Bilingual care navigation and enhanced case management during COVID-19

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Equity
• Community Health

Background:

• COVID-19 highlighted significant health inequities, with communities of color facing higher infection, hospitalization, and mortality rates.
• Racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 outcomes were particularly pronounced in northwest Arkansas.
• Existing health systems struggled to adequately support vulnerable populations during the pandemic.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address COVID-19 disparities and support affected families in Benton and Washington counties, Arkansas.
• To implement and evaluate a systematic Care Navigation and Enhanced Case Management program.
• To provide recommendations for improving public health interventions for vulnerable communities.

Main Methods:

• A collaborative effort between the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Community Clinic, Arkansas Department of Health, and community partners.
• Contact tracers offered Care Navigation and Enhanced Case Management services to individuals testing positive for COVID-19.
• Bilingual community health navigators, social workers, and nurses provided case management to consenting households.

Main Results:

• Between September 2020 and June 2021, 3,502 households (approximately 13,000 individuals) were offered services.
• 1,511 households (43.1%) accepted the offered Care Navigation and Enhanced Case Management services.
• The program demonstrated a feasible model for delivering targeted support to at-risk populations.

Conclusions:

• Contact tracing should be conducted in preferred languages to improve engagement.
• Integrating resource assessments into contact tracing ensures individuals have necessary quarantine support.
• Comprehensive care navigation and case management are vital for addressing health disparities.
• Employing bilingual health navigators from the target community enhances program effectiveness and trust.