Community-Based Education of COVID-19 on Hispanic Church Members at Better Life Worship Center in Clermont, FL.

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.