What You Should Know:
– Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) partners with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on a three-year project to combat COVID-19 and advance health equity in minority communities.
– The initiative – the National Infrastructure for Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19 within Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities – is a three-year project designed to work with community-based organizations across the nation to deliver education and information on resources to help fight the pandemic.
– MSM will establish the National COVID-19 Resiliency Network to strengthen efforts to link communities to COVID-19 testing, healthcare, and social services and to best share and implement effective response, recovery, and resilience strategies.
Morehouse School of Medicine was awarded a new $40 million grant to fight COVID-19 in racial and ethnic minority, rural, and socially vulnerable communities by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health. MSM was selected to participate in a cooperative agreement with OMH “to lead the initiative to coordinate a strategic network of national, state, territorial, tribal, and local organizations to deliver COVID-19-related information to communities hardest hit by the pandemic,” according to the agency.
“This work will create the opportunity to measure the effectiveness of interventions being deployed to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. The results of which should lead to a new-found knowledge base to better prepare for and respond to future pandemics, especially in vulnerable communities,” MSM President and Dean Valerie Montgomery Rice, MD, said. “The adoption and adaptation of these interventions to vulnerable communities creates a new paradigm for the creation of health equity.”
National Infrastructure for Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19 within Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities
The initiative – the National Infrastructure for Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19 within Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities – is a three-year project designed to work with community-based organizations across the nation to deliver education and information on resources to help fight the pandemic. The initiative is expected to result in:
(1) improved reach of COVID-19-related public health messaging to racial and ethnic minority, rural and socially vulnerable populations;
(2) increased connection to healthcare and social services for racial and ethnic minority, rural and socially vulnerable populations;
(3) decreased disparities in COVID-19 testing and vaccination rates among racial and ethnic minority populations in highly impacted geographic areas; and
(4) enhanced state/territorial/tribal capacity and infrastructure to support response, recovery, and resilience for racial and ethnic minority, rural, and socially vulnerable populations.
Establishment of the National COVID-19 Resiliency Network
Morehouse School of Medicine has been at the forefront of anticipating and responding to the needs of vulnerable communities who have traditionally suffered the worst health outcomes during pandemics and other disasters. To mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on racial and ethnic minority, rural, and socially vulnerable populations, MSM will establish the National COVID-19 Resiliency Network. The information network will strengthen efforts to link communities to COVID-19 testing, healthcare, and social services and to best share and implement effective response, recovery, and resilience strategies. Dr. Mack and Daniel E. Dawes, J.D., director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute will co-lead NCRN.
COVID-19 Racial Disparity Driven by Social Determinants of Health
“We understand that there are specific social determinants and existing health disparities that contribute to the spread of the novel coronavirus,” Dawes continued. “This new partnership between the Morehouse School of Medicine and the Office of Minority Health will bring vital public health information on COVID-19 testing, vaccinations, and other services to the Americans who need it most.”
These social determinants of health include working conditions, unemployment and underemployment, access to clean water, affordable housing, transportation, and quality healthcare. Those inequities require both community- and systems-level responses. The Office of Minority Health is dedicated to improving the health of racial and ethnic minority populations through the development of health policies and programs that will help eliminate health disparities.
Recently, Google awarded a $1M grant to Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine to study the racial impact of COVID-19 and address racial disparities. The new partnership between Google.org and the Satcher Health Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine will also include a team of Google engineers and data scientists who will work full-time over the next six months to support the project.
