Covid-19 health improvement plan for maricopa county - mcdph will address covid-19-related health disparities in underserved communities, many of which are comprised of people belonging to ethnic or…

Covid-19 health improvement plan for maricopa county - mcdph will address covid-19-related health disparities in underserved communities, many of which are comprised of people belonging to ethnic or racial minority groups, residents in rural areas and tribal lands, hard-to-reach populations such as immigrants, refugees, people who identify as lgbtq+, and other groups of people at high-risk for a disproportionate disease burden such as older adults and people with disabilities. Through the expansion of the office of epidemiology and data services, a health equity data branch will increase the department?s capacity to inform specific culturally appropriate interventions based on local and national data, enhance surveillance and investigations in disproportionately affected communities, and monitor the effect of the targeted strategies to mitigate the impact of covid-19. Using the health improvement partnership of maricopa county (hipmc) as an umbrella organization, the office of community empowerment will facilitate the development of five regional community action boards representative of the communities served. Each region will use local public health data to design culturally and linguistically appropriate covid-19 health improvement plans that include strategies for increasing covid-19 testing and vaccine availability across populations that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.