Community Engagement Alliance Against COVID-19 Disparities

 To address health disparities during COVID-19, The National Institutes of Health has awarded $12 million for outreach and engagement in ethnic and racial minority communities disproportionately affected by the pandemic. The NIH has called their 11-state alliance the Community Engagement Alliance Against COVID-19 Disparities, or CEAL. Here in Arizona a team has received initial funding to create CEAL programs immediately. 

 The team is led by the University of Arizona, specifically the Arizona CEAL COVID Consortium consists of Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University, Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale and the University of Arizona. Co-principal investigators, are Sabrina Oesterle from ASU, Samantha Sabo from the Center for health Equity Research at NAU, Chyke Abadama Doubeni from the Mayo Clinic effort, and Floribella Redondo Martinez from the Arizona Community Health Workers Association Inc. 

 Our goal is to conduct community-engaged research and outreach to increase COVID-19 awareness and education among communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and to reduce misinformation and mistrust. 

 Visit nau.edu/cher/ceal/ for more information! 

 Discuss the new COVID vaccines to ensure CHWs are trained with credible information to support their communities. CHWs will learn lots of information on the COVID vaccines, such as safety, benefits, speaking with clients, myths, and how the vaccine works. This training features interactive questions and activities to increase virtual engagement and participation.