Community-Based Education of COVID-19 on Hispanic Church Members at Better Life Worship Center in Clermont, FL.
Community-Based Education of COVID-19 on Hispanic Church Members at Better Life Worship Center in Clermont, FL.
Date
2022
Authors
Figueroa, Aixa
Yook, Kaitlyn
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Abstract
The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has exacerbated the social and
economic injustices leading to accentuated health inequities. Health inequities originate from
disparate treatment of certain populations based on socioeconomic or sociodemographic
characteristics, and leads to inferior access to treatment, life expectancies, quality of life, and
heightened severity of disease. A review of the literature highlighted Hispanics as a population
that has been significantly affected by health inequities. Hispanics are dying from COVID-19 an
average of 10 years younger than their African Americans and 20 years younger than their
Caucasians. Furthermore, political, and media-driven controversies have caused the spread of
inconsistent and false information regarding COVID-19. Community health education increases
awareness, decreases further spread of disease, and improves the overall health of the
community. Therefore, in order to bridge the health inequity gap and promote accurate
evidence-based information, a 60-minute educational session regarding the health effects,
transmission, and prevention of COVID-19 was conducted at Better Life Worship Center
(BLWC) in Clermont, FL. A pretest/posttest design was utilized to measure change in knowledge
and retention of knowledge in this qualitative, quasi-experimental scholarly project. Statistical
analysis of the results showed a significant increase of mean scores between the pretest (mean
score = 8.80) and the posttest (mean score = 9.80), with a slight decrease between the posttest
and the one-month posttest (mean score = 9.51). These findings further support the foundation of
future research into the influence of knowledge on behavior adaptations and safety promotion.