Developing and executing a rapid-response campaign using disaggregated data to design culturally specific approaches to addressing the COVID-19 crisis

Health Disparities. This funding supports the Raben Group's work, which is also supported by a number of other funders and by in-kind support from the Group itself, in developing a campaign, led by a new coalition of health equity and civil rights stakeholders, that will call for tracking and reporting on novel coronavirus testing, COVID-19 cases, health outcomes, and mortality rates, using data disaggregated by race, ethnicity, primary language, genders, disability status, and socioeconomic status. Social, health, and civil rights groups are advocating the collection of demographic data during the COVID-19 pandemic. Up-to-date demographic data analyses can aid in decision-making, targeting resources to the people and places most affected and ensuring that equity principles are applied to inhibit discrimination against any who need testing, treatment, or relief assistance. The campaign's goal is to achieve better health outcomes by providing policymakers, advocates, and health care providers with a clear understanding of how COVID-19 impacts different population segments, to better inform more calibrated responses as funding decisions are being made. This health equity project recognizes that COVID-19 health disparities can only be eliminated by knowing how social determinants of health systems are affecting disparities outcomes. High-quality information will track immediate problems and inform message campaigns, intervention-design protocols, economic reopening decisions, and specific medical and public health approaches for population subgroups. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation support will support staff time and direct expenses for the campaign's public, nonlobbying communication needs.