Draft Statement of Work.pdf

STATEMENT OF WORK

Project Title: COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Linguistic and Racial Minorities in the Meat Processing

Workforce

PR #000HCCEC-2021-56262

Purpose

The contractor shall provide recruitment, data collection, and data analysis services to the Social Science and

Translation Research Branch (SSTRB), Division of Science Integration (DSI), National Institute for Occupational

Safety and Health (NIOSH) for a current COVID-19 response project exploring vaccine hesitancy among hard-to-reach populations in the meat processing workforce.

Background

There is a pressing public health need to answer critical questions regarding the health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including, but not limited to, perceptions of COVID-19 itself and perceptions of the COVID-19 vaccine.

To help address these important research gaps, the Vaccine Task Force is funding projects that address vaccine confidence. This contract is funded by the Vaccine Task Force and builds upon current NIOSH work to explore vaccine hesitancy among a particularly high-risk hard-to-reach population: essential workers who are linguistic and racial minorities and foreign-born individuals in the meat processing workforce.

The purpose of this project is to inform NIOSH/CDC information products and response efforts aimed at mitigating vaccine hesitancy among critical infrastructure workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data will be obtained from interviews with meat processing (cattle, pork, and poultry) workers of diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds to better understand vaccine hesitancy, and any potential relationships with their current work environment, well-being, and social inequities. These data will be used to improve COVID-19 related NIOSH educational materials, and other COVID-19 related communications products, for diverse populations within this critical workforce. These data will also directly inform the response efforts of the Vaccine Task Force, as well as the NIOSH Worker Safety and Health Team, for which the Co-PI serves as a Subject Matter Expert.

Project objectives

The objective of this project is to obtain data to inform the development of targeted COVID-19 related NIOSH materials to promote vaccine confidence among key linguistic and ethnic/racial minorities currently employed as critical infrastructure workers in the meat processing workforce.

Scope of work

The purpose of this contract is to provide services for the recruitment, coordination, analysis, and reporting of results from interviews with the project target audience: meat processing workers, of various age groups, who are either African Americans, White Americans, Burmese refugees (who speak at least one native language of

Burma/Myanmar), or Swahili-speaking Congolese refugees. The contractor will manage recruitment, scheduling, logistics, and participant compensation, as well as conduct in-depth interviews, audio recordings, transcription, data analysis, and reports of the results. As outlined below, some tasks will be carried out strictly by the contractor; others will involve consultation with the NIOSH Project Officer (PO) and/or NIOSH researchers directly involved in this project. The contractor should be able to schedule and conduct interviews with U.S.

meat processing workers of the above-referenced linguistic and/or racial minority groups. Unless otherwise advised by NIOSH, the contractor will conduct interviews remotely (via phone or web). No PII will be collected or retained by the contractor or by NIOSH to recruit respondents. Furthermore, no PII will be collected from the individual interviews or included in any data analyses.

Detailed technical requirements

Through this statement of work, NIOSH is requesting the recruitment and collection of semi-structured in-depth interview data from four different demographic groups of meat processing workers (African Americans, White

Americans, Burmese refugees, or Swahili-speaking Congolese refugees) in order to better understand the similarities and differences across vulnerable groups of workers in this industry, as well as to inform the development of NIOSH response products for these workers. 20 interviews must be completed with each group, for a total of 80 interviews.

Summary of tasks

Task 1: Develop project plan and logistical plan for recruitment and collection of individual in-depth interviews.

Task 2: Conduct 80 individual interviews with meat processing workers.

Task 3: Prepare and submit final report.

Description of specific tasks

Specifically, the contractor shall:

Task 1: Develop project plan and logistical plan for individual interview sessions.

Contractor will:

• Generate the project plan and the timeline.

• Identify participants for at least 80 interviews, 20 from each of the following groups: African Americans, White Americans, Burmese refugees, and Swahili-speaking Congolese refugees.

• The contractor will obtain names and contact information (phone numbers and/or emails) of prospective respondents from lists that belong to public entities, such as chambers of commerce, labor organizations, retail businesses, trade associations, and other relevant groups. If the contractor has a currently existing pool of respondents available to them for research projects, they may retrieve names from this list given that they fit the requirements for participation in the interviews.

• Determine whether the participants meet the qualifications or requirements of the study. These include:

o Participants must be 18 years old or older.

o Participants must be currently employed as a meat, poultry, or pork processing worker.

o Participants would need to self-identify as a fluent speaker of at least one native language from their country of origin (Swahili, English, and/oror a native language of Burma/Myanmar) o The participants may be male or female. An equal number of interviews, in each linguistic group, will be performed with male and female workers.

NIOSH Project Officer (PO) will provide input and the plan/timeline will be adjusted accordingly by the contractor.

NIOSH PO will provide contractor with:

• A list of project objectives

• The interview guide

• The verbal informed consent form for all participants (if required by NIOSH IRB) to complete. Contractor will provide input.

• A demographic instrument (with input from the contractor) that the contractor will administer at the beginning of each individual interview. This instrument will solicit general demographic information (no personal identifiers), such as respondents’ age (or age group), occupation (e.g., masonry, landscaping), ethnicity, gender, nativity, and educational level.

No PII will be collected or retained by the contractor or by NIOSH to recruit respondents. Furthermore, no PII will be collected from the individual interviews or included in any data analyses. Conducting of the individual interviews will not begin until the NIOSH PO notifies the contractor that they have obtained Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval.

Upon review and acceptance of the Task 1 deliverables (i.e., a written plan and timeline for completing all tasks) by the NIOSH Project Officer, partial payment of 20% of the total contract amount will be authorized.

Task 2: Conduct 80 individual interviews with meat processing workers.

The individual interviews will assess participants’ knowledge, barriers, cross-cultural concerns, mental health and well-being related to COVID-19 exposure and prevention at work, and perceptions of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Participants will meet the inclusion criteria listed in Task 1 (above).

The interviews will be approximately 90 minutes in length.

No PII will be collected or retained.

Contractor will:

• Collect general demographic data using the instrument NIOSH PO will provide. This instrument will not include items that solicit PII. This instrument will solicit respondents’ age (or age group), industry (e.g., construction, landscaping), ethnicity, gender, nativity, and educational level.

• Obtain verbal consent from interview participants.

• Provide a summary of each individual interview, while also noting key quotes

Upon review and acceptance of the Task 2 deliverables (summary of each of 80 individual interviews) by the

NIOSH Project Officer, partial payment of 40%) of the total contract amount will be authorized.

Task 3: Prepare and submit final report.

Contractor will compile a draft report of key findings from the individual interviews, with input from the PO. This report will not include any PII. It will include a description of the methods and procedures used to collect and analyze the data and a detailed description of the results of the data analysis. The report will be produced by the contractor and delivered to NIOSH electronically as a Word document for review and acceptance. NIOSH will review the report and suggest changes within 30 days. The contractor will submit a revised final report within 10 working days of NIOSH comment. The report will include (but not be limited to) the following sections:

a. Executive summary

b. Report of findings from the individual interviews

c. Comparative analysis of similarities and differences in responses across demographic groups

a. Summary of overall findings and recommendations

Upon review and acceptance of the Task 3 deliverables (i.e., the final report) by the NIOSH Project Officer, the final payment of 40% will be authorized.

Period of Performance

The timeframe for completion of this contract is 12 months from date of contract award.

Performance Schedule

Activity Proposed Completion (After date of award

[ADOA])

Task 1: Project plan that includes steps contractor will take to complete each task and a project timeline the contractor and NIOSH PO will mutually agree on.

1 month ADOA

Upon review and acceptance of the Task 1 deliverables (i.e., a written plan and timeline for completing all tasks) by the NIOSH Project Officer, partial payment of 20% of the total contract amount will be authorized.

Task 2: Conduct interviews with 80 individuals. 4 months ADOA

Upon review and acceptance of the Task 2 deliverables (summary of each of 80 individual interviews) by the NIOSH Project Officer, partial payment of 40% of the total contract amount will be authorized.

Task 3: Final report of study findings and recommendations, across demographic groups

12 months ADOA

Upon review and acceptance of the Task 3 deliverables (i.e., the final report) by the NIOSH Project Officer, the final payment of 40% will be authorized

Government Furnished Materials

No government equipment or materials will be provided.

Travel Costs No travel will be necessary for this contract.

References

Ethnic Minorities of Burma Advocacy and Resource Center (EMBARC) 2309 Euclid Ave.

Des Moines, IA 50310 Attn: Henny Ohr henny@embarciowa.org

(515) 286-3928

Project Officer

Jacqueline Sivén, PhD, MA, MPH

Associate Service Fellow

Social Science and Translation Research Branch

Division of Science Integration (DSI)

National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

1090 Tusculum Ave, MS C-10

Cincinnati, OH 45226 voice: 513-533-8176 email: jsiven@cdc.gov

Special Considerations

In order to ensure the quality of the data and final report, the contractor, and/or its agents, will have experience conducting OSH research with ties to the African American, White American, Burmese refugee (must have capacity to communicate in at least one language native to Burma/Myanmar), or Swahili-speaking Congolese refugee community as demonstrated by: a) having recruited research participants from these groups in the past, and b) having conducted qualitative data collection on safety and/or health topics among these groups in the past. See Section VII for suggested contractors.

HHSAR Provision, 352.239-73: Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Notice

(a) Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d), as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board Electronic and Information (EIT) Accessibility Standards (36 CFR part 1194), require that when Federal agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology, Federal employees with disabilities have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access and use by Federal employees who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency. Section 508 also requires that individuals with disabilities, who are members of the public seeking information or services from a Federal agency, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to the public who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency.

(b) Accordingly, any offeror responding to this solicitation must comply with established HHS EIT accessibility standards. Information about Section 508 is available at http://www.hhs.gov/web/508. The complete text of the Section 508 Final Provisions can be accessed at http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/standards.htm.

(c) The Section 508 accessibility standards applicable to this contract are: 1194.

205 WCAG 2.0 Level A & AA Success Criteria 302 Functional Performance Criteria 502 Inoperability with Assistive Technology 504 Authoring Tools mailto:jsiven@cdc.gov http://www.hhs.gov/web/508 http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/standards.htm

602 Support Documentation 603 Support Services

In order to facilitate the Government's determination whether proposed EIT supplies meet applicable Section 508 accessibility standards, offerors must submit an HHS Section 508 Product Assessment Template, in accordance with its completion instructions. The purpose of the template is to assist HHS acquisition and program officials in determining whether proposed EIT supplies conform to applicable Section 508 accessibility standards. The template allows offerors or developers to self-evaluate their supplies and documentation detail -whether they conform to a specific Section 508 accessibility standard, and any underway remediation efforts addressing conformance issues. Instructions for preparing the HHS Section 508 Evaluation Template are available under Section 508 policy on the HHS Web site http://hhs.gov/web/508.

In order to facilitate the Government's determination whether proposed EIT services meet applicable Section 508 accessibility standards, offerors must provide enough information to assist the Government in determining that the EIT services conform to Section 508 accessibility standards, including any underway remediation efforts addressing conformance issues.

(d) Respondents to this solicitation must identify any exception to Section 508 requirements. If a offeror claims its supplies or services meet applicable Section 508 accessibility standards, and it is later determined by the Government, i.e., after award of a contract or order, that supplies or services delivered do not conform to the accessibility standards, remediation of the supplies or services to the level of conformance specified in the contract will be the responsibility of the Contractor at its expense.

(e) Electronic content must be accessible to HHS acceptance criteria. Checklist for various formats are available at http://508.hhs.gov/, or from the Section 508 Coordinator listed at https://www.hhs.gov/web/section- 508/additional-resources/section-508-contacts/index.html. Materials that are final items for delivery should be accompanied by the appropriate checklist, except upon approval of the Contracting Officer or Representative.

IT Security Requirements (to be completed) http://hhs.gov/web/508 http://508.hhs.gov/ https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/additional-resources/section-508-contacts/index.html https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/additional-resources/section-508-contacts/index.html