NH75OT000090

Shelby County Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities in Communities that are at High-Risk and Underserved

The Shelby County Health Department in Memphis, Tennessee serves a metropolitan county including a diverse population with pockets of severe poverty. The county's population is 52% Black, 40% White, 6% Latinx, and the remainder of the population is Asian, Native American, and Pacific Islander by demographics. Approximately 13% of families and 16% of people live below the poverty line.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, certain communities and demographic populations have experienced a disproportionately high burden of disease, hospitalization, and death. There are nine zip codes that, in particular, have the highest case rates in the county overall, and the lowest vaccination rates. By virtue of having more disease and less coverage by vaccination campaign penetration, these zip codes in western and southern Shelby County have been identified as underserved areas.

To improve testing, contact tracing, and vaccination efforts in the targeted area, Shelby County Health Department proposes to create a coalition of community partners made up of organizations and institutions working to improve health and socio-economic status for the people living in the underserved communities. The department also plans to fund focus group and other research efforts by the University of Memphis School of Public Health examining knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and opinions about COVID disease and COVID vaccine.

Additionally, the department will work with Leadership Memphis, a local organization with extensive media campaign/partner mobilization experience focused on community change, to develop messages that raise awareness and improve acceptance of the COVID vaccine. They also plan to hire six public health outreach specialists to work in the community to disseminate messages and network in the community.

The intent is to gather advice and feedback from the community through the coalition, and also share research findings with the community through the coalition partners, with all of that work process informing the outreach work. A data analyst will track key metrics concerning the campaign during two years to evaluate effectiveness and outcomes.

County Of Shelby

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]

Memphis, Tennessee 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 03/24/25 and the total obligations have decreased 20% from $6,591,619 to $5,297,728.