Administrative Core

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Despite the increasing national distribution and dissemination of COVID-19 vaccines, uptake and completion of COVID-19 vaccine remains low among minorities. Underresourced groups, specifically minorities, are experiencing exponentially high morbidity and mortality rates, in addition to poorer health outcomes, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is compounded by higher levels of vaccine hesitancy within this population, which may be attributed to a myriad of issues, including medical mistrust and lack of access to health services. One particular group, African American and Latinx public housing residents, are facing adverse effects related to worsening social determinants and health disparities. Utilizing a community-driven approach, the overall objective of this proposed study is to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake and completion among African American and Latinx public housing residents. Guided by the Community Based Participatory Model, the Information, Motivation, and Behavioral Skills (IMB) and the Transtheoretical Model will be utilized to carry out this intervention. Through this innovative program, we will establish the Academic-Community Team for Improving Vaccine Acceptability and Targeted Engagement (ACTIVATE) program, which will develop leadership triads of public housing resident leaders, nurse practitioner students, and public health students to carry out this multilevel intervention. The multidisciplinary, theoretically-based, culturally-driven proposed project is evidence-informed and promising for African American and Latinx public housing residents and will be advanced through the following three aims: 1) To conduct a 12-week training of 30 ACTIVATE triads, who will master information about COVID-19, and increase in knowledge and skills to address the social, behavioral, and healthcare-related vaccination challenges among African American and Latinx public housing residents. 2) Through the engagement and empowerment of 30 ACTIVATE triads, to jointly implement a community-driven, culturally-sensitive plan that will a) reduce mistrust, fatalistic beliefs, and psychosocial barriers to COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and b) increase receptivity and willingness for uptake of COVID-19 vaccine among 600 residents in public housing areas. And 3) using a pretest-posttest design, to investigate the impact of a longitudinal, ACTIVATE-led intervention on the completion of the COVID-19 vaccine series among 252 African American and Latinx public housing residents reporting vaccine hesitancy following the Aim 2 community-level intervention. The outcomes of this proposal will produce community- and health-professional- based vaccine leaders that can increase COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among minority public housing residents, inducing sustainability. Overall, this study will influence evidence-based practice and inform healthcare professionals, community groups, and policymakers on improving access and culturally-sensitive resources for COVID-19 vaccination for these underserved populations during and after the pandemic.