Rochester Regional Health provides timely community-wide COVID-19 updates
The dissemination of consistent, accurate information throughout the COVID-19 pandemic is essential to combating pervasive misinformation and promoting vaccination efforts. Recognizing the need for community members to have access to COVID-19 updates to make informed decisions about their care, Rochester Regional Health took steps to reach out to the community.
RRH focused on addressing communities disproportionately affected by the virus. Collaborating with community and faith leaders, RRH reached as many people as possible to provide timely and relevant information to support informed decisions. Its goal was to equip people with the right questions to take back to their respective healthcare providers and make sure patients’ choices were rooted in current and accurate information.
RRH partnered with more than 30 groups to provide 90-minute informational sessions to discuss and address health disparities and historical traumas particular to its communities that still resonate today (for example, the infamous Tuskegee study). The discussions also included COVID-19 safety and other infection prevention methods and vaccine development and options. These discussions shifted in 2021 to address surges, variants, continued vaccine hesitancy, mandates and various clinical concerns (fertility, lactation, pregnancy, etc.).
The collaborations allowed RRH to reach 240,000 people across the five counties it serves. RRH has since developed health and wellness conversations to shift the community’s focus from the pandemic to overall wellness.
For more information, contact Rochester Regional Health’s Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, at diversity@rochesterregional.org.
