North carolina RE: national initiative to address covid-19 health disparities among populations at high-risk and underserved, including racial and ethnic minority populations and rural communities -…

North carolina RE: national initiative to address covid-19 health disparities among populations at high-risk and underserved, including racial and ethnic minority populations and rural communities - NC dhhs has been working with urgency & purpose to slow the spread of covid-19, address inequities exacerbated by the pandemic and work towards recovery. Health equity is a foundational value of NC dhhs. These funds allow dhhs to amplify efforts to address health disparities exacerbated by the covid-19 pandemic for historically marginalized populations, including racial and ethnic minority populations and rural communities.strategy 1 expanding health equity resources & services will focus on: capacity building for local health departments to create a health equity infrastructure for their covid-19 response strategies; increasing ability of health programs to connect to needs like transportation, housing and food; addressing major public health issues that either exacerbate the risks of covid-19, such as smoking, or that have been accentuated as a result of covid-19, such as mental health with a focus on historically marginalized populations; targeting particularly high-risk groups, such as incarcerated women & people with substance use disorders with covid-19-related public health resources.strategy 2 improving health equity data and reporting will focus on: investing in foundational data infrastructure & skills to measure health disparities and share aggregated data publicly to inform public health action; building a centralized health equity data program for the gathering, analyzing, and sharing public health data to protect the health of all citizens with an emphasis on historically marginalized populations. Strategy 3 augmenting critical health equity infrastructure will focus on: engaging a coalition of multi-sector stakeholders that include members of underserved rural communities & organizations to increase access to critical covid-19 testing, contact tracing, and other supportive services; augmenting health equity staffing to coordinate efforts across DPH and with local health departments and create performance man agement systems with health equity lens.strategy 4: partner mobilization will focus on: supporting community based organizations and rural health providers? Use of NCCARE360, NC?s closed loop resource referral platform; supporting communities in each of 8 NC prosperity zones to create community changes that support healthy living; funding 20 community-based and faith-based organizations across NC to provide culturally & linguistically appropriate covid-19 services and information to build trust and capacity in communities; and expanding communications resources to reach people where they are through people and channels that they trust with a focus on american indian, people with disabilities, spanish-speaking populations. These funded activities will achieve reduced covid-19-related health disparities and improved state and local capacity and services to prevent and control covid-19 among populations at higher risk and that are underserved, including racial & ethnic minorities and rural communities.