Planning for Healthy Shops began July 2021 with a planning team consisting of PCHD staff, the Pima County Communications Office, and local community partners. Initial analysis of data suggested the team would “target” zip codes or census tracts with high COVID-19 cases, low vaccination rates, and/or areas with high social vulnerability index to provide vaccinations, testing, and education. The goal was to draft and implement a “branded” vaccination initiative leveraging community relationships within industries negatively impacted by the pandemic. Using the mobile testing and vaccination strategies, the PCHD planning team was able to quickly seek the input of the community utilizing established partnerships between PCHD and the Community Advisory Committee (CAC). The CAC is a large group of community organizations, leaders, and healthcare entities across Pima County tasked with guiding COVID-19 related efforts in collaboration with PCHD. With the help of the CAC, PCHD connected with local barbershop owners and training academy instructors to request their expertise within the industry and collaboration in the initiative. A formal initiative proposal was presented to the Pima County Communications Office in August 2021 in order to devise a media and branding strategy.
Together, the Healthy Shops planning team created marketing and branding material, launched a full-scale media campaign, and planned pilot vaccination events at two local barbershops by October 2021. Shop owners played a large role in the in the media creation process by developing media content, displaying branding and education in and around their shop, and hosting interviews with local news stations and Pima County Communications Office. Shop owners have also leveraged their large community following to promote the initiative and vaccination events through their social channels.
In the early phases of the vaccination roll-out, PCHD was cognizant of the fact that the community would need to play a large role in vaccination efforts. In January 2021, a large group of community organizations, leaders, and healthcare entities across Pima County began aiding vaccination efforts through use of their resources, property, and healthcare workforce—with the purpose of swiftly and equitably providing COVID-19 vaccinations. By April 2020, this group was formally recognized as the PCHD Community Advisory Committee (CAC), which was tasked to guide all community COVID-19 efforts. These community stakeholders have been the guiding force for PCHD and have played a large role in vaccination success. This innovative partnership has allowed PCHD to expand health equity and literacy efforts across a multitude of COVID-19 related services and resources. With the help of the CAC, PCHD was able to develop COVID-19 educational material, branding, testing flyers, vaccination information, and more beyond English and Spanish languages. To date, this material has been translated to 11 different languages to better serve the refugee and immigrant populations that have resettled or reside in Pima County. Community organizations that provide services to minority populations have been present at community vaccination sites in order to provide translation services to those who do not speak English. These organizations have also hosted vaccination sites to better serve their populations and act as a safe environment for those who may be weary of government entities. Organizations have acted as “Community Champions,” a designation given for encouraging respective communities to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The CAC also acts as a conduit between the community at large and PCHD. A team of PCHD staff is dedicated to frequently updating the CAC about evolving COVID-19 guidance and information, vaccination and testing events, drafting outreach material and providing print services, answering PCHD related questions, and addressing any issues that arise with the appropriate parties. This working relationship has given the community a voice to amplify their current health needs and historical inequities, which has given PCHD the unique opportunity to tailor outreach and health services efforts in unprecedented ways. At the height of the pandemic, PCHD staff launched their “care coordination” line, which acted as a directory to services such as rental assistance, food boxes, health care, COVID-19 testing sites, transportation, and mental health. This line provided resources and hope to those facing food insecurities, eviction, economic hardship, or mental health crises due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This resource continues to remain fully functional and evolves to meet the needs of the community to address health inequities.
Although COVID-19 continues to be a priority, the goal is to utilize and expand the CAC for existing and emerging outreach activities post-COVID-19. Looking to the future, PCHD hopes to expand the Healthy Shops initiative to reduce the incidence of chronic disease, increase awareness and reduce stigma on substance misuse, HIV/STI, and other public health threats. Providing critical health services to meet people where they are addresses health inequities by breaking down barriers to accessible health care. A focus on reducing inequities, targeted outreach to communities of highest needs, and community engagement practices will all carry forward into additional divisional and departmental programming for all mobile health services. In addition to reducing inequities due to COVID-19, the Healthy Shops initiative will have lasting effects beyond the pandemic. The initiative’s focus on addressing the upstream social determinants of health, prioritizing communities of highest need, and reducing inequities is a step in undoing systemic harms and creating equitable health outcomes for all.