Researchers from the University of California, Irvine’s Program in Public Health and the School of Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine have received a $700,000 subcontract award from the City of Santa Ana to address inequities and gaps in health services, and enhance COVID-19 testing and other mitigation measures in racial and ethnic minority populations and other socially vulnerable populations.
“The City of Santa Ana’s investment shows their continued commitment to better understanding barriers to care and implementing real world strategies to improve the health and well-being of our county’s most vulnerable populations.”
– Sora Tanjasiri, DrPH, MPH, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics
Orange County has large health inequities affecting Latinos and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) who compose 55 percent of its 3.2 million inhabitants or roughly 1.76 million people. One example is that Latino and AAPI older adults (65+) in Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) areas have been vaccinated in proportions 10-20 percent lower than those of the total older adult population.
Nearly 600,000 residents in the City of Santa Ana and surrounding North Orange County live in areas that fall in the highest quartile of the SVI, a measure of a neighborhood’s social and economic conditions, like crowding and poverty. SVIs can amplify the health burdens of disasters such as COVID-19 to its residents. Residents of these high-SVI neighborhoods make up 18 percent of Orange County’s total population, but 41 percent of its confirmed COVID cases and 43 percent of COVID deaths.
“The City of Santa Ana’s investment shows their continued commitment to better understanding barriers to care and implementing real world strategies to improve the health and well-being of our county’s most vulnerable populations,” said Sora Tanjasiri, DrPH, MPH, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics.
Joining Tanjasiri as co-PI on the project is John Billimek, PhD, an associate professor in the UCI School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine.
“This project builds upon a successful, established partnership among UCI, Santa Ana and the County of Orange, aimed at reversing practices and responses that exacerbated inequities in North Orange County,” said Billimek. “Alongside partners and students that represent the cultural and linguistic diversity of our county, we hope to amplify community expertise and priorities to shape how health information and resources are made available to residents of Orange County’s high-SVI areas, both for COVID and beyond.”
Tanjasiri and Billimek will play a critical role in evaluating the Initiative’s progress and forming the community-based partnerships that are essential to the project’s success. A technical advisory group will be established and will include academic and clinical advisors in infectious disease, public health, community engagement, and primary care. The advisory group will provide data-driven guidance and initiate ongoing evaluation on process, reach, and outcome measures.
The $700,000 award is part of a larger award of $4M that Santa Ana received from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health.
