Hispanic, black and pacific islandeR perspectives on COVID-19 oUtreach Strategies and patient centered outcomes (HeAR US)

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Effective communication strategies are key to improving vaccination rates and reducing health disparities due to COVID-19. With our project, Hispanic, black and pacific islandeR perspectives on COVID-19 oUtreach Strategies and patient centered outcomes (HeAR US), we plan to understand the diverse perspectives, preferences, and unmet needs about COVID-19 outreach from people who are often unheard and hard-to- reach. We have two specific aims: 1) To understand perspectives and unmet needs of diverse Black, Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) subgroups to inform existing FDA communications related to COVID-19 vaccination; 2) To develop a culturally-tailored COVID-19 communication playbook and implementation strategy for Hispanics, Blacks, and NHPI individuals. We will engage diverse voices from highly-impacted underserved communities from across the US (i.e., Hawaii, Texas, Tennessee, Florida, Washington DC, Puerto Rico), from diverse racial/ethnic groups (Hispanic, Black, NHPI), and from diverse communities (rural, urban) and age groups. We will perform 15 focus groups of unvaccinated and partially vaccinated Hispanic, Black and NHPI people from hard-to-reach communities. Based on the information from the focus groups, we will use expert advice from a Subject Matter Expert Group and a System and Community Stakeholder Group to develop a culturally-tailored communication plan and implementation strategy that is grounded in the theories of health literacy and implementation science and responsive to the perspectives of health care systems and public health policy.