3 minute read
Kalyse Houston
Kalyse Houston
Mentor: Marco Robinson Division of Social Work, Behavioral and Political Sciences
Introduction: This study brings light to the impact of the Covid-19 Epidemic and Racial disparities related to the health of black residents of Waller County. The project leaders will engage in conducting interviews and gathering survey data to document the resident's story and, in turn, provide the community with an outlet to solicit resources to help alleviate their current situation. More importantly, through illuminating these persistent issues and bringing awareness to Waller County's African American resident's plight, policy makers, community stakeholders, and leaders will gain insight into ways to address these problems. Methods: There is limited research documenting the impact of COVID-19 on African Americans in Texas's rural counties. Husserl's (1962) phenomenological approach will be utilized to explore the lived experiences of African American church members in Waller County, Texas, in the face of COVID19 using semistructured open-ended interview questions. Survey tools with known validity will also be incorporated to obtain quantitative pieces of measurement regarding the quality of life and health literacy. Health literacy is an important component of implementing health behavior, outcomes, and understanding the treatment regimens recommended (Weekes, 2012). The instrument for this study will be adopted from the "Healthy People 2010-2030" and the short-form Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2019). Results and Discussion: Currently, our research team is working with the pastor and several parishioners at St. Francis Assisi Episcopal Church located in Waller County. To date, we have been able to obtain survey data from three of the church members. During the Spring Semester, we plan to survey additional members and conduct zoom interviews with all of these individuals. The data we have obtained has revealed much about the health literacy and impact of Covid-19 on members of the church. As revealed by survey data, one church family impacted by Covid-19 was left defenseless at home until they could get help from the larger community. Also, this family had difficulty getting medical attention due to the lack of facilities in Waller County. This information gives much insight to correlate with the rest of the church members experiences and the member's health literacy juxtaposed to the impact of Covid-19. Due to the escalating Covid-19 numbers impacting members and the community, we had to halt our efforts several times. Many members were not feeling well or receiving medical attention when we contacted them. Conclusions: There is much work to be done in collecting more survey data and starting the interviews. At this point, we need to collect more data to draw any solid conclusions regarding the church members which we are studying. We have concluded the lack of an immediate hospital facility in the area has presented challenges to church members. Our further collection of data will allow us to meet our project aims of accessing the congregants' level of health literacy and determining the impact Covid-19 is having on them.
References:
1. Flood, Anne. "Understanding phenomenology: Anne Flood looks at the theory and methods involved in phenomenological research." Nurse Researcher, vol. 17, no. 2, 2010, p. 7+. Gale
OneFile: Health and Medicine, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A219831360/HRCA?u=txshracd2540&sid=HRCA&xid=f7e85d4. Accessed 4 Jan. 2021. 2. Weekes, Carmon V. 2012. "African Americans and Health Literacy: A Systematic Review." ABNF
Journal 23 (4): 76–80. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cpid&custid=s1088435&db=a9h &AN=83368843&site=ehost-live.
3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2019 "Healthy People 2010-2030". https://health.gov/healthypeople.
