In the last year, Catholic Charities of Oregon reached more than 1,600 people with health outreach and education.
Included in that count are Catholic Charities affordable housing residents who attended one of 10 onsite health fairs, nine of them with vaccine clinics. Health workers at the fairs administered 75 COVID-19 vaccinations and 82 flu shots.
The events included more than needles. Held in partnership with Providence Community Health, La Clinica Health Centers, Walgreens, and Multnomah County Health Departments, the fairs included information, healthy food and referrals for care.
The project was part of the National Council on Aging’s Vaccine Uptake Initiative, funded by a $50 million grant from the U.S. Administration for Community Living to ensure older adults and people with disabilities get the latest COVID and flu vaccines. It was also part of Catholic Charities’ Healthy Housing Initiative, which seeks to combine good housing and healthcare access.
Catholic Charities resident services coordinators and property managers disseminated COVID-19, flu, and RSV vaccine information and resources in the form of newsletters and flyers to more than 1,600 adult residents at all 23 Catholic Charities-owned affordable housing properties throughout the state of Oregon. The vaccine information was provided in both English and Spanish.
Many of Catholic Charities’ low-income housing complexes are specifically designated to house only older adults and/or people with disabilities. In addition, 10 of the nonprofit’s properties have Permanent Supportive Housing units, which are units specifically reserved for residents who have a chronic, disabling condition and have experienced chronic homelessness.
Catholic Charities staff say they learned that building trust with the target population can take a long time but is important and will pay off later. And whenever possible, trust-building should begin prior to vaccine education and outreach efforts.
“When our very first interaction with a client or resident was to encourage them to get vaccinated, we observed that the vaccine messaging was less persuasive than if we had previously established a connection with that resident or client in a different context,” said a report from the agency.
Over time, many Afghan residents living in Catholic Charities housing called the Kateri Cluster went from being leery of vaccines to acceptance.
“Many of the Afghan women opted to get a COVID-19 and/or flu vaccine,” said the Catholic Charities report. “In the span of just a few months, we noticed a major shift in their attitude toward and acceptance of vaccines. We largely attribute this change in vaccine behavior to the fact that CCO staff and volunteers were able to build trust with these Afghan families through other recurring, health-related programming, namely the weekly on-site food pantry for Kateri Cluster residents. The CCO staff and volunteers from the food pantry were the same ones promoting and hosting the vaccine clinics. These CCO staff and volunteers have become recognizable, reliable, and trusted figures in this community who are known to provide free, high-quality, healthy, and convenient groceries every week.”
There were other benefits to the clinics. The events brought neighbors, friends, and family together to socialize in communal spaces. In the community rooms, adults could sit and talk while kids played. All had access to healthy snacks and drinks as well as goodies.
Catholic Charities staff are in talks with Providence to identify dates for future health fairs.
A resident at a Catholic Charities housing site for seniors receives a vaccine last fall.