Advancing Health Equity, Addressing Disparities (AHEAD AZ)

Workforce trainings 

Navigator Training in Pima County

The AHEAD team and Pima County Health Department developed a navigator model to facilitate the work of community health workers/representatives (CHW/CHR) and health coaches in Pima county. 

This model aimed to build navigator capacity through the development of two key resources:

1. Comprehensive toolkit of social and health services in Pima County classified by zip code and district. 
2. Navigator training included topics such as Understanding Social Determinants of Health, Motivational Interviewing, Building Community Resilience and others. 

The AHEAD team hosted a podcast series to highlight the innovative work being done in the state of Arizona by its own residents.

What is the hidden impact of COVID-19 in communities across the region and how are people helping to empower their own neighbors?  The AHEAD team spoke with subject matter experts, researchers, and community leaders to explore the narratives behind the good work being done to combat the global pandemic in our backyard. 

Schedule of Podcast Guests:

• Pediatrics and the Pandemic: An interview with Dr. Conrad Clemens on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Arizona's children. (Feb. 9. 2023)
• Introduction: Conversation with the Children's Action Alliance Join us as we tackle policy and health issues impacting families in the state of Arizona. 

Supporting Arizonan Communities that were disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

The AzCRH AHEAD initiative served communities and populations across Arizona that were disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative addressed COVID-19 health and health related disparities* in myriad capacities including provision of public health training to tribal community health representatives, supporting rural and small libraries across the state implementing programming that addressed community health and well-being, collaboration with MOVE UP mobile health units to expand access to COVID-19 vaccination and testing to underserved and rural communities, education outreach to rural communities on substance use disorder/opioid use disorder (SUD/OUD), and the establishment of a practitioner-to-practitioner COVID-19 support line connecting rural healthcare providers with clinical experts. 

* Healthy People 2030 (https://health.gov/healthypeople) defines a health disparity as “a particular type of health difference that is linked with social, economic, and/or environmental disadvantage” that adversely affect groups of people who have systematically experienced greater obstacles of health. 

Mobile Outreach Vaccination Education for Underserved Populations (MOVE UP)
AHEAD and MOVE UP lead by Dr. Cecilia Rosales removed the challenges that rural areas, communities of color, and underserved populations faced when obtaining vaccines, such as transportation, access to sites, a lack of registration assistance, and language barriers. While fixed-site and drive-up COVID-19 vaccine points of distribution (POD) work in urban areas, AHEAD and MOVE UP reach farmers, truck drivers, and essential workers at their workplace in rural and border communities, lessening the concern of taking time off from their labor activities. Additionally, the teams disseminated bilingual (Spanish/English) information through social media and visuals. 

Reflections on the COVID Response, Arizona Rural Health Conference

Links to MOVE UP events and virtual sessions:

• In Southern Arizona
• In Maricopa area

Substance Use Disorder (SUD)/Opioid Use Disorder (OUD)
The COVID-19 pandemic  presented multiple challenges for people with SUD and OUD, people seeking treatment, and people in recovery. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that while people with a SUD are more likely to require hospitalization and die from COVID-19than those without SUD, the rate is eight times higher for those diagnosed with a SUD during the pandemic. AHEAD is focused on connecting people with SUD/OUD to COVID-19 related, mental, and social services (e.g., vaccine, testing; transportation, housing aid) so they can continue their healing journey. Likewise, AHEAD worked with partners (e.g., Overdose Data to Action (OD2A), Rural Opioid Response Implementation (RORI), MOVE UP) to educate communities, including health workers and students, on the intersection between COVID-19 and SUD/OUD and factual evidence of COVID-19 vaccine. 

COVID-19 Toolkits & Resources

The Arizona Partnership for Immunization

NIH Community Engagement Alliance CEAL

De Beaumount Bold Solutions for Healthier Communities

Public Health Communication Collaborative

Covid-19 Toolkits- Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Made to Save- COVID-19 vaccines were made to save

Vaccine Confidence Toolkit

National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants (NRC-RIM)

National Foundation for Infectious Disease

COVID-19 Communication Network- John Hopkins

Rural Vaccine Confidence Initiative

COVID-19 Resources for Individuals with Disabilities

The Arc of Arizona

Rural Disability Hub (University of Montana)

AZ Developmental Disabilities Planning Council

COVID-19 Materials for People with IDD and Care Provides (CDC)

The AHEAD program partnered with local public health and healthcare agencies in rural Arizona to support COVID-19 response and recovery activities. Our work ranged from addressing the needs of our partners by  connecting them with other agencies and resources, to developing and implementing education, outreach and communication materials to support the front lines.

Below are some of our partners who we collaborated with to achieve our mission:

• ADHS - Arizona Department of Health Services
• MOVEUP - Mobile Outreach Vaccination & Education 
• AzHHA - Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association
• AZHEALTHTXT
• Pima County Health Department
• CEAL - Community Engagement Alliance
• The ARC of Arizona

AHEAD Lead

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Mona Arora, PhD, MSPH
Assistant Research Professor
Program Manager, AHEAD AZ
manand@arizona.edu