Bilingual care navigation and enhanced case management during COVID-19

COVID-19 disparities exposed health inequity across socioeconomic status, with community members of color experiencing higher rates of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and death. Racial/ethnic differences were especially disparate in Benton and Washington counties in northwest Arkansas, a region in the United States that experienced high COVID-19 infection rates. To address these disparities and support families with COVID-19, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Community Clinic (a federally qualified health center) worked with the Arkansas Department of Health and community partners to develop systematic Care Navigation and Enhanced Case Management. During an initial screening process, contact tracers offered Care Navigation and Enhanced Case Management services to individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 within Washington and Benton counties. Bilingual community health navigators, social workers, and nurses began providing enhanced case management to households that accepted services. Between September 9, 2020 and June 19, 2021, 3,502 households representing ∼13,000 individuals were offered services, and 1,511 (43.1%) households requested/accepted services. Based on our experience, we provide four recommendations for practice: (a) provide contact tracing in community members' preferred language, (b) incorporate assessments into the contact tracing process to ensure community members have necessary resources for quarantine, (c) implement comprehensive care navigation and case management services for those who need additional support, and (d) integrate bilingual health navigators who are part of the target community into the process. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Use of Community-Based Participatory Research Partnerships to Reduce COVID-19 Disparities Among Marshallese Pacific Islander and Latino Communities - Benton and Washington Counties, Arkansas, April-December 2020

Marshallese and Latino communities in Benton and Washington counties, Arkansas, were disproportionately affected by COVID-19. We evaluated the effectiveness of a comprehensive community-based intervention to reduce COVID-19 disparities in these communities. We examined all laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases in the 2 counties reported from April 6, 2020, through December 28, 2020. A 2-sample serial t test for rate change was used to evaluate changes in case rates before and after implementation of the intervention. After implementation, the proportions of cases among Marshallese and Latino residents declined substantially and began to align more closely with the proportions of these 2 populations in the 2 counties. Infection rates remained lower throughout the evaluation period, and weekly incidence also approximated Marshallese and Latino population proportions. Leveraging community partnerships and tailoring activities to specific communities can successfully reduce disparities in incidence among populations at high-risk for COVID-19 .