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African Americans and the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative inquiry of preparedness, challenges, and strategies on how we can move forward

RATIONALE: The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted Black Americans. Inequities in systems and social determinants of health along with racial health disparities impact degree of pandemic preparedness. OBJECTIVE: In early pandemic stages, we aimed to explore: 1) state of pandemic prepar...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Cunningham-Erves, Jennifer, Parham, Imari, Alexander, Leah, Moss, Jamal, Barre, Iman, Gillyard, Taneisha, Davis, Jamaine
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier Ltd. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9242697/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35793594
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115185
Descripción
Sumario:RATIONALE: The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted Black Americans. Inequities in systems and social determinants of health along with racial health disparities impact degree of pandemic preparedness. OBJECTIVE: In early pandemic stages, we aimed to explore: 1) state of pandemic preparedness; 2) effects of socio-ecological factors on preparedness; and 3) multi-level strategies to increase preparedness among uniquely, vulnerable Black American subgroups. METHODS: We conducted 62 in-depth interviews with Black American community members representing parents, individuals with underlying medical conditions, essential workers, and young adults. Based on the McLeroy's Model Ecological for Health Promotion, an inductive-deductive content analysis approach was used to analyze the interview data around the factors influencing preparedness on individual, interpersonal processes and primary groups, community/institutional, and public policy. RESULTS: Majority (56.5%) of the participants stated they were somewhat or very prepared. We identified four themes: 1) Lived Experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic; 2) Challenges experienced during the COVID-19 Pandemic; 3) I would do this differently they say; 4) Changes Needed to Survive the Pandemic relate to Public Policy, Community/institutional factors, and Interpersonal processes and primary group(s). All participants described their adjustments to live in the new norm. Participants identified perceived challenges and solutions on multi-levels, driven by subgroup. CONCLUSIONS: Pandemic response plans should use targeted strategies across multi-levels to enhance the preparedness of Black Americans, especially those in vulnerable groups. This could reduce the disproportionate COVID-19 disease burden exhibited by Black Americans and better prepare for future pandemics.