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COVID-19 Risk Assessment Among Vulnerable Small Business Owners in El Paso County, Texas
Sadie H Conway1, Denise Vasquez, Kristina D Mena
1From the Smith Scientific LLC, Houston, TX (S.H.C.); UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, El Paso, Texas (D.V., K.D.M., L.D.B.); Texas Epidemic Public Health Institute, Houston, Texas (D.V., J.R.); Scientific Innovation & Business Performance LLC, Little Rock, Arkansas S.K.); and UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, Houston, Texas (J.R.).
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
|September 25, 2024
Summary
Community health workers provided tailored COVID-19 risk assessments for small businesses in high-risk areas. Culturally sensitive outreach identified hazards and improved mitigation strategies for vulnerable workers.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health
- Infectious Disease Control
- Community-Based Participatory Research
Background:
- High-risk areas in the US face significant COVID-19 transmission challenges.
- Vulnerable workers in small businesses require tailored risk assessments and mitigation strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To deliver actionable, worksite-specific COVID-19 risk assessments.
- To develop mitigation strategies for vulnerable workers in high-risk environments.
Main Methods:
- Four bilingual community health workers (CHWs) recruited small businesses (≤20 employees).
- On-site infectious disease risk assessment surveys were conducted with employers and employees.
- Focus on industries in high-risk areas.
Main Results:
- 102 businesses participated, 95% Hispanic-owned; 96% deemed high or very high risk for COVID-19 transmission.
- All businesses implemented some transmission reduction practices.
- Nearly 50% lacked 13 of 17 identified risk mitigation controls.
Conclusions:
- Tailored, culturally sensitive outreach by CHWs effectively identified and educated businesses on hazards.
- CHW-led methods are potentially transferable to similar communities for infectious disease control.
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