COVID-19 Risk Reduction Among African American Parishioners

African American adults, specifically those managing chronic disease and social isolation, are one of the most vulnerable groups susceptible to COVID-19. This intervention involves a multi-disciplinary and culturally sensitive approach to address two major COVID-19 related challenges in this population. First, this program collaborates with predominantly African American churches to implement Federal and State guidelines aimed at preventing outbreaks of COVID-19 at faith-based gatherings. Second, this program trains church-based health advisors to help African American older parishioners manage their chronic health conditions and reduce psychological distress during the pandemic.

To jointly implement and evaluate a telehealth-based, multidisciplinary, culturally-sensitive intervention with 265 AA older parishioners: (i) To mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 on the management of chronic health conditions, and (ii) to reduce healthcare avoidance behaviors and psychological distress.