Barron County Integrated Response to Slow Community Spread of COVID-19

We learned that by having these trusted messengers in the community helped more than we ever imagined. Additionally, helping these communities build a better overall relationship with the Health Department makes them more likely to reach out for our other services.

– Sarah Turner, Public Health Specialist and Program Director at Barron County

At a Glance

Community health workers in Barron County worked to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on Somali and Hispanic residents in the county through innovative outreach methods and community-focused education efforts. Due to a lack of accurate, culturally-appropriate COVID-19 information in Somali and Spanish, community health workers sought to inform residents about health and safety measures to slow the community spread of COVID-19, as well as promote the importance of the vaccine.

Community health workers in Barron County successfully reduced community spread of COVID-19 and promoted the vaccine with outreach and education to non-English speaking residents who face disparities in local care and kept minority populations as informed and updated during the pandemic as the English-speaking population. The grant team helped keep outbreaks in these communities at the same level or lower than the majority population and identified households that fell below or near the federal poverty level to ensure that they had all the necessary essentials to remain in quarantine provided and reduce spread in the communities. The grant team also contributed to the equal or higher vaccination rates in the county’s Hispanic population.

The Challenge

During the pandemic, COVID-19 information that was accurate and culturally appropriate was in short supply in this predominately English-speaking county. Thus, additional efforts were needed to improve outreach in communities that spoke Somali and Spanish to inform residents about health and safety measures, slow the community spread of COVID-19, and educate on the importance of the vaccine.

Project Goals

The overarching goal of this project was to reduce the spread of COVID-19 through innovative education and outreach efforts to the community’s Spanish-speaking and Somali communities in coordination with some of the county’s largest employers, such as Jennie-O Turkey Store and Seneca Foods.

Results

The grant team deployed community health workers to reduce community spread of COVID-19 and promote the vaccine with outreach and education to the non-English speaking residents who face disparities in local care. By helping inform residents about health and safety measures surrounding COVID-19 through innovative outreach efforts and culturally appropriate materials, the community health workers kept minority populations in Barron County as informed and updated during the ever-changing conditions as the majority English-speaking population. Through the work of this project, the grant team helped keep outbreaks in these minority communities at the same level or lower than the majority population. To do this, with the help of community collaborators, the grant team identified households that fell below or near the federal poverty level and ensured that they had all the necessary essentials to remain in quarantine. As more residents practiced appropriate health and safety measures, all Barron County residents benefited from improved community practices. As the vaccine became available, the grant team set out to achieve equal or higher vaccination rates in these communities compared to the majority population and this was successful within the Hispanic population.

Looking to the Future

The grant team secured an additional grant to continue funding the work of the community health workers in Barron County. They continue to look into ways to sustain the project beyond the timeline of that grant and incorporate the community health workers into the everyday work of the health department.

Lasting Impact

The relationship with the local health department and the Hispanic and Somali communities has greatly improved. This project shed light on other areas the department and county services can become more culturally inclusive. Vaccination rates increased and other issues from these communities were brought to the attention of partners who are able to provide assistance.