The Centre for Social Impact, Faculty of Business and Law, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
The Centre for Global Health and Equity, School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Front Public Health. 2023 Mar 24;11:1081767. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1081767. eCollection 2023.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, government directives for health and community services focused on building capacity for COVID-19 safe behaviors. During 2020-2021, there was mounting pressure to increase vaccination numbers to boost population-wide immunity, thereby enabling the lessening of pandemic response restrictions. The Australian population, in general, faced communication hurdles in understanding COVID-19, government directives and policies, and health initiatives. This was particularly challenging given the rapid changes in disease behaviors and community response requirements. This community case study documents local experience in delivering information about COVID-19 safety and vaccination to a former refugee community (the Karen community) in regional Victoria. Community outreach and codesign approaches established closer engagement between the Karen community and Bendigo Community Health Services (BCHS). This case study is explored through semi-structured interviews conducted face-to-face and videoconferencing with key Karen community leaders, Karen community members, vaccination clinic volunteers, and BCHS staff and bicultural workers. A hybrid approach that employed community outreach and codesign approaches in tandem built trust and closer ties between the Karen community and BCHS, leading to increased understanding and compliance with COVID-19 safe messages and vaccination uptake. Community-led innovations included codesign of COVID-19 fact sheets and videos in the Karen language, involvement of "local champions," assisting Karen businesses with COVID-19 safe plans, and creation of a COVID-19 information hotline. The latter was facilitated by BCHS bicultural staff. These innovations supported the delivery of vaccination clinics at the local Karen Temple. Embedding multi-level, tailored, and responsive public health approaches is particularly important in complex settings where there are disproportionately high levels of community disadvantage, as occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，政府针对卫生和社区服务的指令侧重于建立 COVID-19 安全行为的能力。在 2020-2021 年期间，人们越来越需要增加疫苗接种人数以提高人群免疫力，从而减轻大流行应对限制。澳大利亚民众普遍在理解 COVID-19、政府指令和政策以及卫生倡议方面存在沟通障碍。鉴于疾病行为和社区应对要求的快速变化，这尤其具有挑战性。本社区案例研究记录了在维多利亚州地区向一个前难民社区（即 Karen 社区）提供有关 COVID-19 安全和疫苗接种信息的当地经验。社区外展和共同设计方法使 Karen 社区与本迪戈社区卫生服务中心（BCHS）之间建立了更紧密的联系。通过与 Karen 社区的主要领导人、Karen 社区成员、疫苗接种诊所志愿者以及 BCHS 工作人员和双语工作人员进行面对面和视频会议的半结构化访谈，对本案例研究进行了探讨。采用社区外展和共同设计方法的混合方法建立了 Karen 社区和 BCHS 之间的信任和更紧密的联系，从而提高了对 COVID-19 安全信息和疫苗接种的理解和遵守程度。社区主导的创新包括共同设计 COVID-19 情况说明书和 Karen 语视频、“本地冠军”的参与、协助 Karen 企业制定 COVID-19 安全计划以及创建 COVID-19 信息热线。后者由 BCHS 双语工作人员协助完成。这些创新支持了在当地 Karen 寺庙举办的疫苗接种诊所。在复杂的环境中，特别是在社区处于明显劣势的情况下，嵌入多层次、量身定制和响应迅速的公共卫生方法非常重要，COVID-19 大流行期间就是如此。
