Mark your calendars for a January webinar featuring SBE CCC Pilot Project research

Now in its fourth year, the SBE COVID Coordinating Center’s pilot project grants program addresses COVID-19's impact on health disparities and vulnerable populations, fosters new collaborations across research teams, and engages new researchers with the work of the consortium. In this session, three pilot project grant recipients will present findings from their projects related to vaccine hesitancy among refugees in Rhode Island, geographic and racial disparities of COVID-19 on obesity-related behaviors, and how COVID-19 pandemic impacts varied for immigrant populations by place.

The webinar will be on January 23, 2025 from 3-4 pm EST. Join the webinar on Zoom (no registration required).

See below for information on the speakers, presentation titles, and presentation abstracts.

"Investigating Vaccine Hesitancy and Factors that Build Vaccine Confidence among Refugees in Rhode Island, U.S."
Julie C. Keller, University of Rhode Island

Multiple vulnerabilities contribute to an increased risk of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death for refugees. Yet, empirical research on how these vulnerabilities affect vaccination rates for refugee populations is lacking. This pilot study investigates: 1) COVID-19-related knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs among refugees; 2) Perceived barriers to COVID-19 vaccination among refugees; 3) Health literacy, and 4) Factors associated with increased vaccine confidence and decreased vaccine hesitancy. To accomplish this, we conducted a community-engaged, sequential mixed-methods study in Rhode Island. In Phase 1, we conducted 8 exploratory focus group discussions (FGDs) with 60 refugees from Central Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, and 10 in-depth interviews with healthcare professionals to understand common barriers to healthcare access experienced by refugee patients and health literacy challenges. Themes from the qualitative data analysis included: 1) The COVID-19 pandemic as a difficult, stressful, and fear-inducing experience; 2) Feelings of mistrust regarding the COVID-19 virus and vaccine; 3) Health concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine; and 4) The COVID-19 vaccine as protective and beneficial. The results of Phase 1 informed the design of a 31-question survey in Phase 2, which was distributed to a larger sample of Rhode Island refugees (n=111) to assess health literacy and understand predictors of vaccine hesitancy. The findings from our study can inform culturally-tailored interventions to promote better understanding of COVID-19 and other vaccines, and improve vaccine confidence and vaccine uptake among refugee communities. 

"Examine the geographic and racial disparities of COVID-19 impact on obesity-related behaviors using cellphone-based place visitation data"
Zhenlong Li, Penn State University

Obesity is a predictor of multiple negative health outcomes, including type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, hypertension, various cancers, and premature death. Nearly two-thirds of US adults are overweight or obese, and one out of three is obese or morbidly obese. Examining the changes of obesity-related behaviors across different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic by race/ethnicity and geolocation is important to better understand the impact of the pandemic on the obesity epidemic in the US. This study investigates these behavioral changes using cellphone-based place visitation data and explores the geographic and racial disparities in these changes. The findings aim to guide evidence-based policymaking and inform strategies for addressing obesity disparities in terms of resource allocation and prevention interventions efforts in the context of the pandemic.

"Location, Location, Location! How Impacts of the Pandemic for Immigrants Varied by Place"
Rob Smith, CUNY

This paper analyzes how the impacts of the pandemic varied for immigrants in upstate New York compared to those in New York City. Drawing on surveys and interviews, we find that the pandemic impacted immigrants we worked with in New York City much more than those in upstate New York. The former experienced devastating income loss and widespread food and housing insecurity, and many cases of COVID illness, including severe, long term COVID. In contrast, upstate immigrants we worked with did not experience massive income loss or severe food insecurity, and some even saw their incomes increase, as employers paid extra to keep them in the first phase of the pandemic. We argue that location and industry played big roles in these differences, because New York based participants worked mainly in construction, restaurants, and personal services in New York City -- all of which closed for extended periods in the pandemic, into 2021 -- while those upstate worked in agriculture or related industries, which were essential, or even grew in the pandemic (including packing food or meals to be delivered to downstate cities). We also hypothesize that the timing of COVID infections (later in upstate) meant that more people were vaccinated and that the disease was likely less deadly when they got it.

Dec 16, 2024

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