Evaluation of the Guadalupe Community Response Team
Project Description
The Guadalupe Community Response Team (GCRT) was developed after an ASU team found elevated levels of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater samples from Guadalupe, Arizona. The network of partners, including the Town of Guadalupe, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Native, Health, the Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) and ASU work to support mobile health campaigns, food distributions, and testing events to provide enhanced house-to-house COVID-19 surveillance, health education, isolation supplies, and referrals for testing and temporary housing.
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We utilized multiple methods to evaluate our aims of increasing access to public health services, building sustainable partnerships, and engaging students. To monitor community access to public health services, we adopted well-defined case investigation and contact tracing performance metrics such as team COVID-19 case-closing rates, vaccination rates, and cycle time (i.e., the amount of time it took to reach a case once assigned). To engage the community in reflection, we also conducted qualitative assessments of collaboration and engagement through key informant interviews with community partners. Finally, we used surveys and focus groups to assess program impact on students and volunteers who engaged in the project through supporting in-person case investigation efforts and community events. This opportunity allowed students to observe the immediate impact of timely, community-led interventions during a public health emergency.
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Achievements:
In July 2021, the Guadalupe Response Team was awarded the President's Medal for Social Embeddedness. This award represents the team’s work with community leaders, promotoras, and impressive integration within the Town. Through these efforts, the Town began to see decreased community transmission rates, increased access to testing and vaccination, and improvements in contact tracing metrics. Multi-sector, multi-jurisdictional partnerships like the CRT improve public health, build trust, and provide health interventions to specific populations.