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While DCHHS is still offering COVID-19 vaccinations to uninsured adults, The CDC implemented the Bridge Access Program to provide no-cost COVID-19 vaccines to adults without health insurance. More information can be found at: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/bridge/index.html
Nationally, the CDC Bridge Access sites can be at
· Select pharmacies (CVS, Walgreens, eTrueNorth),
· HRSA-support health centers, and
· Local health providers.
These locations tend to be CVS and Walgreens locations for Dallas County. Dallas County residents can find Bridge Access Program locations here: https://www.vaccines.gov/. However, please call the facilities prior to leaving to ensure they are a Bridge Access Program location.
The Bride Access Program and how to find a participating location near you at: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/communication-resources.html?Sort=Date%3A%3Adesc&Topics=COVID-19%20Bridge%20Access%20Program.
FIRST MONTH OF COMMUNITY HEALTH LITERACY REFLECTION IN DALLAS BURUNDIAN COMMUNITY.
Health literacy is an important project the Dallas Burundian Community needs. More than 80 % of the elderly population in our community are illiterate, which affects our ability to learn and access the current information that is essential to our health and socio-economic advancement.
December 29th, 2022, at 4:30 PM, Dallas Burundian Community leaders hosted an in-person meeting and training with community volunteers to review the strategic plan for improving our health through a health education project sponsored by DCHHS in our community. The meeting started with 13 participants out of the 15 expected.
In the meeting, we all agreed that our community has an ongoing crisis due to a lack of health education. Therefore, we decided on the following strategies to successfully achieve our goals and objective.
▪ Provide strategic messaging and posters and recorded videos with translation in a language that is easy for them to understand such as Swahili, French, and Kirundi/Kinyarwanda.
▪ Phone-messaging group in which all high-risk individuals are included.
▪ Host Zoom meetings for health education held twice a week.
▪ Staff members will assist residents in person. Staff will deliver the information needed, address all questions relating to hygiene masks and social distance requirements, and take cautious steps to protect each other.
▪ Staff will send the pre-mid and post surveys to learn what residents know, and don’t know to enable the staff to track and adjust the health education delivery methodologies.
January 04, 2023, at 2:30 PM via Zoom: Dallas Burundian Community Executive President Ndayishimiye Innocent, and Executive Vice President Eric Nikiza, participated in COVID-19 Health Literacy Community Project Reimbursement Meeting and Q&A. Dallas County Health and Human Services hosted the meeting. The following were the key points of the discussion: The chief of staff, Katy Womble, introduced the team and welcomed the participants. Program monitor Wyatt Covarrubias explained the monthly programmatic reporting process, and finally, grants manager Saad Mustafa explained the monthly financial reporting and reimbursement process.
January 7th, 2023, at 6:00PM via zoom: Dallas Burundian Community hosted a meeting with 47 participants from our community. The agenda of the meeting was to create a group messaging platform where information about Covid-19 and other health information questions and answers can be directed either in audio or in writing. The meeting recommended the creation of a WhatsApp group because it allows active participation in discussion. The WhatsApp group will enable participants to send their questions and answers in audio or text. This platform allows even those who cannot read and write to express their opinions and concerns via audio. If the participant cannot read or write, they can press a record button on their phone, record their opinions, and send them to a group. Also, the other good feature of the WhatsApp platform is that it is easy to know who read and listened to the message. The WhatsApp group messaging was created, and 109 families joined this group. However, there were a few challenges due to our population needing to be more familiar with the technology. Our volunteer team visited a few families who needed help downloading the WhatsApp application and joining the group.
January 10th, 2023, Dallas Burundian Community released the first written and audio of the Covid-19 message in the group. The message contained updated information about the current COVID-19 situation in Dallas County. All information shared was translated into Kirundi and Swahili from the website of Dallas County https://www.dallascounty.org/departments/dchhs/
The first batch of information was translated into Kirundi and Swahili and shared in text and audio.
January 20th, 2023, Dallas Burundian Community released the second written and audio message about the Covid-19 Vaccine. What are myths and misconceptions people have about vaccines, what are the different types of vaccines, and how do they differ? All information shared was translated into Kirundi and Swahili from the website of Dallas County https://www.dallascounty.org/departments/dchhs/.
January 30th, 2023, Dallas Burundian Community hosted a zoom meeting to answer the questions people might have after listening to and reading about the current situation of Covid-19 in Dallas County. This zoom meeting also served as a review of what the community believes about Covid-19 and the vaccine. About 68 people participated in this zoom meeting after reviewing the two audio-visuals containing the information about Covid-19 and the vaccine. We ask them to give their opinions about their previous understanding of Covid-19 and vaccines. We gathered different thoughts about Covid-19 and vaccines from participants: about 8 % believed that Covid-19 is politicized and is not a threat. Thus, they don’t believe in vaccines too. 44% thought Covid-19 was a significant threat to our community but didn’t trust the vaccine’s safety and efficiency. 33% expressed that their opinions are neutral about Covid-19 because a lot of information they receive is conflicting. Finally, 15% believed that Covid-19 is a global threat and that an approved vaccine supported by scientific data is another way to eradicate this pandemic.
Following this meeting, three families received the covid-19 vaccine after clearing their myths and misconceptions. While at the clinic, they reached out to our volunteers to ask questions about the different types of vaccines they would receive from healthcare staff. Our volunteers explained to those families the differences between each type of vaccine, and the family received the vaccine with complete information and explanation in their native language.
MONTH OF FEBRUARY OF COMMUNITY HEALTH LITERACY REFLECTION IN
DALLAS BURUNDIAN COMMUNITY.
February 01, 2023. Dallas Burundian Community Team tasked with community health literacy met to discuss the current Covid-19 data update from CDC and DCHHS websites. The data show that the only vaccinated population with at least one dose in Dallas County is 62.42%. Among them are in the high-risk and vulnerable population of 75 years of age plus, only 5.84% are vaccinated, while less than 10% between 65-74 are vaccinated. Based on these data, we all agreed that more effort is needed to reach out to the elderly population in our community using phone calls, group messaging, and one on one discussions to educate them about the current situation, the importance of vaccination, and the risks associated with Covid-19 for unvaccinated patients with immunocompromised and vulnerable aged patients.
February 4th, 2023, at 6:00 PM Dallas Burundian Community hosted a virtual meeting with 28 participants to continue discussing the current COVID-19 updates. Through this meeting, we found out that about six families with 13 schoolchildren were sick, and eight of those children missed school for more than one day. We discussed the flu season and shared with them DCHHS information about Flu and how to protect themselves and their children during flu season.
February 12th, 2023, Dallas Burundian Community Volunteers distributed the Kirundi/Kinyarwanda, and Swahili translated flyers about Flu. Our volunteers distributed these
flyers in different places of worship where most of our community members gathered. About 120 copies in each language were delivered to our community. All information was accessed from the website of Dallas County at: https://www.dallascounty.org/Assets/uploads/docs/hhs/Influenza/GenPublicEnglish_001.pdf
February 17th , 2023, The Dallas Burundian Community health literacy Task team, using information and advice from the DCHHS website, translated and delivered another flyer that contains advice for parents who have children in schools. This flyer explains what parents are supposed to do in case one or some of their children have symptoms similar to that of the Flu. This advice helps parents take precautions and health experts’ guidelines to stop spreading Flu in school settings.
February 25th , 2023. The end-of-February meeting was held over zoom with 41 Dallas Burundian community members. The purpose of this meeting was to provide answers to the frequently asked questions in our community. In this meeting, we gave participants time to ask questions about the current situation of COVID-19 and discuss the current protective measures, including vaccination. This way, it helps to know our community members’ common misconceptions and myths.
DALLAS BURUNDIAN COMMUNITY HEALTH LITERACY REFLECTION IN THE MONTH OF MARCH 2023.
March 4th, 2023. Dallas Burundian Community Team tasked with community health literacy hosted a virtual meeting to review the ongoing program and its effectiveness for our community. More effort is needed to increase awareness of the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines.
March 10th, 2023, at 2:00 PM We contacted religious leaders in our community to plan an information-sharing session so that they could be part of the change in eradicating COVID-19 through a vaccination campaign. Some people in our community are hesitant to get vaccinated because of some misinformation that COVID-19 vaccination is against their beliefs. Our goal is to increase awareness of Covid-19 vaccines among religious leaders and enable them to understand the importance of immunization.
March 18th, 2023. The community health literacy team met to discuss the current outbreak of Marburg in Tanzania, east Africa, as CDC reported it. Many of our community members come from East Africa: Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Congo, Kenya, and Uganda, and they travel there most often, especially during Spring break and Summer. We took the initiative to translate and share the Marburg virus information and advice as recommended by CDC so that people who travel in the affected region can know what is going on there and take precautions. Sharing information with our community keeps everyone safe since it is possible that one traveler can bring the virus here to Dallas and infect the entire city.
March 22nd , 2023, The Community Health Literacy task team worked on sending voice messages and translated information from CDC “ Myths and Facts about Covid-19 Vaccines” We expect people to have the correct information about the vaccines. Also, we have sent out survey questionnaires in our community to collect data about how this program works and how we can improve it in the next three months.
March 31st, 2023. Dallas Burundian Community leadership team met with Mr. Wyatt Covarrubias, the Program-Monitor and Health Administration in Dallas County Health and Human Services. Our meeting discussed the ongoing Covid-19 community literacy program and its challenges. Also, we discussed the possibility of a non-cost extension of the program. Since our goal is to improve health in our community, we welcome the idea of extending the program. The decision on the non-cost extension of the program will be communicated later. Also, we discussed other challenges in the community, including mental health issues and malnutrition problems. Another discussion was the funding of general operations for the Dallas Burundian Community organization so that we can continue supporting our community.
DALLAS BURUNDIAN COMMUNITY HEALTH LITERACY REFLECTION IN THE MONTH OF APRIL 2023
April 1st, 2023. Dallas Burundian Community Team tasked with community health literacy hosted a virtual meeting to review the ongoing program and its effectiveness for our community. We sent the second survey in the community to assess the current level of Covid-19 transmission and vaccination program awareness among our community.
April 7th, 2023. The Community Health Literacy task team worked on sending voice messages and translated information from CDC “ The Post Covid conditions or long-Covid” We encouraged people to openly talk with their primary care providers in case they experience the symptoms of long-Covid.
April 15th, 2023. We continued our information-sharing plan with religious leaders to increase COVID-19 vaccination awareness. Still, people in our community are hesitant to get vaccinated because of some misinformation that COVID-19 vaccination is against their beliefs. Our goal continues to focus on increasing awareness of Covid-19 vaccines among religious leaders and enabling them to understand the importance of immunization.
April 22nd, 2023. Our community leadership team recognized the importance of youth in health literacy. The youth commission hosted a meeting with the community 38 youths participated to discuss their value and contribution to supporting our elderly population in the communities we serve and be the role model in practicing healthy living styles and hygiene to protect our seniors.
April 28th, 2023. The community health literacy team warns people traveling to East Africa to be careful because of the ongoing Marburg virus. Many people in our community travel a lot in summer; East Africa is the most traveled destination. Although some people receive advice from travel guides and health experts most of it is in English and people don’t fully understand how important it is to follow it while traveling abroad. The health literacy team continues to remind people who travel in those regions to follow the updated travel guidance and CDC advice regarding their destination very seriously.
DALLAS BURUNDIAN COMMUNITY HEALTH LITERACY REFLECTION IN THE MONTH OF MAY 2023
May 3rd , 2023. Dallas Burundian Community leader Mr. Ndayishimiye Innocent
hosted a virtual Zoom meeting with different spiritual organizations, such as African Missionary Fellowship Church and Burundian Muslims of DFW, to discuss how to work together to promote health in our communities since 90% of community members belong to either one of these spiritual organizations. All participants recognized their role in building healthy communities, and we’re committed to helping our community by reducing the spread of non-scientific based information and rumors that untrained spiritual leaders in our communities spread.
May 13, 2023. Our volunteer team and community health literacy continued to work together to encourage open discussion among the community’s high-risk individuals on the importance of keeping their regular doctor’s appointments and talking with their primary care providers about the Covid-19 vaccine and get more understanding that may clear out the confusion and misconceptions they might have about receiving Covid-19 vaccines.
May 17, 2023. The health literacy task team hosted a virtual training with 24 community members. The training consisted of safety and health education, especially for elderly people who have difficulty in communication due to the language barrier. Many senior services resources available in Dallas County were translated into Kirundi and Swahili and shared with participants.
May 22nd, 2023. Our community leadership team recognized the importance of our volunteers to improve each one’s health in communities. Dallas Burundian Community outreach program hosted a meeting with 38 participants from other communities, such as Congolese and Rwandese communities living in Dallas County, to discuss the value and contribution of each of us to protect ourselves and our elderly population from Covid-19. The theme was “ Together We Can Conquer Covid-19 by Taking Precautions and Vaccination.”
May 27th, 2023. The community health literacy team met to review the progress of the program and the impact this program has had on the community. Two surveys were collected: the first survey, which was conducted at the beginning of the program in January 2023, was compared with the mid-term survey, which was conducted in late April 2023. The data showed a positive trend of overall improved awareness of the COVID-19 virus and the Covid-19 vaccine.
Figure 4: Track of level of precaution about Covid-19
The mid-term survey showed increased confidence in the level of precautions about Covid-19 compared to the initial survey that was conducted in January 2023.
Figure 5: Track of awareness about Covid-19 risk factors.
This chart also shows an increase of 18% level of Covid-19 risk factors awareness. The more people understand the risk factors of Covid-19, the more measures and precautions are taken to protect themselves.
Figure 6: Track of willingness to take the Covid-19 vaccine. The data in Figure 6 also shows an increase of 21% level of willingness to take vaccines.
Figure 7:Track of trust about Covid-19 vaccine safety.
Figure 8: Track of Covid-19 Vaccine misconception about DNA Alteration.
DALLAS BURUNDIAN COMMUNITY HEALTH LITERACY REFLECTION IN THE MONTH OF JUNE 2023.
June 2nd, 2023. The Health Literacy Task Team in Dallas Burundian Community met to review the current COVID-19 situation in Dallas County. Everyone was reminded that COVID-19 is still here and has gone nowhere. We are still required to be cautious because the risk level still requires proceeding carefully. We have not reached the new everyday life because not everyone has been vaccinated. A sensibilization and mobilization effort is still needed to continue educating the community on how we can move from the yellow risk level to the green level.
June 5th, 2023. We sent the final survey using different communication platforms. The survey was sent to people’s phone numbers as text messages, emails, phone calls, and one-on-one interviews for those who don’t read and write. About 164 people were reached out to take the survey but 26 of them declined to participate and only 138 were able to provide their feedback. This survey lasted for three weeks from June 5th through June 25th.
June 24, 2023. To successfully conduct the final survey, the Dallas Burundian Community organized the youth and adult soccer game at 6200 E Grand, Dallas TX 75223. Before the game started, our volunteers shared information about the current risk level of COVID-19 in Dallas County. The attendees were given the survey slip in different languages such as Kirundi-Kinyarwanda and Swahili to provide their feedback about COVID-19.
Figure.
Among the players, few volunteers contracted Covid-19 in 2021. They shared their experience in the recovery process and their decision to take the vaccine. The story was important for the community and helped to eliminate the fake news that whoever takes vaccines does not become strong and active as before. Those soccer players proved that vaccines did not affect their strength and soccer skills.