Thank you for the interest in the evaluation studies and to everyone who volunteered to participate. We are excited to announce the four recipients working with us in the first round of the Novel and Emerging Practice Studies (NEPS)! As a reminder, four practices were selected to be evaluated by a Public Health Institute in collaboration with OT21-2103 recipient organizations and their partners. See below for an introduction to the four practices.
Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH)
Maricopa County is executing a practice to build, leverage, and expand infrastructure support for COVID-19 prevention and control among populations that are at higher risk and underserved (Strategy 3). MCDPH is in the process of implementing a new Request for Proposal approach to fund organizations working in communities that have been negatively impacted by or are at risk for COVID-19. The funding structure and award processes are designed to support smaller organizations to participate, establish new partnerships, and reduce the burden on awardees.
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS)
NCDHHS is mobilizing partners and collaborators to advance health equity and address social determinants of health as they relate to COVID-19 health disparities among populations at higher risk and that are underserved (Strategy 4). NCDHHS is partnering and mobilizing with community-based organizations (Healthier Together Model) who have lived experience and concentrate their work in areas with high numbers of Black, American Indian and Latinx/Hispanic people that are not vaccinated or boosted, and with other populations that have been historically marginalized (e.g., youth and young adults, rural locations and people needing language, physical and communication access). The purpose of Healthier Together has been to increase demand for and access to the COVID vaccine to populations that have been historically marginalized by conducting communication, outreach and education efforts, coordinating local vaccine events at accessible locations, and helping people schedule and get to vaccine appointments (i.e., assist with connections to transportation) and booster dose appointments.
Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH)
RIDOH is implementing a practice to improve data collection and reporting for populations experiencing a disproportionate burden of COVID-19 infection, severe, illness and death to guide the response to the COVID-19 pandemic (Strategy 2). RIDOH, in collaboration with Brown University, developed a Data Academy course tailored for and delivered to local community organizations. The practice will support project leaders to use data for program implementation and service delivery to reduce the impact of COVID-19 related disparities in their communities.
Washington State Department of Health (WA DOH)
WA DOH is mobilizing partners and collaborators to advance health equity and address social determinants of health as they relate to COVID-19 health disparities among populations at higher risk and that are underserved (Strategy 4). WA DOH is piloting a practice to equitably fund community organizations that addresses the unequal burden of COVID-19 across racial and ethnic populations while taking an intersectional approach. WA DOH developed a mixed methods approach to make funding decisions transparent, equitable, data informed, and responsive to the communities.
Please continue to check the monthly OT21-2103 TA bulletin, as well as this page, for NEPS updates.
We look forward to sharing updates on this exciting work!