target community, there are a range of attitudes and stances with which we must contend including those that are open to engagement and education leading to adoption; those who are unsure and can be converted to adoption with engagement and information; those that are perhaps open to communication but are not open to taking vaccines at the moment; those that are openly distrustful of vaccines; and those that are hostile to the idea and practice altogether. In addition, we have to contend with the legacy of public health practice, research, policy and investment that have not served our target population well and the manner in which disinvestment, maltreatment and systemic racism have left deep distrust and hostility behind in these communities. The focus of the local partnerships in twenty (20) urban league communities would be two-fold. First, our focus will be on identifying partners to be public advocates for vaccination and community / non-traditional sites (barber shops, commun ITY centers, churches, mosques, etc.) where vaccinations can be given. The second focus will be on building public will via an emphasis on efforts to improve vaccine uptake and awareness in the black community and minimize barriers to uptake, while also raising awareness on underlying policy, investments, implementation and changed practice that will be necessary to realize health equity and better health outcomes for the larger black / african american community. NUL believes that a robust communications and coalition strategy is a promising vehicle for creating a new kind of venue that bring local stakeholders together who often have not meaningfully cooperated in the past and have as often been in conflict with one another of vision, funding and politics. Our intention is to establish enough stability for partners to move forward together meaningfully on the specified outreach, education and engagement work that underlies the project. In order to create a national strategy tied to the development and deployment of a toolkit and effective messaging, NUL will meaningfully engage the target population via a range of national virtual platforms. In addition, NUL will provide feedback and promising practice information to the overall project, including the identification and utilization of culturally resonant and relevant messengers / influencers, the securing of non-traditional vaccination sites and providing meaningful support to substantive local collaboratives as we craft and refine tools, messages and strategies under this project.