COVID-19's Impact on the African American Community: A Stakeholder Engagement Approach to Increase Public Awareness Through Virtual Town Halls

Faith E Fletcher; Shauntice Allen; Selwyn M Vickers; Thomas Beavers; Christopher M Hamlin; Dontrelle Young-Foster; Sherea Harris-Turner; Paul C Erwin

doi:10.1089/heq.2020.0029

COVID-19's Impact on the African American Community: A Stakeholder Engagement Approach to Increase Public Awareness Through Virtual Town Halls

Health Equity. 2020 Jul 15;4(1):320-325. doi: 10.1089/heq.2020.0029. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Faith E Fletcher¹, Shauntice Allen², Selwyn M Vickers³, Thomas Beavers⁴, Christopher M Hamlin^{5

6}, Dontrelle Young-Foster⁷, Sherea Harris-Turner⁷, Paul C Erwin⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Behavior and University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
² Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
³ Office of the Dean, University of Alabama School of Medicine, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
⁴ New Rising Star, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
⁵ Tabernacle Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
⁶ 1917 Outpatient Clinic, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
⁷ Housing Authority of the Birmingham District, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
⁸ Office of the Dean, University of Alabama School of Public Health, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.

Abstract

COVID-19 has created a rapidly evolving public health crisis disproportionately impacting African Americans due to persistent inequities. The changing COVID-19 guidelines have resulted in concerns expressed by the American public, including unique concerns expressed by African Americans. To increase COVID-19-related awareness and dialogue among the African American community, the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health and the Housing Association of the Birmingham District convened a virtual town hall. This process of stakeholder engagement underscored the importance of cross-disciplinary expertise and collaboration and of community education and outreach by trusted sources.

Keywords: COVID-19; health inequities; stakeholder engagement; virtual town hall.