NH75OT000006

Philadelphia Equitable Access Project to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities

Purpose:
The Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) proposes to address COVID-19 related health disparities in racial and ethnic minority communities and to advance health equity and address social determinants of health throughout the city.

Outcomes:
Over a two-year period beginning June 1, 2021, the project will:
1. Reduce COVID-19 health disparities in Philadelphia through a coordinated approach that builds on culturally, linguistically, and locally tailored strategies and best practices.
2. Build PDPH capacity and infrastructure to better serve ethnic and racial minority communities by assuring an equity approach in ongoing public health preparedness planning and future emergency responses.

Background:
COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the city's racial and ethnic minority population. For example, as of March 2021, Black/African Americans were 42% of the city's population, but only 22% of persons vaccinated. Other racial and ethnic minority communities remain under-vaccinated and at ongoing risk for COVID infection, a disparity that will continue to exacerbate health outcomes if not remedied.

Throughout its response to the COVID pandemic, PDPH has fostered an equity-focused approach by engaging a broad network of partners in testing, vaccination, and outreach activities. Our focus has been on providing testing, vaccination, and engagement services in communities with the greatest need. Moving forward, PDPH will sustain containment activities while expanding access to vaccine information and services throughout Philadelphia, particularly in its racial and ethnic minority communities.

Project funds will enable PDPH to align the city's robust COVID-19 containment effort with vaccination services by increasing capacity to reach racial and ethnic minority communities, while at the same time enhancing the department's infrastructure and external partner networks.

Specifically, PDPH proposes to the following activities, by strategy:
- Align and integrate testing, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine, and vaccination services in underserved racial and ethnic minority communities through coordination between PDPH, other city agencies, and a network of community-based partners and healthcare providers.
- Improve surveillance and data systems to ensure robust population-based data collection and analysis to assess uptake of COVID-19 vaccine in underserved communities and use these data to inform strategies for improving uptake among high-risk populations.
- Expand and strengthen immunization provider networks in neighborhoods with under-represented racial and ethnic minority populations.
- Build infrastructure for (1) direct delivery of safety-net vaccination for under-represented racial and ethnic minority populations; (2) outreach to under-represented racial and ethnic minority populations to promote vaccination; (3) outreach to under-represented racial and ethnic minority communities and hard-to-reach populations to develop community-based networks that can be mobilized when needed; and (4) emergency communication capacity for outgoing notifications to community response partners and incoming inquiries from community members.
- Expand internal administrative preparedness and emergency response capacity to ensure engagement and coordination with racial and ethnic minority communities to meet the changing needs of the COVID-19 response and to develop a framework for future emergencies.

City Of Philadelphia

NOT APPLICABLE

93.354 - Public Health Emergency Response: Cooperative Agreement for Emergency Response: Public Health Crisis Response

CDC Office of Financial Resources (OFR) [HHS - CDC]

Center for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support (CSTLTS) [HHS - CDC]

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania United States

City-Wide

National Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities Among Populations at High-Risk and Underserved, Including Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations and Rural Communities (CDC-RFA-OT21-2103)

Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been extended from 05/31/23 to 05/31/25.