Grants help community outreach program to address health disparities

Staff Reports

HAYS COUNTY – As part of National Public Health Week (April 4-10), Hays County Local Health Department (HCLHD) aims to spotlight its efforts to address health disparities. Under a combination of grants from the Texas Department of State Health Services, the HCLHD created the Community Outreach Program to address health disparities in the local Hispanic community and among school-aged children that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“During National Public Health Week, we will be promoting various public health topics to highlight the many ways in which we can improve the health and social determinants of our residents,” said Matthew Gonzales, a member of the health department’s outreach program team.

The COVID-19 Health Disparities Grant and the Public Health Workforce Expansion Grant, provide $400,000 and $330,000, respectively, to the HCLHD for the program. Funding runs through May 2023.

Through its community outreach, program members work to address the topics below by focusing on the social determinants of health of the various communities within Hays County. The program team is working to establish the HCLHD as a focal point for public health education, resources, and information for other organizations.

HCLHD Director Tammy Crumley said, “This program enables us to create partnerships that will empower local governmental agencies, organizations, and providers with the capability to decrease health disparities across Hays County.”

Focal points of the Community Outreach Program:

Infrastructure: Identify the workforce in place/to be hired to engage the targeted communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and build sustainable relationships in those communities.

Community Engagement: Identify and engage the targeted communities to explore and document reasons why their community was so impacted by COVID-19.

Covid-19 And Influenza Vaccinations: Identify and develop activities to maximize COVID-19 and Influenza vaccination rates in the targeted communities.

Partnership Directory: Identify and engage with new and existing community partners to address health disparities.

Health Disparities Intervention Design: Describe efforts to design an intervention aimed at addressing one of the factors that made the targeted community so vulnerable to COVID-19.

If any individual or organization would like to get involved with addressing healthcare disparities in Hays County, contact Program Manager Matthew Gonzales at 512-214-5918 or Matthew.Gonzales@co.hays.tx.us.