Disparate Impacts of COVID-19 in New York’s Capital Region: A View from the Local Community on the Socioemotional Experience of the Pandemic

Presenter Information

Annis Golden, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow
Archana Krishnan, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow
Lawrence M. Schell, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow
Masahiro Yamamoto, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow
Olivia Mata, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow
Elizabeth Holdsworth, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow
Hnin Wai Lwin Myo, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow
Pallavi Khurana, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow
Amy Williams, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow

Start Date

21-6-2021 10:55 AM

End Date

21-6-2021 11:40 AM

Topic

Community Engagement + Community Anchor Institutions

Session Chair

Rosie Love

Abstract

The Capital Region Collaborative Community Survey project was undertaken in December 2020-January 2021 to document the social, economic and health impacts of COVID-19 on residents in the Capital Region, particularly in the city of Albany. A special emphasis was made on documenting disparate impacts on Black and African American (B/AA) communities, as they have been consistently identified as being disproportionately affected by COVID-19. With the active participation of the Albany Minority Health Task Force (AMHTF) – a group of professionals from the Albany community concerned with the health of Communities of Color within the Capital Region, an interdisciplinary study team disseminated a comprehensive survey (N = 239) cataloging healthcare utilization, social relationships, demographics, job and living conditions, technology access, and information-seeking during the COVID-19 pandemic; and conducted 25 follow-up interviews with survey participants. This report focuses on a subset of findings from the full survey that are related to the socioemotional impact of the pandemic. More specifically, we report data on (1) the impact of the pandemic on work, income, and on food and shelter insecurities; (2) direct and indirect experiences of the virus and associated anxieties; and (3) the indirect impact of the virus on health and well being through its effect on accessing routine health services, increased needs to access mental health services, concerns about the impact on the well being of children, and experiences of racism. Implications of these findings are discussed, and recommendations for action are provided, which are grounded in interviewees’ responses when asked what they would most like public officials to know about the experience of the pandemic for them and their local communities, as well as the quantitative survey results, and the assessment of the data by the Albany Minority Health Task Force in the context of their knowledge of the local community.

Author Bio

(Presenter)

Annis Golden, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the University at Albany’s Department of Communication and Associate Director of the University’s Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities. Her research interests focus broadly on barriers to accessing health care and community engaged, communication-focused strategies for addressing barriers to care among members of underserved communities. She has specific interests in women’s reproductive health disparities and in the relationship between conditions of work for low wage service sector workers and health disparities. Her recent projects include a collaborative inquiry into disparities in the local impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities of color in New York State’s Capital Region, and a second project documenting the effects of the pandemic on the work of community health workers across New York State in programs addressing maternal-child health and chronic disease health disparities. Her work on community engaged strategies for overcoming barriers to accessing reproductive healthcare services for low income women and women of color has been funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and the Dyson Foundation. Her research on communication and health disparities in community settings has appeared in such journals as Social Science & Medicine, Health Communication, International Journal of Communication, and Journal of Applied Communication Research. She is currently participating in a project to identify barriers to using prenatal telehealth services and strategies for overcoming barriers in order to increase access to care for women of color, in collaboration with Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership and New York Presbyterian Hospital.

The Albany Minority Health Task Force (AMHTF) is an assemblage ofprofessionalsfrom the Albany community who are concerned with the health status of communities of Color within the Capital Region. Since 2005the AMHTF hascollaborated with faculty from the University at Albany to facilitate research that reflects the concerns of the local community. The members, who meet on a monthly basis, represent only themselves rather than any employers, agencies or institutions they may be associated with. The AMHTF seeks to identify health issues incommunities of Colorfrom the perspective of its members, encourage research in the community by University at Albany faculty with methods that are scientificallyrigorous, culturally appropriate, and that benefits the needs of the communities, and aid in the dissemination of that research to the community. While the AMHTF is affiliated with Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities at the University at Albany, the views ofthe task force do not necessarily represent those of the University.

Dr. Archana Krishnan is Assistant Professor of Communication at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She received her Ph.D. in Communication Sciences from the University of Connecticut with a specialization in computer-mediated communication, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship from Yale University in mobile health (mHealth). Dr. Krishnan's research is grounded in distinct areas such as health communication, computer-mediated communication, mHealth and global public health. One of her key interests is to examine how mobile technologies can be leveraged to improve and maintain favorable health behaviors, e.g., medication adherence, in underserved populations. Her work has been published in various transdisciplinary journals such as Journal of Applied Communication Research, Mobile Media and Communication, Computers in Human Behavior, PLoS ONE, AIDS and Behavior, and Health Communication. She was selected as an mHealth scholar at the prestigious 2016 mHealth Training Institute, and has received research grants from the National Institutes of Health and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Lawrence M. Schell is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department and in the Department of Anthropology at the University at Albany, and a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Albany Medical College. In 2005 he established the Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities and has served as its director continuously reflecting his interest in urban health and disadvantaged populations. The CEMHD has been funded by the NIMHD since 2004. Currently it is executing a program of transdisciplinary training in minority health disparities research funded with 10 million dollars from NIH and 1 million from the Hearst Foundations. His research is in the general area of biological effects of urban-living on human populations. It focuses on three intersecting areas: pollutant exposures particularly metals and organochlorines, child health and development, and health disparities. His work on pollution began in 1986 with an initial study of a socioeconomically depressed sample of expectant mothers, approximately half African-American, in Albany NY to understand the relationships of lead exposure, maternal characteristics, and diet to newborn size and infant development. Through this work he saw that minorities and other disadvantaged communities were unequally exposed to toxicants and other untoward influences on child health. As the work on lead was underway, he began working with the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation. Over the next twenty years his team conducted three studies with the Nation. Results from these studies pertain to adolescent size (overweight and obesity), sexual maturation, thyroid function, and cognitive-behavioral status of 10-17-year old’s, as well as immune function and women’s reproductive health. The work with the Mohawk has been a 25-year collaboration and has involved multiple papers co-authored with Mohawk collaborators. This work is sometimes cited as a model of collaborative and mutually respectful research between scientists and Native Americans.

Masahiro Yamamoto (PhD, Washington State University, 2012) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University at Albany, State University of New York. His research interests include communication in community contexts, civic and political participation, and social media.

Incorporate language and social interaction methodologies with political communication research topics, specifically political debate and argumentation to study how politically-oriented talk is managed by individuals by examining political talk and interactions as practical, observable accomplishments by interactants.

As a Ph.D. candidate in anthropology at the University of Albany, I research biocultural anthropology while teaching a variety of courses in anthropology. I believe anthropology is an indispensable discipline to help all people understand the shaping of human biology and health by sociocultural factors, and I aim to help people gain this knowledge through direct instruction and through my contributions to biocultural anthropological research.

Hnin Wai Lwin Myo was born in Burma (Myanmar). She graduated from Myanmar’s University of Medicine (II) 1999. Ms. Myo has been a medical doctor and public health specialist for over 16 years. Her work has been centered on epidemiological research on communicable diseases. Her attention to matters of public health became more focused after she earned her master’s degree in public health and tropical medicine in 2005. Ms. Myo has worked in a variety of capacities within the healthcare system, including Research Officer and District Health Officer of the Yangon Region, and Assistant Director of the Ministry of Health. Additionally, she was a national survey coordinator for the Disease Control Department’s National Tuberculosis Control program, which emphasized the presence of health disparities, particularly in military conflict zones. Her experiences and research interests led her to prioritize public health issues among minority groups as a Deputy Project Manager of the Mobile Medical Services Project. Ms. Myo proposed a project focused on providing basic healthcare to socially marginalized ethnic minority groups along the underserved Thai-Myanmar border, necessitating considerable funding from the Japanese Nippon Foundation. Her mission was to narrow the wide gap between perceived healthcare coverage and reality- characterized by the absence of resources resulting from long-term mismanagement in the conflict zone and insufficient knowledge of the population. Ms. Myo became so closely watched by junta agents that she and her husband, a physician and military commander, faced being court martialed in the context of the political conflict regarding the Kachin ethnic group. They fled from Myanmar to seek asylum through which they were resettled here in Albany, NY. Upon resettlement in Albany, Ms. Myo immediately began contributing to her new community through volunteering for the United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants and Trinity Alliance’s Refugee Community Health Partnership Program. As a doctoral student at the University at Albany’s School of Public Health, Ms. Myo wishes to pursue her dream of being an infectious disease epidemiologist; Dr. Phil Nasca will be acting as her academic advisor. Ms. Myo plans to continue her efforts in addressing health disparities, helping disadvantaged populations “no matter wherever or whoever they are”.

Pallavi Khurana Delhi, India BJMC, Journalism and Mass Communication, Guru Gobind Singh Indrapratha University, India PGD, Public Relations and Corporate Communication, Xavier Institute of Communications, India MBA, Marketing and Human Resources, Bagalore University, India Primary area of interest: Digital communication, marketing communication, communication technology and new media. Publications: Co-author: Interdependence of Emerging Technology on next-generation banking, KPMG India, January 2017

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Communication at the University at Albany, SUNY. I am studying health communication with an emphasis on women's health, as well as media influences on health-related behaviors. My dissertation research is on social support in prenatal care, specifically within the Centering Pregnancy model of care. In my current role, I have taught both traditional and online courses in the areas of media studies, public relations, communication theory, and health communication. I also have experience teaching college writing and public speaking.

Document Type

Extended Abstract

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