Promoting Health Equity in COVID-19 Testing for Communities Disproportionately Affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic in Los Angeles County

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

Communities of color and low-income populations in Los Angeles County face disproportionate disadvantages to achieving optimum health and experience stark health inequities in their neighborhoods. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated these inequities, disproportionately impacting communities of color throughout Los Angeles County. The environmental, social, and economic factors that impact low-income residents and communities of color present unique challenges to obtaining access to medical and social resources. Over the course of the pandemic, the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services recognized the need to increase COVID-19 testing, communications, and linkages to medical and social resources in an effort to reduce the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 among these high-risk, highly impacted populations. Through the COVID-19 Testing Equity Collaborative of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LACDHS), the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) developed place-based solutions to place-based problems which have had a demonstrated positive impact at the community level. The LACDHS COVID-19 Testing Equity Collaborative continues to increase equitable access to COVID-19 information through community driven awareness and engagement campaigns, diagnostic testing services, and linkages to medical and social services to decrease the transmission of the virus in Los Angeles County.